Singapore employers forecast healthy headcount growth

Survey shows the most robust hiring prospects are in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector, where the Net Employment Outlook is +37%.

Following closely is the Public Administration & Education sector, with an Outlook of +36%. Overall, employers in all seven industry sectors eye headcount gains for the first quarter of the year.

According to the survey results, "Prosperous hiring climates are anticipated by employers in both the Mining & Construction sector and the Services sector, with Outlooks of +33% and +31%, respectively.

"Quarter-over-quarter, hiring intentions have strengthened in six of the seven industry sectors. A sharp improvement of 28 percentage points is reported in the Mining & Construction sector, and Services sector employers report a 20 percentage point increase.

"There are improvements of 18 percentage points in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector and 17 percentage points in the Public Administration & Education sector. However, in the Wholesale Trade & Retail Trade sector, the Outlook declines by a slight 4 percentage points."

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter 2010 was conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 699 employers in Singapore. Survey participants were asked, "How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of March 2010 as compared to the current quarter?"

Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase, and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter.