By Lee U-Wen

THE financial crisis may be forcing many employers to scale back on recruitment plans, but encouragingly, only a handful of them plan to lay off staff in the October-December quarter.

Among 800 top employment decision makers polled here by leading executive recruitment firm Hudson, 37 per cent in key business sectors forecast increased hiring in Q4 2008, down from 43 per cent in Q3 and 57 per cent year-on-year. The majority - 59 per cent - said that hiring will remain steady, while just 4 per cent expect headcount to be cut.

'New hiring expectations continue to fall in response to the global economic slowdown, but a reduction in headcount does not seem to be widely anticipated by employers,' said Hudson's country manager for Singapore Gina McLellan.

The company noted, however, that the survey was conducted before the latest events in global financial markets, which may have affected the results, especially for the banking and financial services sector.

Manufacturing was the only sector to record a rise in hiring expectations overall, with 46 per cent of respondents expecting the number of staff to grow this quarter, up slightly from 44 per cent in Q3.

Among media, PR and advertising firms, hiring expectations fell sharply, with 41 per cent forecasting increased headcount, down from 51 per cent in Q3.

In the banking and financial services sector, 34 per cent of respondents plan to increase hiring, down from 43 per cent in Q3. 'Q4 is traditionally a slow hiring period, as budgets are being finalised and most people do not change jobs until bonuses have been paid in Q1,' said Hudson.

Despite the bleaker outlook, a heartening 64 per cent of respondents expect their company's performance to be 'good' next year. The healthcare sector led the way on optimism, followed by the media, PR and advertising industry.

When it comes to stress, 48 per cent of executives in Singapore said that it is higher now than a year ago. The last time the question was asked in Q2 last year, 52 per cent felt that way.

Singapore has the second-highest proportion of respondents reporting higher stress levels - after China. Just 6 per cent of those in Singapore said that their stress levels are falling - the lowest proportion among four markets polled, the other two being Hong Kong and Japan.

'An increase in the volume of work is seen as the main cause of work-related stress by a substantial margin,' Hudson noted. Across all sectors, 42 per cent said that this is the chief cause of stress, more than three times as for any other reason.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Ocotober 16, 2008.