'Green movement' driving hiring sentiments across sectors
Hiring sentiments in Singapore weakened for the second consecutive quarter.
The Net Employment Outlook by ManpowerGroup fell five percentage points to +24%, according to the latest survey.
The Net Employment Outlook (NEO) is calculated by subtracting the number of employers anticipating a decrease in headcount from those who plan to hire for the upcoming quarter.
In Singapore, 41% of employers plan to hire in the April to June quarter, 17% of employers anticipate a decrease, and 42% do not expect any change.
Singapore is among the markets with the strongest hiring intentions across the Asia-Pacific region, just behind India (+36%) and China (+32%).
The markets with the weakest hiring intentions include Taiwan (+12%) and Japan (+11%), according to the report.
'Green movement' fuelling hiring sentiments
By industry, the ManpowerGroup report found the critical role of the ongoing green and sustainability movement in boosting job growth across Singaporean workplaces.
Financial and Real Estate employers had the strongest hiring intentions in Singapore (+45%), even ranking third globally among 42 countries.
Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore, said the industry is seeing a "boom in demand for sustainable financing as more business take on sustainable loans to support their green transformation."
"With Singapore being a leading hub for green finance and carbon trading in Asia and globally, banking and finance companies are actively recruiting talent with environmental, social, and corporate expertise and qualifications to support their growth in this area," Teo said in a statement.
Other sectors that expecting an increase in headcount include the Healthcare and Life Sciences (+36%), as well as the Energy and Utilities (+33%) sector.
According to the report, the Energy and Utilities sector saw a 22 percentage points increase since the last quarter, showing the strongest improvement in terms of hiring sentiments.
"The green movement is also fuelling jobs growth in the renewable energy industry as more investments are being channelled to fund the development of and transition to clean energy sources," Teo said.
"The recent news of the setting up of the Future Energy Fund will also likely further boost hiring activity within the renewable energy cluster in anticipation of more business opportunities ahead."
Weaker hiring sentiments
Meanwhile, the communication services sector saw a sharp decline in NEO to -29%, diving 72 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and 88 percentage points year-on-year.
Teo attributed the decline to reduced spending for marketing services across organisations to manage costs.
"With less business opportunities, companies in the media, publishing and advertising industries are likely to pause their hiring and review their manpower needs during this lull period."
