foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME), one of the leading talent platforms, published the foundit Insights Tracker (fit) for July 2023, formerly published as Monster Employment Index (MEI). According to the Singapore fit report, job roles in hospitality, travel, and real estate have impressively grown by 8% over the past year.
Additionally, the tracker recorded a 14% dip in hiring activity, as the index climbed down from 139 in July 2022 to 120 in July 2023. The tracker also revealed that it has become more challenging over the last six months, witnessing a 6% decline in job demand.
Despite the country’s moderate economic growth, the labour market revealed an optimistic hiring outlook for professionals in hospitality & travel, real estate, and healthcare fields.
Commenting on the Singaporean job trends for July 2023, Sekhar Garisa, CEO, foundit, said, “Although the labour market revealed signs of vulnerability that resulted in a subdued rate of hiring, Singapore has showcased tremendous resilience in certain sectors and job roles,”
“Singapore is an international hub for hospitality & tourism, and there is always enough scope for growth. The island city lures visitors and businesses from around the globe, which is also a testimony to the increase in job demand in the import/export sector. We expect to see better hiring intentions in the coming quarter as companies also revisit their talent requirements,” he added.
Import/export sector leads in hiring activity, while IT, telecom/ISP, and production/manufacturing witness a significant drop in hiring activity
The fit revealed that 3 out of 15 industry sectors monitored by the tracker saw growth in online recruitment activity between July ’22 and July ’23.
While the import/export (+2%) sector experienced a slight increase in job demand, showcasing a subtle uptrend attributed to the growth in Singapore’s total merchandise trade in the first quarter of 2022, particularly in the import of food and healthcare products.
Oil & gas (0%) sector and Retail/ Trade and Logistics (0%) sector exhibited stability with no change in job demand compared to the previous year.
However, a few other significant sectors experienced a decline in online recruitment activity. IT, telecom/ISP, BPO/ITES, and production/ manufacturing sectors witnessed a significant reduction in hiring by (-26%) and (-20%), respectively.
These downturns can be linked to the challenges posed by global uncertainties, contributing to the pronounced impact on these sectors. Other notable industries also experienced a lower level of opportunities compared to the previous year, such as shipping/ marine (-2%), hospitality (-3%), healthcare (-3%), consumer goods /FMCG (-5%), engineering, construction and real estate (-6%), BFSI (-13%), and education (-14%).
Hospitality & travel job roles, real estate, and healthcare professionals lead the hiring trends
In terms of functional roles, hospitality & travel and real estate professionals saw the most significant demand in July ’23. They recorded a growth rate of (+8%) driven by the surging demand from both international visitors and local patrons.
Also, the soaring prices for residential properties and the apprehension about future price escalation prompted individuals to purchase, which has led to a high demand for real estate (+8%) professionals.
Singapore is also a country that pushes for new technology innovations and artificial intelligence in healthcare. The year registered a (5%) increases in hiring healthcare professionals from the year-ago level.
On the other hand, job roles in the software, hardware, and telecom industries experienced a significant 35% decline Y-o-Y, owing to the dip in industrial production in the country. Industrial production logged the tenth consecutive month of contraction, which affected job roles, including marketing & communications (-18%) and legal (-12%).
These three functional roles showcased one of the most substantial annual drops in e-recruitment activity. The job roles in HR & admin (-1%) and customer service (-5%) dipped annually; however, they maintained stability, retaining a similar level to the previous month.
In contrast, professionals in engineering/ production (-7%), sales & business development (-8%), purchase/ logistics/ supply chain (-9%), and finance & accounts (-9%) projected negative growth but have improved over the last month in July ’23.
