Business confidence is bouncing back after the sharpest drop in economic activity since World War II, prompting more industry leaders to start hiring again, according to a survey on Wednesday.

Job creation plans, however, remain small-scale and largely concentrated in emerging markets, where the economic recovery has been strongest and wages are lower.

"CEOs are much more optimistic today, although there is a fair amount of caution as well, and the concerns depend on where you sit. If you are a CEO in a developing country you are feeling much more upbeat than CEOs in the developed world."

Markets have been buoyed by $5 trillion of cheap money, designed to float the global economy off the rocks, but as governments and central banks prepare exit strategies many business leaders see only a slow recovery.

Companies have eased up on layoffs but remain reluctant to hire beyond the minimum needed to deal with the weak upturn

Overall, 81 per cent of CEOs worldwide are confident about revenue prospects for the next 12 months, up from 64 per cent a year ago, and 31 per cent are "very confident", up 10 per centage points from last year's low.

"Everyone is trying to work out where we are in a cycle. But the interesting thing is that it is not one place because we are clearly in a multi-speed world at the moment," said Mark Foster, Accenture's group chief executive for management consulting.

Companies that have weathered the downturn in reasonable shape are now looking for opportunities to move ahead of rivals, as evidenced by Kraft Foods Inc's acquisition of British chocolate maker Cadbury Plc, Foster added.