Online hiring activity expected to increase by 11% in Q2 2018

Organisations in Southeast Asia are leaning towards digital transformation as technological advances become increasingly fundamental. One of the ways this adoption of technology impacts organisations directly is the measurement of online recruitment activity.

According to a report by Monster.com, Singapore has recorded a 6% growth in online hiring between February 2017 and 2018 as registered by Monster Employment Index (MEI).

Following a two-month increase in January and February 2018, online hiring in March only matched the corresponding period a year ago. However, the MEI still registers higher in a year-on-year comparison for the first quarter. A stronger second quarter in terms of hiring activity suggests an increase of 11% in online hiring in the next quarter of 2018.

Looking at jobs, engineering and production professionals experienced the highest growth in demand on an annual basis in February.

As for Malaysia, after seeing 11% growth year-on-year in February 2018, the MEI registered an 11% decline in March in comparison to a year ago.

At least 98% of businesses in Malaysia are SMEs and as traditional business models are disrupted, there would need to be constant adoption of new technology.

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In the HR and administration sector, Singapore saw a 5% decline year-on-year in March 2018.

28% of employers in Singapore expect to increase headcount by between 5% and 10% in 2018. With technology-enabled work on the rise, companies in Singapore are in need for experienced HR professionals to analyse big data and identify underperforming parts of the business.

While Malaysia recorded an annual decline of 8% in January, it improved in February with an annual growth of 2%. Malaysia also saw a year-on-year decline of 9% in March 2018.

A possible reflection of this slow growth in talent demand is that the nature of the role is evolving from being operational to a more integrated and technologically-enabled position. HR and its continued transformation remain a priority for companies.

Lead Photo /  iStock Photo / Monster.com