The manufacturing and retail sectors are looking to hire more people in the fourth quarter despite a general trend to cut back on recruitment projects, a study by a headhunting firm showed.

Among the 862 executives from a variety of sectors interviewed by Hudson, 32 percent said they expected to hire staff in the fourth quarter, compared to 42 percent in the third quarter. However, the manufacturing and retail sectors stood out with a large number of their executives expecting to hire more in the fourth quarter than the last one.

A total of 43 percent of the representatives from the manufacturing sector forecast an increase in hiring, up from 35 percent in the third quarter.

Manufacturing and industrial manager at Hudson Kin Ho said he expected the manufacturing business on the mainland to remain stable despite a possible drop in demand for consumer products while large companies and daily necessity manufacturers will remain unaffected.

"Necessity manufacturers will operate as usual," he said. "There are things that people still need to buy even when there is an economic downturn."

As a result, employees, especially those with skills in quality control and logistics, are still in demand.

"As the products are to be exported, quality assurance is needed. Employees who are familiar with international quality standards and manufacturing techniques are in demand. There is a lack of such skills among the mainland workforce," he said.

He added Hong Kong employees still have an edge as they can help bridge the gap between mainlanders and overseas staff.

As for the retail sector, 34 percent of the executives indicated they will hire more people in the fourth quarter, compared to 31 percent in the last quarter.

Hudson's sales and marketing director Aruna Alimchandani said management staff are in demand, especially in the fields of marketing and merchandizing.

"I think the hiring prospect in the sector will be stable. It will not be particularly strong but there will be some key hirings," she said. "We see this trend going on until the end of the year."

On the employment trend for next year, she said companies are still observing how consumer spending will change over the next two to three months.

"It is a little bit early to tell because companies are still doing their budget at the moment," she said.

Both Alimchandani and Ho urged employers to strengthen communications with staff so as to give staff a sense of security.

(HK Edition 10/31/2008 page1)