According to Hudson, 18.7 per cent of surveyed employers are looking to increase permanent staffing levels in the first quarter of 2015, the highest proportion since the second quarter of 2012.

The results, gleaned through interviews with nearly 3500 employers, represented the biggest quarter-on-quarter jump since early 2010.

"Despite lukewarm economic conditions and recently released weak GDP figures, Australian employers are optimistic about the year ahead," said Dean Davidson, executive general manager of Hudson Australia.

"The outlook is buoyant."

Hudson's survey results follow an upbeat report from ANZ on Monday that could point to a pick-up in hiring in the first part of 2015.

The bank's monthly job advertising survey found the number of positions advertised online and in printed newspapers climbed 0.7 per cent during November.

Positions announced on websites rose 0.9 per cent for the month, and 10 per cent year-on-year. Newspaper advertising, however, fell sharply, by 5.4 per cent for the month. However, printed ads account for only 5 per cent of the market.

ANZ said the latest jobs data, along with other forward-looking surveys, suggest "labour market conditions have improved, or at least stabilised".

Official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have proved erratic over the past few months, forcing the government agency to revise both its methodology and its results. Jobs data for November will be published by the RBA on Thursday.

According to the ABS, unemployment in the country is currently running at 6.2 per cent. Some private sector economists see this rising to above 6.5 per cent next year, encouraging the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates.

The RBA itself has also warned that unemployment in the Australia could get worse before it starts a sustained recovery, partly because of a further wind-down in labour-intensive resource-related mining investment.

Of note in Monday's ANZ survey was continued weakness in the mining states of Queensland and Western Australia, where job ads were down 2.3 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively, in November. For the year, they have dived by 15.1 per cent and 13.5 per cent, respectively.

However, according to Hudson, Queensland led the way in hiring intentions, with more than 20 per cent of respondents planning to take on workers in the first quarter of 2015. Queensland was followed by Victoria (19.7 per cent), South Australia (19.4 per cent) and New South Wales (19.4 per cent).

Hudson said the Queensland result was "heavily influenced by the public sector".

"With a government in pre-election mode, there is a considered push to deliver upon the current transformation programs of work and front-line projects," the recruitment company said.

"In New South Wales, the increase in employer net hiring intentions is largely driven by change and transformation in the financial services sector."

Financial services is the field with the strongest hiring sentiment, with a net 36.9 per cent of hiring managers planning on increasing staff numbers.

"Financial services teams have recognised that the landscape has permanently changed and are driving significant transformation projects," said Hudson. "Those professionals with exposure to agile environments are highly sought after as are compliance and risk professionals who can help organisations navigate the plethora of regulatory change on the horizon."

The legal profession has the second-highest hiring intentions, with 36.9 per cent of employers looking to increase staff numbers.

"There is strong demand for mid-level lawyers in private practice with organisations backfilling roles that were deliberately left unfilled from past years," said the report.

Sales, marketing and communications (23.2 per cent), information and communications technology (20.5 per cent) and human resources (19.9 per cent) also had strong hiring intentions.