Affected by the global financial crisis, hiring expectations have weakened in seven cities and five industrial sectors in the mainland for the first quarter of 2009.

In addition, employers in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou reported their weakest hiring intentions since the first quarter of 2007, a report conducted by Manpower showed.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the quarter.