Stock market rout dampens financial sector hiring in Singapore

Employers are scared of a long slowdown.

If you think that stock market movements have nothing to do with Singapore’s job-hunting scene, then it might be time to think again.

The latest Morgan McKinley Asia Pacific Employment Monitor showed that local hiring sentiment in the financial sector took a hit after China’s stock market rout in August.

Although the number of available jobs still showed an overall increase of 18% in Q4, this is still a far cry from the much stronger growth recorded in the first three quarters of the year.

“Although the data shows a decent number, we’ve seen employers putting on the brakes in Q4, particularly during December,” said Andrew Evans, Chief Operating Officer, Morgan McKinley South Asia.

The monitor said that it is likely that the Black Monday crash in Chinese equity markets in August has had a psychological effect on Singapore - by spooking employers and cutting down hiring with the fear of an economic slowdown.

“It is very much a case of ‘when China sneezes, Singapore catches a cold’ and this is what we are seeing now,” said Evans.