Job creation still strong in entrepreneurial circles
7 June 2013 at 5:40 pm
Women global entrepreneurs are more likely to recruit new staff in their home markets than men, according to a survey of 200 entrepreneurs.
The survey: Global Job Creation, conducted by international business advisory provider Ernst and Young, found 78 per cent of the surveyed entrepreneurs intended to increase their workforce at home or abroad in 2013.
The survey also found 73 per cent of women entrepreneurs intend to increase their workforce in their domestic markets, compared with 69 per cent of men.
When women entrepreneurs were asked what the two most important reasons for hiring outside their home country were, 50 per cent said boosting the production of goods and services (compared to 44 per cent of male entrepreneurs) while 40 per cent said entering new markets (compared to 68 per cent to male entrepreneurs) and 40 per cent said tapping new resource talent (compared to 20 per cent to male entrepreneurs).
Seventy-eight per cent of participants said the most important factor impacting their 2013 hiring plans was growth in their products and services.
Women entrepreneurs also expressed more confidence in the economic direction of the countries in which they were headquartered – 88 per cent said they felt positive compared to 71 per cent of men.
Ernst and Young Strategic Growth Markets Global Vice Chair Maria Pinelli said in the past year, the world’s best entrepreneurs have shown remarkable resilience in the face of “sharply variable business conditions” throughout the major global markets.
“While macroeconomic risks such as the Eurozone crisis, a slowdown in emerging markets growth and the US budget impasse have added to investor uncertainty, the world’s leading entrepreneurs are still looking to recruit in significant numbers,” Pinelli said.
“Entrepreneurs continue to raise the standard of living in the countries where they
operate by not only creating jobs but good jobs, that require experience. That’s what we call helping to build a better working world.”
The survey revealed entrepreneurs continued to recruit an experienced workforce with 51 per cent of entrepreneurs saying they created roles for “experienced (non-management) personnel”, while only 14 per cent said they would recruit at “entry level with a degree” and 26 per cent at “entry level with no degree.”
Pinelli said a significant change this year was that entrepreneurs were making sustainable investments in productivity.
Sixty-three per cent of surveyed entrepreneurs said they continued to hire in order to enter new markets.
Forty five per cent said they were recruiting specifically to boost production.
Asia-Pacific leads the way adding staff to boost production at 64 per cent, followed by Europe at 51 per cent and by the US at 29 per cent.
