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The local net employment outlook now stands at +24%.
Singapore’s Net Employment Outlook (NEO) has weakened by 5p.p in the second quarter of 2024, and 3p.p year-over-year, reflecting softening local hiring sentiments for the second consecutive quarter. Calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire, Singapore's NEO now stands at +24%.
Out of the 525 employers in Singapore surveyed for ManpowerGroup's Employment Outlook Survey, 41% plan to hire, while 17% anticipate a decrease in their staffing levels. The remaining 42% do not expect any change.
Looking at industry statistics, employers in financials and real estate reported the strongest hiring intentions (+45%) out of all the nine sectors, even ranking third globally among 42 countries. Similarly, employers in healthcare & life sciences and energy & utilities anticipate healthy headcount growth, with outlooks of +36% and +33% respectively. At a growth of 22p.p. hiring sentiment's in the energy and utilities sector improved the most since the last quarter.
A quick breakdown of hiring sentiments across all sectors is as follows.
Communication services
- 67% of communication services organisations report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for communications services employers is recorded at -29% — a decline of 72% from the previous quarter and 88% in the same period last year.
Consumer goods and services
- 79% of consumer goods and services employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for consumer goods and services employers is 17% — a growth of 5% from the previous quarter, but still down 10% from the same period last year.
Energy and utilities
- 69% of energy and utilities employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for energy and utilities employers is 33% — a growth of 22% from the previous quarter, but a decline of 34% compared to the same period last year.
Financials and real estate
- 88% of financials and real estate employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for financials and real estate employers is 45% — a growth of 6% for both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
Healthcare and life sciences
- 82% of healthcare and life sciences employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for healthcare and life science employers is 36% — a decline of 2% from the previous quarter, but still a growth of 3% compared to the same period last year.
Industrials and materials
- 81% of industrials and materials employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for industrials and materials employers is 32% — an increase of 4% from the previous quarter and 9% from same period last year.
Information and technology (IT)
- 78% of IT employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for IT employers is 28% — a decline of 1% from the previous quarter, but still a growth of 4% compared to the same period last year.
Transport, logistics and automotive
- 87% of transport, logistics and automotive employers report difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.
- NEO for transport, logistics and automotive employers is 20% — a decline of 23% from the previous quarter but still up 1% from the same period last year
Exploring the factors impacting hiring sentiments, the study found that although employers expect most of the progress on gender equality to happen in the next two years, only 27% of employers expect gender equality to be fully achieved in their organisation.
When it comes to retaining and securing diverse talent, flexible working policies were notably the most effective — 42% of companies saying that flexible working has helped them to retain talent and expand their candidate pool to be more diverse. This was then followed by:
- Internal leadership development programmes (34%)
- Creating an inclusive organisational culture (33%)
Lead image / ManpowerGroup's Employment Outlook Survey
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