As unemployment in Europe surged to a record high last month, CEB's survey of more than 1,000 C-suite executives worldwide revealed the Eurozone's weak labour market is unlikely to recover soon, with unemployment staying around 12% for the next year.
The slump in recruitment is due to low expectations for top-line growth and an anticipated rise in labour costs, with the healthcare and telecommunications sectors the worst hit.
However, the research did find that IT companies showed the most positive hiring outlook, with 50% of executives globally aiming to increase staff numbers.
Paul Dennis, senior director at CEB, said: "In a market where most companies are cautious about hiring, CFOs are increasingly looking for higher levels of productivity and more valuable output from their people.
"In today's increasingly competitive market, in which most companies operate with very lean structures, talent productivity is becoming an ever more important source of competitive advantage."
