Online job ads for electronics down 2.1%

No thanks to weakening manufacturing output.

Online job ads in the Electronics & Semiconductor sector fell for the first time since 4Q2016 to 2.1% in Q3, JobTech analytics revealed in its quarterly report.

JobTech said the decline in the number of wanted jobs could point to a possible weakening in the manufacturing output growth in the coming quarters.

The number of online job ads in the Biotech & Pharmaceuticals and Energy & Chemicals sectors also fell 0.4% and 6.2%, respectively.

CIMB private bank economist Song Seng Wun commented, "Looking at the Q3 report, the slight pullback in Q3 job ads in the Biomedical and Electronics and Semiconductor clusters, two key contributors to the better-than-expected economic growth so far this year, could be the first indication that growth from the two clusters may have peaked."

Across all nine sectors, the number of online job postings showed a sequential quarterly growth of 5.8% compared to data in Q2.

Meanwhile, the Healthcare sector saw the strongest growth in the number of online job ads with 15%, followed by Marine at 12.8%, and Banking and Finance at 9.8%.

Song added, "It is encouraging to note that there is jobs growth in the marine & offshore segment indicating that the worst could be behind for one of Singapore's important manufacturing industries. Continued jobs growth in finance and logistics support the view that the global economic recovery is on track."

JobTech also found out which digital skills were the most required for over 20,000 recorded job listings in Q3.

Skills in Programming Languages were the most sought after as they were required in over 10,500 jobs.

Other wanted skills were related to Data Management, required in 5,500 jobs, both IT/Security Architecture and Software/Web Development, required in 3,000 jobs, and Quality Assurance, required in 2,500 jobs.