Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Hiring expectations dip
Economy | Jobs | Talent
October 10, 2024 – Private sector respondents are less optimistic now than they were a year ago about increases in their employers’ workforce size. In September 2023, 41 percent of respondents to a McKinsey Global Survey on economic conditions anticipated workforce increases in the next six months. A year later, that figure had dropped to 31 percent. However, senior partner Sven Smit and coauthors find that respondents’ expectations for profits and customer demand remain relatively positive and stable.
To read the survey, see “Economic conditions outlook, September 2024,” September 27, 2024.
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Visual form
Diverging bar chart.
Layout / body structure
The chart is a single chart with five survey dates shown as vertical columns centered on a zero line. Each column is read from the middle outward, with the increase response rising above the baseline and the decrease response dropping below it.
What is being compared
It compares private-sector expectations for company workforce size over five survey waves from September 2023 to September 2024, showing how expectations for expansion and contraction move over time.
Measurement system
The reader tracks percentages of respondents. Blue bars above the baseline represent those expecting workforce increases, dark bars below represent those expecting decreases, and the same/stay-the-same share is intentionally omitted.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Each date has a two-part vertical bar split around the center line, with the values printed directly inside the colored blocks. An arrow on the right reinforces the up-for-increase and down-for-decrease reading direction.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows confidence in hiring cooling steadily over the year. The positive bar gets shorter at every step while the negative bar gets deeper, so the gap between expected growth and expected contraction narrows visibly from the first survey to the last.
Key standout values or extremes
The increase share falls from 41 percent in September 2023 to 31 percent in September 2024, while the decrease share rises from 21 percent to 28 percent. June 2024 already shows the squeeze clearly at 33 percent expecting increases versus 24 percent expecting decreases.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.