Online recruitment in Singapore registered a 3% increase in hiring activity in August 2022 when compared to August 2021, according to the Monster Employment Index.

The Monster Employment Index moved to 139 in August 2022 from 135 in August 2021. On a monthly basis, the Index remained flat.

According to the Index, hiring activity has seen a downward trajectory of 5% in the last six months. But the upcoming quarter is anticipated to have higher job demand with the higher intent being observed in employers.

By industry, 3 of the 14 industry sectors monitored by the Index registered expansion in online recruitment activity between August 2021 and August 2022.

Year-on-year, the education sector (up 14%) saw the most robust annual growth among sectors with Ed-tech making a mark followed by marginal growth in BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) (+1%) and Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations, Media and Entertainment (+1%). The rest of the monitored industries showed a downward trend in online demand for hiring.

The industries that witnessed the most significant declines are IT, Telecom/ISP and BPO/ITES (-16%), Consumer Goods /FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) (-15%), Production/ Manufacturing (-14%) and Import/ Export (-14%).

Online demand for professionals remained positive for 10 of the 12 functions monitored by the Index.

The demand for Finance and Accounts (22%) roles is in abundance representing the strongest year-on-year growth.The Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly and quarterly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster.