Online recruitment in Singapore decreased by 6% in September 2020 when compared to September 2019, according to data from the Monster Employment Index.

On a month-on-month basis, the Index recorded growth of 5%. Monster said this improvement in demand indicates that hiring is picking up among companies.

Online hiring demand in September 20 exceeded September 2019 level in 5 of the 14 industries monitored by the Index.

Government/ PSU (public sector undertaking)/ Defence (14%) saw the most-notable year-on-year growth in e-recruitment among industries. This was followed by Healthcare (11%), Shipping/ Marine (10%), Production/ Manufacturing (9%) and Import/ Export (+8%).

Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment (-25%), Retail/Trade and Logistics (-22%), and Hospitality (-18%) exhibited the steepest decline in September’20 from the year-ago level.

At the same time, annual online demand for professionals increased for 3 of the 12 functional areas monitored by the Index.

Healthcare (12%) professionals continued to witness steepest year-on-year growth. This was followed by increase in demand for Software, Hardware, Telecom (8%) professionals.

Functional areas like Hospitality & Travel (-16%), Sales & Business Development (-15%) and Finance & Accounts (-15%) exhibited a dip.

The Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly and quarterly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster.