THE looming spectre of an economic slowdown will not dim the job prospects of executives here, a survey shows.

Around one in two companies plan to increase their executive pool in the first quarter of this year, says human resource consultancy Hudson, a leading global executive headhunter.

Most of those keen on doing so are manufacturing companies, especially those in the emerging bio-medical and chemical sectors.

Besides hiring, more than seven in 10 will probably also offer substantial pay hikes to attract managerial talent.

These findings are based on a poll of 659 key decision-makers in multinational companies here.

It was done last November amid a slowing down of Singapore's economy, with growth in the final quarter slipping to 6 per cent, the slowest rate in nearly three years.

Still, 51 per cent of companies polled say they plan to recruit more executives in this first quarter. This, however, is a dip from the 56 per cent who had such plans for the same period last year.

Hudson's country manager Mark Sparrow attributes the good news to Singapore continuing to offer multinationals 'great opportunities for a low-cost base packed with talent'.

The latest official figures affirm what Mr Sparrow told The Straits Times.

The Manpower Ministry reports that as of last September, almost half of the 35,500 job vacancies, or 45 per cent, were for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). Vacancies for these PMETs totalled 16,100.

Trade union leaders like the general secretary of the United Workers of Petroleum Industry, Mr K. Karthikeyan, agree with the Hudson findings. He described the dearth of managerial talent in his industry as 'chronic'.

'It is not uncommon to see an experienced engineer switch companies, then poach his team of senior technicians from his previous employer,' he said.

While most companies in the banking and financial services are also expected to raise staff count in the first quarter, fewer said they would do so - 53 per cent against 59 per cent a year ago.

As for managerial pay, around 71 per cent of companies see themselves paying new managers over 10 per cent more. A year ago, only 58 per cent said so.

Employers likely to give the biggest pay hikes are banks, with 85 per cent expected to do so, and IT companies, with 84 per cent.

A separate survey by human resource research firm ECA International found that workers in general will likely receive a 5 per cent pay rise this year, up from 4.5 per cent a year ago.

'But employees are likely to experience relatively subdued real income rises compared to previous years,' said its general manager Lee Quane.

The reason: Much of it will be swallowed up by inflation, which jumped to 4.2 per cent in November, according to latest official figures.