Online recruitment in Singapore decreased by 4% in October 2020 when compared to October 2019, according to data from the Monster Employment Index.

On a month-on-month basis, the Index recorded growth of 4%. Monster said this improvement indicates that hiring is picking up among companies.

Online hiring demand in October 2020 exceeded October 2019 level in 6 of the 14 industries monitored by the Index

Production/ Manufacturing (20%) saw the most-notable year-on-year growth in e-recruitment among industries. This was followed by Healthcare (15%), Shipping/ Marine (15%), Government/ PSU (public service undertaking)/ Defence (12%), Import/ Export (11%) and Engineering, Construction and Real Estate (1%).

Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment (-22%), Retail/Trade and Logistics (-19%), and BFSI (banking, financial services, insurance) (-16%) recorded the steepest decline in October 2020 from the year-ago level.

At the same time, annual online demand for professionals increased for 6 of the 12 functional areas monitored by the Index

Healthcare (16%) professionals continued to witness steepest year-on-year growth. This was followed by increase in demand for Legal (5%), Software, Hardware, Telecom (4%), Engineering /Production (3%) and Marketing & Communications professionals (2%).

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

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