Job vacancies hit all-time high in 2021, indicating recovery from Covid-19: MOM

THE number of job vacancies hit an all-time high in 2021, with nearly half of them comprising newly created positions, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Friday (Apr 1).

"If you take it all together, the record-high job vacancies, the growth in employment and falling unemployment, these are clear indications that our economy is recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," Manpower Minister Tan See Leng told reporters following a tour of Chinese restaurant Crystal Jade Palace's operations.

Singapore's unemployment rates in January returned to pre-pandemic levels, with the overall figure dipping to 2.3 per cent, according to the ministry's data.

The Job Vacancies 2021 report is based on the responses of 14,340 establishments employing over 1.8 million staff, yielding a response rate of 85 per cent, MOM said.

The proportion had also already been on a "slight uptrend" even before the Covid-19 pandemic - at 42 per cent in 2018 - when the data was first collected, the ministry noted.

Last year, the availability of new roles was most pronounced in growth industries such as information and communications, financial and insurance services and professional services, as well as the foreign labour-reliant construction sector, which had been particularly affected by border restrictions.

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Roles for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) formed 53 per cent of the vacancies, a figure which has been on a downward trend since 2020.

This is because the demand for non-PMET roles, such as construction labourers and electrical and electronic equipment assemblers, had been growing due to the closure of borders that temporarily restricted the inflow of migrant workers who are usually hired to fill such roles, MOM said.

Dr Tan said the foreign-worker shortage should "largely abate" in the months ahead as Singapore reopens its borders. The land border with Malaysia was reopened on Friday after more than 2 years, potentially paving the way for the return of Malaysian workers who were among the 300,000 people that used to commute daily across the Causeway.

"Over the next 2-3 months, we'll see an influx of the workers who have gone back but who couldn't come back, and these are people who have gotten their permit approvals," said Dr Tan.

The proportion of job vacancies unfilled for 6 months or more also increased to 35 per cent, from 27 per cent in 2020, even though the figure had been on a "broad downtrend" from 2014, MOM noted.

In particular, construction labourers, cleaners, shop assistants, waiters and heavy truck and lorry drivers were the most common non-PMET roles that were hardest to fill. These roles also tend to be in sectors with a heavy reliance on foreign workers, Dr Tan noted.

Physically strenuous job nature, unattractive pay and poor working conditions were common reasons indicated by employers for reasons they were unable to fill non-PMET positions, suggested a mismatch in employers' and job seekers' expectations on employment conditions, said MOM.

Still, with the relaxation of domestic Covid-19 restrictions, consumer-facing industries could face persistent strain as hiring demand picks up alongside a resumption of business activities, he said.

"I don't think we can go back to the old way of doing things without considering how to continue to innovate, how to continue to digitalise and how to continue to use technology to do some of the jobs to improve their productivity," he said, adding that these are "permanent structural changes".

"These costs would probably have to be borne by the entire industry, smeared across, and at some stage, consumers will probably end up paying a bit more - that's the reality of life," he added.

For companies that need to bring in foreign labour, Dr Tan said the government is trying to nudge them towards bringing in those that are of a "higher calibre" with ability to multi-task.

Among PMET roles, employers said there was a shortage of candidates with the necessary skills and work experience among applicants, in particular for positions where incumbents relied on specialised technical knowledge such as software, Web and multimedia developers as well as systems analysts.

The increased competition from other employers for positions such as audit associate professionals and registered nurses was also a factor.

The share of vacancies that involved remote work fell slightly from 35 per cent to 31 per cent, reflecting the higher proportion of vacancies from industries and occupations where remote work was not prevalent, said the ministry.

Fewer employers also offered remote work options for roles that require face-to-face interactions alongside the resumption of workplace activities, it added.

Dr Tan said employers could consider engaging another "untapped workforce" within the economy, referring to about 260,000 women who are currently not working and are providing caregiving duties or upgrading themselves as well as about 120,000 older workers aged 65 to 69.

He noted that the Jobs Growth Incentive, which offers temporary wage support to companies hiring older workers, has supported close to 509,000 local hires by 67,000 firms from September 2020 to August 2021.

The easing of Covid-19 restrictions also means that demand for short-term Covid-19 roles, including safe-distancing ambassadors (SDA), are likely to decrease, he added.

The majority of them have returned to their former roles as the economy progressively reopens, such as in the food and beverage (F&B) and aviation industries.

"For the rest of them, those that are in or have been working as SDAs closer to the healthcare sector, we're trying to absorb them into the healthcare sector as well," he said.

He urged job seekers, including those in short-term Covid-19 roles, to approach Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) for assistance.