Singapore's Q3 job outlook brightest in 3 years

Singapore

THE local employment outlook for the next three months is the brightest in nearly three years, according to ManpowerGroup.

Of the 670 Singapore employers that the US-based recruitment firm polled, 17 per cent plan to hire while 5 per cent intend to cut staff, yielding a net employment outlook of 12 per cent, after adjusting for seasonal variations. This is the highest since the fourth quarter of 2015.

The projected increase in recruitment in the third quarter is tipped to cut across all sectors, reported the latest quarterly ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.

The remaining 70 per cent of the employers polled indicated no change in employment for the July-September period.

The finance, insurance and real estate sector is likely to see the most aggressive hiring, with a net employment outlook of +26 per cent - its strongest in three years. Steady gains in staffing are expected for the transportation and utilities (+13 per cent) manufacturing (+12 per cent), public administration and education (+12 per cent) and services (+10 per cent) sectors.

Hiring in the mining and construction sector (+3 per cent) in the next three months is projected to be the weakest among the sectors.

ManpowerGroup said strong demand for electronic components is giving a strong boost to job prospects in the manufacturing sector. "Hiring plans are 3 percentage points stronger than the previous quarter and 11 points more when compared to this time last year."

ManpowerGroup country manager in Singapore, Linda Teo, said it's no surprise that manufacturing is looking to recruit strongly. "Employers (in the sector) revealed in a recent survey by the Economic Development Board that they are optimistic about better business prospects in the upcoming months."

Compared to the previous quarter, the employment outlook in the next three months is better in four of the seven sectors covered in the ManpowerGroup survey. Most notably, the transportation and utilities sector gained 6 percentage points in net employment outlook since the last quarter.

The forecasts for the remaining three sectors are dimmer - especially the public administration and education sector, which saw its net employment outlook fall 10 percentage points. The outlook for mining and construction slipped 3 percentage points.

Year on year, the job market appears to have improved in six out of the seven sectors. The net employment outlook for the finance, insurance and real estate sector jumped 22 percentage points from a year ago, and manufacturing is up 11 percentage points. The job outlook for public administration and education as well as transportation and utilities sectors rose 8 percentage points.

The lone sector that saw a decline is mining and construction, where the net employment outlook dipped 4 percentage points.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, employment prospects for the next three months also look brighter than the previous quarter in five of the seven economies covered in the survey.

Employers in Japan reported a net employment outlook of plus 26 per cent for the third quarter, the highest in the region. Taiwan reported the second highest net employment outlook of plus 24 per cent. The lowest, at 8 per cent, was reported in New Zealand.

Globally, job prospects in Japan and Taiwan in the next three months are also the brightest.

"Japan's outlook has improved gradually for three consecutive quarters and is now stronger than at any point since 2007," said ManpowerGroup. "Employers in both the services and manufacturing sectors report their strongest forecasts since Japan launched the survey in 2003."

Taiwan also expects to see its strongest recruitment in manufacturing as well as in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors. Manufacturing companies are anticipating the strongest growth in workforce since the third quarter of 2015.