SHANGHAI 14th MARCH 2023 - ManpowerGroup Greater China launches its newest Employment Outlook Survey (hereinafter referred to as "MEOS")for Q2 2023. Data shows that Chinese employers expectations in the second quarter of 2023 shifts to growth. The survey was implemented in January 2023.For this report, MEOS surveyed 3,060 employers in Mainland China to forecast theemployment status of companies during the period of April to June in 2023.

Employment is expected to pick up, seeing an increase from the previous quarter

47% of the surveyed employers plan to hire, while 33% plan to keep workforce levels steady, and 18% expect a staffing decrease, another 2% undecided. The Net  Employment Outlook is (+29%) after seasonally adjusted analysis, up (+4%) from Q1 and  down (-5%) from this time last year.​

ManpowerGroup states that the economy is in the process of obvious recovery. The PMI in January-February continued to expand. Although foreign trade suffered setbacks, residents'consumption and tourism  significantly increased due to the opening of the epidemic policy and China's huge consumer market. The Chinese government is also accelerating economic recovery through many actions such as  infrastructure construction. All of the factors contribute to the enhancement of employment confidence and the growth of employment expectations.

Chengdu's employment expectation is the most optimistic, and Beijing's month-on-month growth rate is the largest

Chinese organizations in all 12 regions anticipate increasing staffing levels in Q2 2023. The most  competitive region is the Chengdu region with a NEO of +35%, rising by 5 percentage points since the previous quarter and by 2 percentage points since Q2 2022.

Since Q1 2023, hiring markets have strengthened in 9 of 12 regions and weakened in 3 regions. The city with the largest increase since last quarter is Beijing（+32%）with a rise of 16 percentage points. The NEO of Northeastern Provinces (+9%)drop by 7 percentage points from the previous quarter, with the largest decline.

From the perspective of ManpowerGroup, as one of the largest cities with the strongest economic scale, development level and innovation capacity in the western region, Chengdu's total economic volume exceed 2 trillion RMB in 2022, and its five pillar industries are developing actively. These economic engines have increased the recruitment confidence of thelocal enterprises after the epidemic. There are two main reasons for the month-over-month growth in Beijing: first, the survey period of Q1 is at the stage of relatively serious epidemic in Beijing, so Q1's hiring intention is weak, and Q2 will rebound significantly. Second, Beijing's financial industry, science and technology service industry contributes to a further increase in the proportion of the city's economy, and the investment in high-tech industries is prospected to increase significantly, which is bound to enhance local employment confidence.

Q2 2023 Employment Outlook of 12 Regions and Cities

Net Employment Outlook (seasonally adjusted %)

The most competitive sector is the Energy & Utilities sector, followed by Financials & Real Estate and Information Technology

Organizations in all 9 Chinese sectors anticipate increasing staffing levels from April to June 2023.  Compared to last quarter, hiring markets have strengthened in 6 of 9 sectors and weakened in 3 sectors. The most competitive sector is Energy & Utilities with a NEO of +38%, which has risen by 12 percentage points since the first quarter of 2023. Following Energy & Utilities are the sectors of Financials & Real Estate and Information Technology. The sector reporting the largest increase since the last quarter is Financials & Real Estate (+36%), with a rise of 17 percentage points.

Q2 2023 Employment Outlook of 9Industry Sectors

Net EmploymentOutlook (seasonally adjusted %)

According to ManpowerGroup, “We also saw the mention of focusing on technology and ESG during the two  sessions. China is the world's largest energy consumer, and the gradual economic recovery will further increase the energy demand. In addition,the development of new energy represented by wind power and photovoltaic haspressed the fast forward key, and the industrial competitiveness has been continuously enhanced. This positive signal attracts more enterprises to introducetalents and accelerate the layout of new energy fields. At the same time, the constantly relaxed real estate policy has promoted the recruitment willingness.”

Large enterprises have the mostpositive recruitment expectations, while small enterprises have the most obvious quarterly growth

All 4 organization sizes expect increasing staffing levels in Q2 2023. Since the first quarter of 2023, staffing climates have strengthened in 3 of 4 organizationsizes and weakened in 1 organization size. Chinese employers in organizations with 250+ employees are the most optimistic with a NEO of +32%.The organizations showing the largest increase since the previous quarter are small organizations with 10-49 employees. They report a rise of 18 percentage points.

