The Hudson Report Quarter1 2009

Hudson released their quarterly survey of forward-looking employer hiring expectations. The Report in Asia covers China (Beijing and Shanghai), Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore and now combines the expectations of nearly 3,000 key employment decision-makers in these four markets. Participants in this survey are primarily executives at multinational firms and were personally surveyed by Hudson consultants familiar with them and their industry sectors.

Highlights from the survey are as under:

Ø 23% of respondents expect to increase hiring in this quarter, down from 37% in Q4 2008. Majority of respondents (65%) will keep headcount steady and 12% of respondents will decrease headcount

Ø Expectations show a substantial decline in new hires year-on-year: the 23% of respondents planning to grow headcount this quarter compared with 51% in Q1 2008

Ø Expected salary increases for new managerial hires remain healthy, with 39% planning a 6-10% increase, and 32% planning a 11-20% increase

Ø Most respondents will give out year-end bonus payments, with only 17% of respondents planning to pay no bonuses

Ø Across all sectors, 47% of respondents forecast that their company’s performance will be excellent or good in 2009, while 7% say it will be poor

Ø Freezing headcount, along with global headcount approvals and strategic hiring, are HR strategies most likely to be adopted in response to the economic downturn.

Source: Sandbox Advisors; Hudson; Headhunt