In the Q3 2025 edition of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, 12,434 employers across ten countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East (APME) region shared their hiring expectations for the third quarter of 2025, along with insights into the factors driving their decisions.
Key Findings:
- APME Net Employment Outlook stands at +28%, unchanged from the previous quarter but up 7 percentage points year-on-year.
- India (+42%) and the U.A.E. (+48%) lead in hiring optimism, while Hong Kong (8%) and Japan (15%) show the most cautious outlooks.
- Information Technology (38%) continues to exhibit the strongest hiring demand, followed by Financials & Real Estate (31%) and Industrials & Materials (29%).
- Company expansion remains the leading driver of hiring, with 40% of employers citing it as the primary reason for workforce growth.
- Technological advancements and the need for new expertise are influencing staffing strategies, particularly in India, where 39% of employers are expanding teams for this reason.
- Automation investment is rising, with 63% of APME employers increasing focus on automating repetitive tasks.
- Concerns over economic uncertainty and market shifts are the top reasons cited for anticipated workforce reductions.
- Larger companies (5,000+ employees) report the highest hiring expectations (39%), compared to only 16% among those with fewer than 10 employees.
- Trade uncertainty continues to affect workforce planning, with 59% of employers reporting moderate to high impacts.
