The overall annual demand for Human Resources and Administrative professionals continues to experience a slump across Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines in January 2016. None of the markets reported positive growth between January 2015 and 2016.

This is according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI) data by Monster.com that records industries and occupations, which show the highest and lowest growth in online recruitment activity in various markets.

Singapore experienced the least decline in demand out of the three markets, recording a -4% year-over-year dip in January 2016. This is a marginal improvement of 1 percentage point from the annual decline recorded in December 2015.

The Philippines exhibited the weakest annual demand for HR professionals in January 2016, reporting a -43% year-over-year decline. However, there is also a marginal improvement seen, when compared to the annual decline recorded in December 2015, at -45% year-over-year. Demand for HR professionals emerged to be the second weakest amongst the rest of the occupational groups in the country.

Malaysia experienced a -22% year-over-year dip in demand between January 2015 and January 2016. The pace of decline in annual demand within the sector has also eased up, reporting an improvement of 4% when compared to the annual growth from December 2015. This group is also among the job roles in Malaysia experiencing the greatest demand.

HR & Administrative Job Trends:

“The pace of decline in the annual demand for HR professionals across the three markets has eased, albeit at snail’s pace. As organisations seek to attract, retain and upskill their talent, seeing it as a more sustainable business strategy moving forward, HR professionals will continue to play a critical role in helping to support companies in meeting their objectives and business needs,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director of Monster.com (India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong).

See below for all trends across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines for January2016:

Singapore Highlights:

• According to the Monster Employment Index, Singapore declined two percent between January 2015 and 2016.
• Year-on-Year, Retail/Trade and Logistics leads all industry sectors; whereas, Consumer Goods/ FMCG, Food & Packaged Food, Home Appliance, Garments/ Textiles/ Leather, Gems and Jewellery sector continue to register the steepest decline in online recruitment activity.
• Customer Service professionals are most in demand among job roles, on-the-year.

Malaysia Highlights:

• Monster Employment Index Malaysia recorded a decline of 28% growth between January 2015 and January 2016.
• Except oil and gas, all industry sectors registered negative growth year-on-year.
• While, Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary registered the least decline; Logistic, Courier/ Freight/Transportation, Shipping/ Marine exhibited the steepest fall.
• All occupation groups registered negative annual growth. Marketing & Communications experienced the least decline.

Philippines Highlights:

• Monster Employment Index Philippines declined 33% year-on-year in January 2016.
• BFSI registered as the fastest growing sector; whereas, Production/Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary registers the steepest year-on decline.
• Customer service job roles exhibited the highest year-over-year demand.

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

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