"There is unexpected and welcome news from France given the current environment — manufacturing employers indicate they will hire between 80,000 and 100,000 people this year, and this momentum is projected to continue through 2020. This corresponds with our survey with manufacturing sector employers reporting their strongest hiring intentions since 2008.

"Despite quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year declines in most industry sectors and regions in Germany, the hiring outlook remains positive and the labor market is relatively resilient in the face of those headwinds. However, employers are less willing to ignore developments elsewhere in the eurozone. Even in Greece — where the labor market has been persistently weak — the hiring forecast is the most optimistic in three years, and hiring plans improve considerably from last year at this time in the majority of industry sectors surveyed."

Respondents from the 10 countries in the Americas expressed positive hiring plans for the second quarter. While hiring plans strengthened in four countries in this region, they dropped in five in in a quarter-over-quarter comparison. Brazil holds the strongest regional outlook, and the United States and Costa Rica post the weakest.

"There is a familiar story in the U.S., and that is of employers taking a measured and positive approach to hiring," says Jonas Prising, president of ManpowerGroup. "Companies remain cautious about making any drastic adjustments to their hiring plans, but the small steps forward indicate a continued trend of improved confidence. Brazil's hiring prospects are considerably improved from the first three months of the year, and the economic growth there goes hand-in-hand with a shortage of highly qualified professionals.

"The Brazilian government is addressing this by increasing the import of foreign talent to meet demand in a tight labor market where the challenge is further compounded by the ramping up of preparations for the next year's soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics."

Of the respondents from eight Asia Pacific countries and territories, four have strong hiring forecasts from last quarter. For a year-over-year comparison, outlooks weaken in five of eight countries and territories. Taiwan is the strongest country in the region while Australia is the weakest.

"Chinese employers predict an upbeat hiring pace as employer confidence seems to be rebounding in all sectors and regions when compared to last quarter," says Darryl Green, president of ManpowerGroup. "The country is encouraging and increasing both private and public investment to bolster the country's economic development. For example, the Chinese government plans to invest 650 billion yuan in railway construction with 5,200km of additional rail scheduled to go into operation this year.

"Meanwhile, the data from India shows last quarter's recovery from the sharp decline of the fourth quarter in 2012 is continuing. However, companies continue to struggle to close skills gaps, and the challenge is compounded by recent reports that more than 90 percent of recent engineering graduates are ill prepared to enter the work force — either because of a lack of hard or soft skills."