Singapore job postings soften in October as ads remain above pre-Covid levels

Mentions of remote work rose modestly to 8.2% of postings from 7.7% a year earlier.

Singapore job postings continued to soften in October, according to Indeed’s Hiring Lab, with ads down 3.1% MoM and 17.9% YoY, though still 32% above pre-pandemic levels.

The breadth of demand remains elevated but is edging lower: 86% of occupations are still above their pre-Covid baseline, and 8% have more than twice as many postings as before the pandemic, both close to post-pandemic lows.

Demand remains strongest in a handful of fields compared with early 2020. Postings in pharmacy are up 181%, followed by sport at 122%, hospitality and tourism at 119%, veterinary at 98%, education and training at 94%, and physicians and surgeons at 93%.

Occupations below pre-pandemic levels include driving, down 27%, childcare, down 26%, arts and entertainment, down 9%, and beauty and wellness, down 8.2%.

Three-month momentum to 31 October shows gains in retail, up 17%, hospitality and tourism, up 13.1%, physicians and surgeons, up 12.4%, data and analytics, up 12.1%, and therapy, up 11.7%.

The steepest declines were in childcare at 30%, driving at 24.9%, sports at 18.6%, community and social service at 16.8%, installation and maintenance at 15.2%, and insurance at 17.6%.

Mentions of remote work rose modestly to 8.2% of postings from 7.7% a year earlier. The highest shares were in IT infrastructure, operations, and support at 17.2%, insurance at 15.3% and sales at 14.9%, whilst about half of all occupations remained below 5%.

The biggest year-on-year increases in remote mentions were in marketing, up 5.3 percentage points, medical information, up 4.4 points, and legal, up 3.9 points. Declines were largest in architecture, down 8.8 points, beauty and wellness, down 3.9 points, and hospitality and tourism, down 3.8 points.

Indeed said the labour market remains tight, with unemployment at 2.0% and ongoing skills shortages, but expects job postings to continue trending lower in the near term.

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