A global survey by Antal Russia has revealed that companies are continuing to actively hire middle and senior managers.

Kazakhstan has really come to prominence with a 74% of respondents actively recruiting. Natasha Kurkchi, country manager for Antal Kazakhstan in Almaty, says: “Kazakhstan is one of the few genuine frontier markets on the planet. It’s a major market in its own right and many companies seeking to diversify from traditional markets are opening up there.

“Demand for good staff is growing, not just in the traditional oil & gas and related service industries but also in FMCG, pharma, retail and business-to-business. Our clients are actively recruiting sales, marketing, HR, finance, legal and general management experts.”

Despite continuing uncertainty in global financial markets, the survey of about 9,700 companies across 55 countries showed that Russia, with 66% of the 220 polled companies currently hiring at managerial level, compared favourably with the rest of Europe.

Germany is still refraining from ambitious hiring with only 41% of employers actively recruiting managerial positions. The UK is less bullish than Russia at hiring at this level, with a hiring survey response of 60%.

In previous surveys, Russian employers’ have led the confidence survey, often in joint position with the other BRIC countries [Brazil, India and China]. BRIC countries have crept ahead of Russia recently, however, with India scoring 73% and China 72%. Brazil comes in just behind Russia at 65%.