65% of Singapore employers would expect HR teams to work hybrid in Q1 2022

Globally, a lesser percentage of employers would expect HR teams to work remotely all the time (13%), while 50% would expect hybrid work, and 32% would expect HR to work in the workplace all the time.

Close to four in 10 employers surveyed in Singapore (39%) plan to hire in Q1 of 2022, while a similar percentage (35%) plan to keep their workforce levels steady in the same period.

On the other hand, about one in four (25%) said they expect to lay off workers in Q1, while a much smaller 1% are undecided on their plans.

These were the findings of the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Q1 2022, released today (Tuesday, 14 December 2021), which involved 505 employers in October 2021.

Per the findings, hiring sentiments in Singapore are expected to be stronger in Q1 next year, improving by 16 percentage points (pp) from Q4 2021, while remaining relatively stable year-on-year.

On the global front — of the 39,000 employers surveyed, 52% surveyed plan to hire in Q1 2022, while 31% plan to keep workforce levels steady; 15% plan to lay off workers, and 2% remained undecided at the point of survey.

9 out of 11 sectors in Singapore report positive hiring sentiments 

Of the 11 sectors in Singapore, the survey noted that the strongest labour market is anticipated in banking, finance, insurance and real estate (+28%), followed by primary production (+27%), and IT, technology, telecoms, communications & media (+26%).

In contrast, the construction sector could see a growth of -2% in the quarter, while the education, health, social work & environment sector could see a growth of -10%.

Meanwhile, the growth expected in the remaining sectors is as follows:

• Not-for-profit: +100%*
• Other industries: +24%
• Restaurants & hotels: +16%
• Wholesale & retail: 15%
• Other services: 7%
• Manufacturing: 2%

*Due to the small sample size, this number should be treated as indicative, the survey notes. 

Overall, the Net Employment Outlook reported for Singapore is +14%, placing it among the three countries/territories globally that reported the weakest hiring sentiments.

Global snapshot 

The Global Net Employment Outlook reported for Q1 2022 is +37%. With strong outlooks across the regions, employers in the North (+41%), Central, and South Americas reported the most positive outlook (+39%), followed by APAC (+34%) and EMEA (+28%).

• Countries/territories with the strongest hiring prospects: 
  • Peru: +51%
  • India: +49%
  • The Netherlands: +47%
• Countries/territories with the weakest hiring prospects: 
  • Japan: +11%
  • Taiwan: 13%
  • Singapore: +14%
• Countries/territories with the strongest y-o-y improvements: 
  • Panama: +51%
  • The Netherlands: +45%
  • Brazil: +45%
• Countries/territories with the strongest q-o-q improvements: 
  • Peru: +47%
  • Argentina: +31%
  • Portugal: +29%
  • Hong Kong: +29%

How employers in Singapore are approaching hybrid work 

When it comes to a new way of work — hybrid working — employers in Singapore are expecting most of their workforce to work remotely in Q1 2022, except those in production/manufacturing and frontline sales/front office/customer-facing roles, where 45% and 29% of employers respectively expect their employees to work in the workplace all the time.

For HR, 24% of employers surveyed said they would expect their HR teams to work remotely all the time, while 65% would expect a hybrid arrangement (25% indicated working remotely twice or more a week, 40% indicated thrice or more), and 8% would expect HR to work in the workplace all the time.

The full findings are as follows:

Comparing the data globally — on average, the highest percentages of employers surveyed across countries who would expect employees to work in the workplace all the time were also in production/manufacturing (55%) and frontline sales/front office/customer-facing roles (43%).

For HR, a lesser percentage of employers would expect HR teams to work remotely all the time (13%), while 50% would expect hybrid work (26% indicated working remotely twice or more a week, 24% indicated thrice or more), and 32% would expect HR to work in the workplace all the time.

The full global findings are as follows:

Lead image & infographics: Provided