Job recruitment ad spending down in China, Asia region: consultants

Recruitment advertising volumes saw a moderation in China in the last quarter of 2012 amid slowing economic activity, mirroring the sluggish job markets seen across major Asian economies during the quarter, according to a job index released Thursday by British recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

Over the final quarter, the volume of job advertisements placed in China was down 2.8 percent compared to the previous quarter, while the levels across the region fell by 3.7 percent, according to the consultancy's Asia Job Index, which tracks advertisement volumes in Asian economies including China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

Attributing the decline across the region to general economic uncertainties that impacted market confidence during the period, as well as to job markets' tailing off toward year-end, Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters Southeast Asia, noted the situation is unlikely to worsen.

"There has been more recent evidence of a pickup in sentiment in China, which may start to flow through the rest of the region," Ellwood predicted in a statement released Thursday.

Recent economic indicators also point to the fact that the Chinese economy has seen rising signs of warming up.

The MNI China Business Sentiment Indicator, based on a monthly survey of Chinese business executives, was announced Thursday to have risen to 60.98 in February from 55.16 in January, a reflection of improving economic activity.

While the overall job market in China witnessed downward revisions during the fourth quarter, there was a 13.6 percent rise in job advertisements within property management, according to the Asia Job Index, citing reasons including a pickup in market confidence.

In spite of the Chinese government's recently announced curbing polices on the country's property market, advertising for jobs within property management may continue to see growth, spurred on by the huge amount of existing investments in the sector, Arthur Wang, managing director of Robert Walters China, told the Global Times Thursday.

"Even though there might be a decline in growth rate (in property management advertising), any big changes are unlikely (in the foreseeable future)," he said.

We recommend:
IKEA: Meatballs in China supplied by Fujian factory	Jet-set life takes off for country's super-rich	Taking a bite out of the market for snakes
Ratings agency warns about rising debt	Holiday firework sales fail to boom	4G network to lead the world