The number of remote job postings in Singapore decreased by approximately 25% since the start of 2022 according to research by Indeed.

The share of Singapore job postings featuring remote keywords, such as work from home, in their job descriptions was 7.4% at the end of May, down 25% since the beginning of the year. This measure was above 10% as recently as February.

Singapore’s remote postings are still higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the city-state is also one of the few advanced economies to have experienced a meaningful decline in its remote posting share. In countries such as Australia, Canada and the US, remote postings are still around 10%. 

Indeed’s findings also showed that Singapore’s jobseekers remain intent on working remotely. Approximately 3.6% of Singapore searches on Indeed’s job portal are for remote work, one in every 28 searches on the Indeed website, with no meaningful decline in jobseeker interest for remote roles this year. 

Callam Pickering, APAC Senior Economist at Indeed.com, said, “Singapore workers have been seeking greater flexibility and autonomy in the way they work and this has intensified since the onset of the pandemic. Many businesses on the other hand, may view remote and hybrid work as temporary, in stark contrast to the trends we’ve observed globally.”

“In a very tight labour market, with staff shortages facing the city, maintaining work from home or hybrid arrangements may attract more candidates to the roles that businesses want to fill. That’s a win-win situation for both workers and companies,” Pickering added.

Hiring activity in Singapore was broadly unchanged in May, however, posting volumes remain elevated and consistent with a further tightening of Singapore’s labour market.   

By the end of May 2022, Singapore job postings on Indeed were up 106% from their level on 1 February 2020, after adjusting for seasonal trends indicating that there are more than twice as many jobs available now on Indeed as there were before the pandemic began. 

The growth of job postings in Singapore has consistently outpaced most other markets. Singapore and Australia are the only two advanced economies where job postings have more than doubled since the pandemic began, indicating general business confidence.