Aug. 24--Employment in Thailand and other Asia-Pacific countries could see the first signs of a rapid, V-shaped recovery in the next few months, says Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive of the global staffing services firm Manpower Inc.

"It's slow, but it's a clear recovery that we do not see in the US, the UK or Germany," he said. "But let's be careful because it could be W-shaped [in] which the economy can go back down again and it's too early to tell on that."

The United States and Western Europe can only hope for a gradual, U-shaped revival in jobs and economic growth, he said during his first visit to Thailand last week.

But Asia-Pacific has better prospects as it did not experience the hyper-growth -- which Mr Joerres describes as not being real growth -- that happened elsewhere in the world.

The outlook for hiring in manufacturing, for both the electronics and automobile sectors is recovering, said Simon Matthews, country manager of Manpower (Thailand) Co. Since the crisis, the company has refocused on areas it sees as less affected by the downturn, such as the food and beverage industry.

Thailand still offers a low-cost base for production, where investors can find opportunities to reinvest or increase production during a downturn, he said.

"Orders for permanent positions and limited contracts coming into us now are up by 40-50 percent from the end of the fourth quarter," said Mr Matthews.

A Manpower Thailand survey found that staffing at 83.4 percent of 673 respondent companies had dropped or not changed between January and July 2009. But 33 percent of respondents expect their headcount to increase in the second half, while 59 percent expect it to remain unchanged and only 8 percent forecast a decline.

The survey shows more optimism than a poll in January, in which only 24 percent of companies expected their headcount to increase in 2009 while 13 percent expected to reduce staffing.

Mr Joeress expects the number of people Manpower puts into jobs this year to drop 25 percent from 4.1 million last year, but the number of job seekers it interviews may rise 25 percent from 10 million.

But Thailand and Mexico are the only countries from the 82 with Manpower offices where the US-based company expects effective management to improve on last year's performance.

The current labour market has been transformed by technology that helps employers and job seekers to find what they are looking for, he said.

"Now the technology is changing in the way individuals are looking at work and how employers' brands are being perceived," he said.

"And companies, too, forget they're being Googled every day and that individuals have choice and they get to find out what the value of the company is and whether or not the company is socially responsible."

In terms of competitiveness, Thailand still offers more skills in sectors such as automotive, electronics or drugs than its rivals, said Mr Matthews. "Thailand for the next five years will still have that window of opportunity before skills will catch up in other countries."

In tough economic times, job seekers should stay calm, said Mr Joerres.

"Be persistent but do not be annoying -- market yourself as somebody who has flexibility. And you have to be able to wear two hats. Take a level of responsibility for your own training and development."

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