Q2 2023 Employment Outlook for Organizationsof Four Sizes

Net EmploymentOutlook (seasonally adjusted %)

ManpowerGroup believes, “Small enterprises are the most dynamic economy. In order to stabilize  employment, the government has taken a series of measures to continuously optimize the business environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, such as strengthening macroeconomic policies, reducing the difficulties throughout their development, which has promoted the employment prospects of small enterprises to significantly improve after the epidemic. ”

More than 80% of enterprises are facing talent shortage, which is still severe

81% ofemployers report difficulty finding the talent they need in 2023, weakening 2 percentage points year-over-year and more than double the difficulty in 2010(40%).

All the cities surveyed are facing talent shortages. Employers report difficulty filling open roles, with the biggest impacts being felt in Wuhan, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Chengduand Guangzhou.

IT & Data hard skills and Creativity & Originality soft skills are the most difficult to fill

With the continuous expansion of  the digital economy scale in Chinese market, and the comprehensive  implementation of the carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategy, IT&Data, ESG  Risk/Advisory/Governance have become the most difficult technical skills for employers to fill. Underthe strategic background of innovation-driven development, Creativity & Originality continues to be one of the top five soft skills that are most difficult to find.

Employers in all 41 countries and territories expect to increase headcount

ManpowerGroup surveyed nearly 39,000 in 41 countries and territories to measure hiring expectations from April to Junein the second quarter of 2023. Employers around the world in 41 countries and territories are expecting to increase staffing levels. The strongest hiring plans for the next three months are reported in Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The weakest hiring sentiment is reported in Greece and Hungary.

APAC: Hiring managers across the region anticipate strong(+27%) hiring intentions, improving when compared to the previous quarter (+2points) but weakening slightly year-over-year (-1 point). The only region reporting an increasein hiring intentions from Q1, perhaps due to the reopening of trade and travelin mainland China, with its economy beginning to recover. Strongest hiring intentions globally for the Communications Services sector are found in Hong KongChina (+81%) and Information Technology in Australia (+56%).

Americas: All 11 countries and territories in North, Central and South America report positive employment outlooks for Q2, improving in 7 quarter-over-quarter and 4 compared to this time last year. Hiring managers in Panama (+41%) reportstrongest intentions both regionally and globally, regionally followed by CostaRica (+38%), and Guatemala (+38%). The lowest confidence is seen in Argentina(+16%).

EMEA: Hiring expectations remain the lowest, although steady, in the EMEAregion (+18%), unchanged since Q1 and slightly weaker since Q2 2022 (-4 points). The strongest regional hiring plans are reported in  Netherlands (+31%), Norway (+31%) and Switzerland (+31%),while employers make the weakest forecasts in Hungary (+2%).

Affected by the complex geopolitical, macroeconomic environment and economic recovery signals, the overall employment confidence of 22 countriesand regions has been cautiously improved compared to the previous quarter. 

Quarterly Changes as Employers Respond to Challenges

To view complete results for the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, please visit https://go.manpowergroup.com/meos. With MEOS beginning in 1962, thisyear’s results mark the 61st consecutive year of the survey.

NOTES TO READERS

The methodology used to collect the data for the Employment Outlook hasbeen digitized in 41 markets from the Q1 2022 report. Respondents in prior quarters were contacted via telephone and data is now being collected online.Respondents are members of double opt-in online panels and are incentivized tocomplete the survey. In line with standard findings of online surveys, more people are now taking a position – selecting that their workforce will either increase or decrease vs. no change. Because the Net Employment Outlook is basedonly on the people saying increase or decrease, the result of this higher levelof engagement means the methodology shift may contribute to a higher Outlook.With a sample of 1,000 there is a margin of errorof +/-3%. The question asked and the respondent profile remains unchanged. The size of the organization and sector are standardized across all countries to allow international comparisons.

ABOUT THESURVEY

The survey data was collected in January 2023.The Employment Outlook Survey is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind, used globally as a key economic indicator. The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUPGREATER CHINA

ManpowerGroup Greater China Limited (Stock Code: 2180.HK) started its business in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1997. Since that time, it has accelerated its market expansion and now provides services to its clients in over 240 cities in the Greater China markets and operates in more than 20 offices.ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN), our largest shareholder, is a world leader inworkforce solutions and services-- with a long operating history of more than 70 years.

Empowered by the world-wide reputation and global perspectives of ManpowerGroup Inc., ManpowerGroup Greater China has rooted its operations inlocal markets across Greater China for over 20 years. In 2015, ManpowerGroup Greater China Limited and CITICPE established a strategic joint venture headquartered in Shanghai, to penetrate and accelerate business in GreaterChina. Through our service network of over 240 cities, we offer comprehensive and full range workforce solutions to more than 20,000 companies in the GreaterChina Region. On July 10th, 2019, ManpowerGroup Greater China was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.