Amidst economic uncertainty, there has been a slump observed in online hiring for HR and admin roles across Southeast Asia, according to findings from the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI).

Hiring has declined year-on-year in all three markets monitored by the MEI – Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, as in comparison to October 2015 and October 2016.

In Singapore, the demand for HR talent has witnessed a continued decline in the recent months, with an annual drop of 11 percent in October, the lowest year-on-year drop of the three markets. The demand for Malaysia’s HR professionals has also slumped with a -6% decline, while the Philippines reported a decline of -2% year-on-year in October.

HR & Admin jobs:

“Hiring sentiments in all three markets continue to weaken amidst global market gyrations. Not surprisingly, slowdown in online hiring of HR and Admin professionals has remained feeble over the last few months in line with this,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director at Monster.com – APAC and Middle East.

“Typically, the fourth quarter presents the most complex hiring dynamics of the year – a mix of seasonal hiring trends coupled with end-of-year financial and budget manoeuvring, and setting of hiring targets affect such decisions company wide.”

Key highlights from MEI are:

Singapore Highlights

• For the third consecutive month, Singapore has reported zero change in online hiring.
• The IT, Telecom/ISP and BPO/ITES sector reported the steepest growth in online hiring activity at 13 percent year-on-year, while the BFSI sector reported the steepest decline at -9%
• Professionals in Software, Hardware, Telecom jobs are in the greatest demand at 25 percent year-on-year, while HR and Admin roles have registered the sharpest decline at -11 percent.

Malaysia Highlights:

• Malaysia reported a -12 percent year-on-year drop in online recruitment activity.
• Not one job sector registered positive annual growth in online hiring.
• The Production/ Manufacturing, Automotive and Ancillary sector is the only sector that saw zero change, while the Retail sector saw steepest annual decline at -23 percent.
• Sales and Business Development roles reported the steepest annual growth at 20 percent, while customer service talent were the least in demand at -55 percent year-on-year.

Philippines Highlights:

• The Philippines recorded no annual growth in online recruitment.
• The Education and Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation, Import/ Export, Shipping industries remain the fastest-growing job sectors, both at 14 percent.
• The IT, Telecom/ ISP sector saw the steepest decline at -12 percent year-on-year.
• Customer service talent remains the highest in demand with 9 percent growth year-on-year, while marketing and communications talent saw the steepest decline at -7

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on 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.

Read more HR news & articles on HR in Asia