In Queensland, the hiring outlook rose 5 percentage points to +7%, while WA employers recorded a 6% increase to an outlook of +12%.

NSW and NT bosses report little change to their hiring outlook, with the Net Employment rate sitting at +6% and +14%, respectively, and remaining relatively stable in comparison to the prior quarter and last year at this time.

Overall, Australia’s hiring pace is expected to pick up slightly in the second quarter this year, with the survey showing that employers report a slight improvement in hiring intentions for the second quarter this year, based on a Net Employment Outlook of +10%.

The survey, which asks the hiring intentions of over 1500 employers in Australia for the coming quarter, found that 22% plan to increase their hiring, 11% plan to decrease their hiring and 65% plan to make no changes to their current payrolls.

The resulting Net Employment Outlook of +10%, gives an indication that subdued market conditions are likely to continue at least through the next three months.

ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand MD Lincoln Crawley said: “Although the results show that employers report a slight uptick in hiring intentions in the April to June quarter, an outlook of +10% is still modest when we look at overall trends.

“Structural changes to the economy are flowing through to the job market, particularly in industries such as manufacturing, retail and mining.”