Singapore Tech Firms Expected To Hire Most In 2nd Quarter
SINGAPORE – A survey of over 500 employers by recruitment agency ManpowerGroup shows the most favourable hiring prospects by employers in Q2 2022, reported The Business Times on Tuesday noon (22 March, SGT).
In fact, net employment outlook during the 2nd quarter reached 25 percent. Not only is it the highest in nearly 11 years it is also greater by 11 percentage points compared in Q1 2022. Notably, net employment outlook is defined as the percentage of firms that plan to hire new workers minus the percentage that intend to let go of some employees.
Of the 11 industries polled, IT, technology, telecommunications, communications and media sector registered the strongest employment prospects of 38 percent.
Similarly, the manufacturing industry, as well as the banking, finance, insurance and real estate sectors recorded solid figures of 26 per cent each, while the construction sector’s employment prospects hit 24 percent.
The weakest hiring forecast was seen in the hospitality and restaurants industry at -3 percent – the only sector where more employers intend to downsize than hire.
Aside from that, ManpowerGroup’s research revealed that while the rate is still positive, medium-sized companies with 50 to 249 staff had the weakest hiring prospects versus smaller and larger entities.
Still, the bullish outlook indicates there is pent-up demand by firms in anticipation of a return to normalcy, commented Paul Heng, Managing Director of NeXT Career Consulting Group.
“Market sentiments are that ‘I’d rather choose to chiong (Hokkien for rush)’, as employers are sick and tired of the pandemic and the measures that come with it,” noted Heng, referring to employers proceeding with hiring, instead of waiting for the situation to revert to an even keel.
