AI pre-screening swarms 70% of Singapore recruitment

Four in 10 recruiters now face intense pressure to fill open roles faster than in previous years.

Seven in ten (70%) recruiters in Singapore plan to increase their use of artificial intelligence (AI) for pre-screening interviews, as 40% face pressure to hire qualified candidates faster, according to a LinkedIn report.

The move comes as more than half (58%) of professionals in Singapore are actively seeking new roles in 2026, yet 74% of recruiters said finding qualified candidates has become more challenging.

Early adopters are already seeing results, with 61% of recruiters who use AI tools saying the technology helped them identify candidates with skills they might otherwise have missed.

Almost four in five (79%) added that AI has already changed how their organisation hires.

Moreover, 40% were also expected to identify overlooked or “hidden” candidates amidst a limited number of open roles. Applications per job posting rose 6% year-on-year.

On the other hand, Singapore’s overall unemployment stood at 2.0% in December 2025, with resident unemployment at 2.9% and citizen unemployment at 3.0%, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Manpower.

The share of firms expecting to hire in the next three months also eased to 43.3%

Separately, LinkedIn’s labour market outlook report revealed that hiring activity in the country was about 5% lower in 2025 compared with 2024, despite job postings rising 4% YoY. Employers prioritised cost discipline, productivity, and internal redeployment over net new hiring.

Hiring remained below pre-pandemic levels, with the slowdown attributed to cyclical and macro-driven factors rather than AI-driven job displacement, the report added.

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