Nearly half of Singapore employers plan to hire more next quarter

Around 36% of polled employers do not expect any change while 17% are eyeing staff reductions during the same period, according to a survey of 525 employers in Singapore published by recruitment agency ManpowerGroup on Tuesday.

Singapore’s net employment outlook, an indicator of economic and labor market trends, stood at 29% for the fourth quarter, The Straits Times reported, citing the same survey.

The figure was calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to reduce staffing levels from those planning to boost hiring.

This marked a 9 percentage point increase from the previous quarter and the first uptick following three straight quarters of decline, according to The Business Times.

Of the nine key industries covered by the survey, only the energy and utilities sector saw a negative outlook of -30%, down 50 percentage points from the third quarter and 58 points from a year ago.

The finance and real estate industry, where 88% of employers reported difficulty finding the skilled talent they need, recorded the strongest outlook at 64%, a 49 point surge from the third quarter and an 18 point year-on-year increase.

When it comes to retaining staff, improving work-life balance is the go-to strategy for employers in the city-state, with 61% of surveyed firms taking this approach, followed by training managers to provide better support to workers (50%) and reducing stress for employees (48%).

In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore’s net employment outlook was the second strongest, trailing only India at 37% and followed by China at 27%.