Online hiring in Singapore up 16% in May; financial talent tops demand in S-E Asia

ONLINE hiring in Singapore saw 16 per cent year-on-year growth for the month of May, according to a report by online recruitment services firm Monster.com on Tuesday.

Its Monster Employment Index (MEI) is a gauge of online job posting activity compiled monthly by Monster.com. It records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in local recruitment activity. The index does not reflect the trend
of any one advertiser or source but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry, said Monster.

May's growth was dominated by the IT, telecommunications, business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT-enabled services industries (ITES), which saw online hiring rise 42 per cent after easing slightly in April.

This was followed by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industries which saw 27 per cent growth. The growth in e-recruitment for BFSI industries in Singapore also outpaced that of Malaysia and Philippines in the region, which saw year-on-year growth of 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, Monster.com said in a separate report.

Finance and accounts roles were in "abundance" for the month of May for Singapore and Philippines, each registering double-digit year-on-year growth of 17 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. Malaysia however, saw an annual decline of two per cent.

The next sector to see growth in Singapore was the advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment industry which saw a 23 per cent rise from a year ago.

Out of the 14 industry sectors monitored by the MEI, nearly all saw positive growth in e-recruitment for the month except for the production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary sector which did not record any growth.

By occupation, software, hardware, telecom professionals saw the highest spike in demand this month with 28 per cent growth year-on-year. Online demand for hospitality and travel professionals was also up 14 per cent from a year ago, the steepest seen this year for the sector.

Meanwhile, demand for healthcare professionals rose 8 per cent year-on-year, recovering growth for the first time since June 2018.

Real estate was the only profession out of 12 occupations monitored by the MEI to see a decline in online hiring demand, dropping 5 per cent year-on-year.

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