The net outlook for hiring stands at +19 percentage points, up eight points from the third quarter and up six points compared to the same period last year.

While 20% of the 620 employers included in the survey plan to hire, 4% intend to cut their workforce and 74% plan no changes.

The positive outlook was recorded in all ten sectors, most notably in construction (+25 percentage points), financial and business services, insurance and real estate (+23 points) and in transport, logistics and communications (+22 points).

Job vacancies are also expected in manufacturing (+18 points), and in wholesale and retail (+16 points). In mining and quarrying, the outlook is +5 points.

Job openings are expected in all four Slovenian regions, but the most intensive hiring is expected in the north-eastern region (+20 percentage points), an all-time high. In central Slovenia, the outlook for hiring is also the highest in the last eight years of the survey, at +18 points.

In the south-east Slovenia, the outlook is at +13 percentage points and in the south-west at +11.

"In the first three quarters this year, we witnessed a bit more modest outlook for hiring, but in the final quarter the optimism of employers is picking up again. We're looking at an encouraging forecast for the labour market and managing talents well will now become more important than ever," said Nebojša Biškup of ManpowerGroup Slovenija.

Hiring is planned between October and December by employers in 25 of the 26 countries from the region Europe, Middle East and Africa. On the quarterly level, the employment outlook was up in eleven countries and down in nine. Year-on-year, employment opportunities improved in 13 countries and deteriorated in seven.

The most optimistic are employers in Romania and Slovenia, while the least optimistic are those in Switzerland.

Slovenia and Romania, along with the US, where net outlook for hiring also reaches +19 percentage points, are countries with the most positive hiring prospects in the world, preceded only by Japan and Taiwan, where the net outlook is at +26 and +21 points, respectively.