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Number of remote job postings in Singapore decreased in May, but jobseekers desire such work arrangements

Number of remote job postings in Singapore decreased in May, but jobseekers desire such work arrangements

Overall, Singapore's job posting volumes "remain elevated and consistent" and have "consistently outpaced most other markets".

The number of remote job postings in Singapore has decreased "considerably" since the start of 2022, global jobs portal Indeed's analysts have pointed out.

The share of Singapore job postings featuring remote keywords – such as work-from-home – in their job descriptions was 7.4% at the end of May 2022, down around a quarter since the beginning of the year. "This measure was above 10% as recently as February 2022," the analysts revealed.

That said, these numbers are "still higher than before the pandemic" – noting that Singapore is one of the few advanced economies to have experienced a "meaningful decline" in its remote job postings share. In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, remote job postings are still around 10%, the analysts added.

Beyond that, Indeed’s findings also revealed that jobseekers in Singapore remain intent on working remotely. That is approximately 3.6% of jobseekers searching for remote work on the job portal.

Callam Pickering, APAC Senior Economist, Indeed explained: "Singapore workers have been seeking greater flexibility and autonomy in the way they work and this has intensified since the onset of the pandemic. Many businesses on the other hand, may view remote and hybrid work as temporary, in stark contrast to the trends we’ve observed globally.”

He added that in a very tight labour market, with staff shortages facing the city, maintaining work from home or hybrid arrangements "may attract more candidates" to the roles that businesses want to fill – which is "a win-win situation" for both jobseekers and companies.

On a separate note, hiring activity in Singapore was "broadly unchanged" in May 2022. Job postings volumes, according to the analysts, "remain elevated and consistent" with a further tightening of Singapore’s labour market.

To put this into perspective, by the end of May, Singapore job postings on the portal were "up 106%" from its level on February 1, 2020. This is after adjusting for seasonal trends, which indicates that there are "more than twice" as many jobs available now on the portal as there were "before the pandemic began".

Read alsoAustralia, Singapore, and India see blistering increases in companies' rate of hiring


Image / Indeed

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