Singapore’s Hiring Prospects Are Still Looking Good

 
Singapore – The employment situation thus far in Singapore has been positive, and that is expected to spill over into the second quarter of the year.

Prime Staff’s Q2 Employment Outlook reported strong hiring intent in the first three months of 2014, and predict it will only intensify over the next quarter.

“As such, the unemployment rate should hold steady at a low of 1.8% or even decrease slightly further,” Ronald Lee, managing director of Prime Staff, said. “This is partially due to higher job vacancies resulting from a higher resignation rate and a higher employment creation rate of late.”

Hiring intent is expected to be strong within the logistics and transportation, hotels and hospitality, food and beverage, healthcare, education, and professional services sectors.

Lee added there will be a high demand for Singaporean and permanent resident workers, adding employers will be paying a premium for those with scalable and competency-driven skill sets.

“More than ever, companies will need to focus on developing and implementing effective retention strategies to hold on to its employees as the manpower crunch deepens,” he said.

However, employers here will also be looking at optimising their workforce, and push for higher innovation and productivity rates.

The report also highlighted the sectors it predicts will “experience some restructuring”, including banking, electronics, and construction.

“The banks, in particular, will continue to realign their operations in response to changing demand for non-core business areas and services. They may need to decide on where their strengths lie and identify the business areas they are not competitive in, and trim headcounts accordingly,” Lee said.
 
Ronald Lee
Managing Director
PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd