While companies globally are on a hiring spree on the back of an economic rebound, Indian firms seem to have outperformed them by adding more staff, according to a survey by workplace solutions provider Regus.
The survey says that as businesses across the globe are now looking to hire new staff, it is an indicator that the mindset of organisations has shifted towards investment in growth through human capital.
Regus, which surveyed over 10,000 companies across 78 countries, in its report titled 'Regus Business Tracker' said, over a third of companies (36 per cent) intend to increase head count.
It also said that Indian businesses outperformed the global average with almost two-fifths (38 per cent net) of companies wanting to add new staff in 2011.
"The intention to increase head count is a clear indicator that businesses want to be prepared to grasp the opportunities that recovering markets may throw their way. In India in particular, where unemployment levels were reported at 10.7 per cent in 2009, this result should be taken as a positive indication of recovery," Regus' CEO Mark Dixon said in a press release here today.
These findings assume significance in the wake of recent IMF and ILO observations, which say that global unemployment has reached record proportions in the last three-years (up to 210-million since 2007) and could be a potential threat to the economy if the trend continues.
The findings of the Regus Business Tracker provides evidence that the world unemployment situation may be set to ease in 2011.
The survey canvassed the opinions of over 10,000 senior business people in 78 countries asking them about their current revenue performance, their profitability, their projected future revenues and their wider expectations of national economic growth.
These indicators form the basis for the report's Business Optimism Index, which unusually reflects actual performance as well as near-term outlook.
Globally, this edition of the index revealed a far more positive outlook, with a greater proportion of optimist countries than six-months ago. For India, however, the global index revealed an optimist rating of 119 which, however, is down a massive 48 points from six-months ago indicating that overall expectations for the economy have darkened somewhat.
The survey also states that despite the optimism, about 41 per cent of companies are still looking to reduce their overheads through other means than reducing staff, which reveals a global attitude of cautious optimism.
"As companies look to find economies in their own operations, we are likely to see more and more organisations offering flexible working practises to their existing or prospective employees in a bid to achieve a better work-life balance and run a leaner organisation," Dixon said.
