Online hiring for telecom and BPO roles up 39% in April

However, Singapore was outpaced by Malaysia with a 43% growth in online recruitment.

Employment opportunities continued to abound in Singapore’s telecom/ISP, IT and BPO/ITES industry as online hiring picked up in April to 39%, according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI) report.

The surge in online telecom and BPO recruitment drove up Singapore’s overall online hiring activity, which recorded a double-digit 13% YoY growth during the month.

The MEI, which records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in local recruitment activity, found that whilst the pace of growth eased marginally by 1% vis-à-vis from March, the sector witnessed increased demand in the short term, recording an 18% and 27% growth over three and six months, respectively.

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However, when compared to its regional peers, Singapore came in second to Malaysia, which recorded a 43% spike in online hiring activity in the industry. The sector has reportedly been witnessing double-digit annual growth since July 2018.

“In the short-term, the sector fared well too, with a 14% three-month growth, and an 8% six-month growth,” the firm highlighted.

Singapore’s advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment sector also witnessed double-digit growth, up 25% annually in the same month, whilst e-recruitment for the shipping & marine industry saw the steepest annual growth since March 2013 and was up 8% in April 2019.

Year-on-year growth for the production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary industry exhibited the least amount of growth amongst industries in April 2019, edging up a mere 3%.

When looking at occupations, the report found that software/hardware and telecom professionals witnessed the highest spike in demand with a sharp 27% annual growth in April.

Meanwhile, talent in human resources (HR) & admin saw a boost in demand for the second month in a row, as growth in online hiring rose 6%. Similarly, online demand for marketing & communications professionals saw an uptick of 14% YoY.

On the flip side, the real estate industry experienced the steepest decline, falling 10% YoY.

“Hiring intentions in Singapore remain cautiously positive amidst external headwinds and economic restructuring. Job-seekers can expect a stable hiring environment in Q2, particularly for specialists in the IT and BFSI sectors,” said Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster.com for APAC and Middle East.

Whilst the government instills a culture of lifelong learning, he added that businesses too must share the load and invest quickly in skill-focussed initiatives and incentives to retrain current staff.