6 recruitment trends to watch out for in 2013

Contractual jobs will be more in demand.

According to the Employment Outlook (Quarter 2, 2013) report by Ronald Lee, Managing Director of PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd, even though many employers are complaining about the shortage of manpower, it is actually not an employees’ market nor is it an employers’ market. 

It noted that the recruitment landscape now is about aligning and matching the expectation of the role requirements between the employer and employee. This is especially so for senior level positions.

The report outlined 6 recruitment and human resource trends in Singapore for 2013.

1. Demand for Individuals with Scarce Skills. There will be greater demand for subject matter experts in a functional role as employers will be hiring them aggressively in order to take advantage of the upward U-curve of Singapore’s economic recovery.

2. Rise in Contract Hiring. As more companies streamline their workforce due to tighter recruitment budgets, this will result in an increase in the hiring of employees on a contractual basis.

3. More Flexible Work Programmes. In response to calls for better work-life balance, more employers will offer full-time staff more flexi-work programmes.

4. Emphasis on Retention. To cope with the manpower crunch, companies will be focusing on employee retention and devising talent retention strategies to keep its people.

5. Increase in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). As more companies opt for a leaner headcount, they may be more likely to outsource certain business processes, including human resourcefunctions.

6. Focus on Work Improvement Programmes. In line with the national mandate highlighted in Budget 2013, the agendas of many organisations will focus on initiatives that lead to increased productivity.