Seventy-six per cent of entrepreneurs plan to hire

by **Cals** Tue 10 Jun 2014, 03:11

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Shalini Kumar of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 09 June 2014 09:34

KUALA LUMPUR: Seventy-six per cent of the world’s leading entrepreneurs expect the size of their workforce to increase by an average of 19% this year, up from 16% in 2012 and 2013, largely driven by growing global demand for goods and services and technological advances, according to a recent EY study.

The EY Global Job Creation Survey of 243 EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) finalists, since 2000, found that only 31% of chief executive officers surveyed said they intend to hire the next year, with the analysis suggesting this reticence is driven by geopolitical concerns and cost-cutting pressure from activist shareholders.

“Respondents to the survey say the main driver for hiring at home is a desire to make the most of a growing market for goods and services, with 61% of entrepreneurs confident in their home market’s prospects,” said EY in a statement.

“The second biggest driver of employment is the improvements that technology and innovation have brought to companies,” it added.

Technology emerged as a key driver of job creation among entrepreneurs, with over half (51%) agreeing that investments made in technology have changed their workforce, while 81% said it led them to hire.

EY global vice-chair of strategic growth markets, Maria Pinelli, said entrepreneurs were increasingly global in their outlook and exploiting the opportunities that technology brought them.

“[It allows them] to tap the global talent pool and address skills shortages in their home market this way. This is in large part due to technology enabling mobile working, something that, according to our survey, women entrepreneurs are especially likely to see as a significant trend,” she said.

When it came to who was being hired by entrepreneurs, the survey showed there had been a shift towards hiring at entry level.

Fewer “experienced non-management” were hired last year than in 2011 or 2012, while jobs at the entry level, especially those requiring a degree or advanced degree, were up from the last two years.

“Entrepreneurs have a key role to play in driving global economic growth and job creation, thanks to their dynamism, nimbleness and ability to spot opportunities for growth. Encouragingly, many are seeking entry-level employees, something which bodes well for the world’s youth, both skilled and unskilled,” said Pinelli.

The survey also looked at entrepreneurs’ confidence in the global economy, and found those in the Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region were the most confident, with 63% confident, very or extremely confident.

They were also the most likely to tap the global workforce, with 65% saying they’ll hire from overseas compared with 53% in the Americas, 33% in Asia-Pacific and 52% globally.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs in Asia-Pacific are keenest to hire in order to expand to overseas markets (58%), followed by EMEIA (54%) and the US (46%).

The EY Global Job Creation Survey is the third annual survey into the views of previous finalists of the EY WEOY programme that started in 2000. A total of 243 entrepreneurs were surveyed in April 2014.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 9, 2014.