Online hiring in Singapore up 5% in December 2018

Legal professionals were the most sought after .

Online hiring continued to gain traction in Singapore after rising 5% YoY in December 2018, according to data from the Monster Employment Index (MEI).

The MEI which gauges online job posting activity compiled monthly by recruitment platform Monster.com found that the biggest driving force behind this growth was the IT, telecom and BPO industry with a 23% YoY growth in December. This extended the upward trend seen in November which recorded a 22% growth rate.

Also read: Glassdoor launches its recruitment services in Singapore and Hong Kong

“Other industries that displayed impressive double digit YoY growth in December were BFSI and advertising with a 17% and 15% rise, respectively,” the firm said in a statement. Likewise, the engineering and retail industries recorded positive growth of 6% YoY, whilst the healthcare and import/export segments remained the same.

Meanwhile, of the 12 jobs monitored by the Index, eight witnessed positive growth on a year-on-year basis in December led by legal professionals with a 9% YoY growth. Marketing and communications, as well as software/hardware professionals both saw a strong demand of 8%, whilst other positions with strong positive demand were customer service, and sales and business development at 6% and 4%, respectively.

Healthcare professionals on the other hand witnessed a significant 9% drop in demand growth which Monster.com said reflected poor demand within the industry.

Also read: Digitally-driven internal auditors to be in hot demand in 2019: report

“The past few months have seen consistent positive growth in Singapore’s online hiring landscape, but companies will need to frequently train and upskill their workforces in order to maintain this momentum in the coming years,” Monster.com Asia Pacific and Middle East’s CEO Abhijeet Mukherjee said in a statement.

He further highlighted that as digitisation and automation transforms the way individuals work, 60% of global executives expect that half of their organisation will need to either be retrained or replaced within five years.

A report by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) found that firms in Singapore are not investing enough into employee training with only 12% having done so in 2018. SBF also highlighted how amidst the push for innovation, finding workers with the relevant technology expertise was a concern for 41% of the 700 firms polled, whilst 29% were worried about retraining their employees in digital capabilities.

Also read: Daily Briefing: Singapore firms are not investing enough in employee training; Urban planners revive Singapore's 50ha in unused spaces

Following the report, national development minister Lawrence Wong announced on 22 January that the government will inject $72m to pump up workforce development and training

In Q3 2018, total employment growth in Singapore doubled to 16,700 led by the increase in hiring within the community, social & personal services, and financial & insurance sectors. According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the tightening of the labour market has eased as the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons in Singapore dipped from 1.1 in June to 1.05 in September 2018. However, MOM stressed that there continues to be more vacancies than job seekers.