<div>According to a survey by American Express, carried out in partnership with CFO Research across the globe, employment prospects appear the brightest in India as 78 per cent of respondents predict greater rise in employment. <br /><br />Finance leaders believe that growth in existing businesses will add to the creation of jobs. This is a welcome news for the Indian youth. In the US, 61 per cent of respondents said they believe so and for China the figure stood at 50 per cent.<br /><br />"As with the economic outlook, India is at the top of the list of countries anticipating rising employment. However, the survey points to the shortage of skilled positions," American Express Country Business Head, Global Corporate Payments Saru Kaushal said.<br /><br />As per the report, 22 per cent of respondents from India pointed to shortage in skilled positions.<br /><br />"We are confident that with the government's increased focus to make India Job Ready, this gap will be bridged soon," Kaushal added.<br /><br /><img width="530" height="357" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=0bb50f1d-cd50-4938-aec5-9abe7b463209&groupId=222861&t=1428065278793" alt="" /><br /><br />According to 29 per cent of those polled from India, headcount in their companies has increased at a faster clip than their revenues while 48 per cent said that the two had increased at about the same pace. About 37 per cent of executives in Asia and Australia region expect employment to improve while 23 per cent expect it to worsen. In Japan, 29 per cent respondent expect employment to improve. Around 39 per cent of respondents from Australia and 31 per cent from Hong Kong expect a decline in jobs, the survey said.<br /><br /><strong>India Leader in Economic Confidence, China’s Confidence Drops </strong><br />More than two-thirds of financial executives in Asia/Australia (67 per cent, down from 70 per centa year ago) predict expansion in their economy. India leads the world in economic confidence (94 per cent, up from 86 per cent in 2014 and 78 per cent in 2013). On the other hand, China’s confidence has dropped significantly since 2013 to 78 per cent (down from 94 per cent) and Singapore has also experienced a decline (70 per cent, down from 82 per cent last year and 78 per cent in 2013). <br /><br /><img width="530" height="291" alt="" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=57a15ba8-ddbb-45ff-96dc-424800121211&groupId=222861&t=1428065300815" /><br /><br />Executives from Hong Kong and Japan were each nearly evenly split between those anticipating economic expansion (50 per cent and 52 per cent respectively) and those expecting no change or expecting contraction in their economies (50 per cent and 48 per cent respectively). <br /><br />India is also planning increase in investment by 12 per cent. This is by far the biggest increase in the Asian region.<br /><br />(Agencies)</div>
