Legal and compliance sector saw biggest growth in job ads in Q4: Robert Walters

JOB advertisements grew by 23 per cent year-on-year in Singapore in the last quarter of 2014 with the Fair Consideration Framework boosting numbers.

"A lot of listed positions remain open for longer because clients are looking for good Singaporean talent," said Toby Fowlston, Robert Walters' managing director (South-east Asia). "The challenge is in fulfilling this demand with the increased competition for Singaporean candidates. In comparison, the Singapore economy is growing at a more conservative rate. These numbers are more reflective of the certain industries in the job market where we are clearly seeing more growth."

According to the Robert Walters Asia Job Index for Q4 2014, job advertisements for the compliance and legal sector were up the highest, at 64 per cent year on year, on the back of increased governance and regulatory requirements.

Job advertisements for the human resource sector rose 48 per cent due to an "acute" talent crunch, the report said.

Meanwhile, stronger consumer confidence and spending cause retail job advertising to expand by 45 per cent.

Job advertisements for the accounting & finance and the IT sectors were both up 44 per cent.