Nearshore Americas

Employers in Latin America Remain Optimistic Over Hiring Plans

Employers across Latin America are optimistic about their business prospects despite the fact that economies in the region are struggling with rising inflation and slowing growth.

According to a study by ManpowerGroup, employers in all eight countries surveyed are positive about the prospect of expanding their workforces.

Employers in Panama are showing more confidence than last year, although the confidence level in  in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, has fallen.

“The recruitment outlook for Q1 2015 in Latin America remains upbeat despite a broad fall in confidence since this time last year,” ManpowerGroup said in a press release. “The fall in confidence shows that the region’s employers may finally be feeling the tremors running through the global economy.”

Across the region, employers in the service sector appeared more confident than their counterparts in the manufacturing.  Most of those who talked of increasing payroll in Costa Rica are in the service sector.

In Brazil, where a large number of foreign firms are engaged in offshore oil refining, analysts say that hiring may take place only in selective sectors such as finance, insurance, real estate and retail trade.

But Mexico is an exception. ManpowerGroup says Mexico’s construction and manufacturing sectors may add a lot of people to their workforces in the first three months of 2015.

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Even Argentina, whose economy is in doldrums following its default on bond repayments, is expected to add to payrolls in sectors including finance, insurance and real estate and services.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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