Manpower Japan Co. said Tuesday that nations such as Japan and the U.S. are expected to see a sharp increase in jobs in the April-June period from the previous quarter.
The agency's employment index, computed by deducting the percentage of firms planning to expand their workforce from that of firms planning cuts, came to 20 percent in Japan, up 17 points over the January-March period, according to the wholly owned unit of Manpower Inc. of the United States.
The corresponding index in the United States was 22 percent, up 15 points.
Other countries and territories where companies are planning to increase the number of employees include Canada, Australia and Hong Kong.
The corresponding index in Canada for the April-June period was 24 percent, up 23 points, while the index for Australia was 18 percent, up three points, and Hong Kong was 16 percent, up four points.
Manpower Japan partly attributed the prospective surge here to firms' annual practice of recruiting new graduates April 1.
Even so, the index figure of 20 percent signifies an increase of seven points over the same period a year earlier, it said.
The increase mirrors improving revenues and profitability mainly at major corporations.
The corresponding indexes in six of seven major employment sectors posted quarter-on-quarter rises.
The six sectors are financial-real estate, manufacturing, mining and construction, services, transport, and wholesale-retail.
The sole exception was the education and public sector.