Singapore companies less optimistic about hiring in 2H2010 according to Achieve Group’s Hiring Trends Report
Companies in Singapore will continue hiring foreigners despite the recent increase in foreign worker levy but more than half do not plan to boost headcount in the six months.
Achieve Group - Hiring Trends Report
Findings from The Hiring Trends Report 2H 2010 by the ACHIEVE Group showed that only 45% of over 500 companies polled intend to hire in the second half of the year. The remaining 4% of human resource managers and directors at multinational firms and medium to large-sized enterprises felt that any recruitment would depend on business conditions.
The increased foreign worker levy that took effect on 1 July 2010 will, however, not affect the majority of these companies’ plans to recruit foreigners under the S Pass and Work Permit categories. With three-fifths of respondents having hired foreign workers in the last two years, only 13% plan to hire fewer workers from now to avoid paying the increased levy. Respondents also cited changing business needs and increased use of technology as reasons for not hiring more foreigners.
Of the 229 companies hiring in the second half of the year, four in 10 would increase their staff count by less than 5%. While 43% of respondents predicted a 5% to 10% increase in new hires, 16% plan boost headcount by more than 10%.
Joshua Yim, founder and CEO of ACHIEVE Group, said while the spike in hiring figures is “a very positive sign”, it wasn’t as optimistic as the hiring prediction earlier in the year. “This could be attributed to companies being more cautious due to the euro zone crisis and talk of a property bubble building up in China.”
The sectors intending to hire in the next two quarters are IT & telecommunications (59%), oil & gas (50%) and professional services (54%). This differs from the first half of this year when hospitality, retail, F&B, manufacturing, industrial and engineering were the main industries hiring.
Sources and references: HRO, Achieve Group
