1 in 10 employers in Singapore won't hire in 4Q12

Only this sector has the strongest hiring plans at 29% - find out what it is.

According to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Singapore, job seekers in Singapore are likely to benefit from a steady level of labor market activity with employers reporting a Net Employment Outlook of +17% once seasonal variations are removed from the data. Based on the results of the latest ManpowerGroup survey, Singapore employers remain upbeat about their hiring intentions through the last three months of the year despite declines in the Outlook when compared to last quarter and last year at this time.

For Quarter 4 2012, more than nine out of 10 employers in Singapore plan to add to their workforces or keep their current payrolls intact through the October-December time frame; 23 percent of employers predict an increase in  staffing levels and 69 percent expect no change. Singapore’s Outlook declines 6 percentage points quarter- overquarter and is 12 percentage points weaker when compared with Quarter 4 2011.

“With the current debt crisis in Europe and some measure of ongoing uncertainty in the U.S., employers do not foresee any quick fixes in the near future and are therefore exercising caution in hiring. However, with the growth in the Asia Pacific region, there is an imminent need for a broad range of talent in many organizations in the region,” said Linda Teo, Country Manager of Manpower Singapore. “Even though employers are reporting positive hiring intentions, job seekers are advised to be flexible. We suggest they keep an open mind during their job search and consider how their skill set might transfer to other sectors in order to cast their nets further in their job search,” said Ms. Teo.

For the fourth consecutive quarter, employers in the Public Administration/Education sector (+29%) report the strongest hiring plans. But weaker Outlooks are reported by employers in five out of seven industry sectors quarter-over-quarter with employers in the Transportation & Utilities (+9%) reporting the weakest fourth-quarter hiring plans as well as the steepest quarter-over-quarter drop of 14 percentage points. The Services sector Outlook weakens the most year-over-year with a drop of 25 percentage points.  

The most optimistic hiring intentions are reported in the Public Administration & Education sector, with a Net Employment Outlook of +29%. Positive hiring plans are reported by employers in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector and the Mining & Construction sector, with Outlooks of +20% and +18%, respectively.