The neutral net employment outlook - the margin between those expecting growth and those expecting a drop in employment - is the result of 12% of employers announcing growth in employment opportunities and 12% a drop.

This means a 7 percentage points drop over the previous quarter and a three percentage points decrease year-on-year.

"Still, the past results over the whole of 2013 indicate general stability on the labour market with a constant ratio, with around three in four employers not planning any changes in their employment structure," Romana Šercelj of ManpowerGroup Slovenija told the press.

While stressing that the results for the final quarter are always the worst, Šercelj explained that the outlook is negative in five of the ten sectors included in the survey, which quizzed 620 employers.

Again standing out in negative terms is the segment of the public sector and social services, where a 14% drop is expected.

The end of the summer season also significantly affected hospitality (-11%), while expectations are moreover pessimistic for manufacturing (-4%).

Prospects are on the other hand upbeat in financial and business services, insurance and real estate (+14%), supply with electricity, gas and water (+10%) and transport, logistics and communication (+9%).

Slovenia has one of the worst final quarter employment outlooks among the 42 countries included in the survey. Only ten countries are doing worse.

The biggest growth in employment if expected in India, Taiwan, Panama, Singapore and Brazil, while prospects are bleakest in Italy, Spain and Finland.