This year Singapore job market will reach its highest level of hiring in three years, as more companies plan to hire additional accounting and finance, IT, and financial services professionals.
The most recent Singapore Employment Report by Robert Half, a specialist recruitment firm, indicates that 50% of surveyed companies plan to increase their number of employees by the end of the second quarter of this year.
The survey asked 400 senior-level hiring decision makers like Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, and financial services leaders about their hiring expectations for the first half of this year.
1 out of 2 companies plan to hire in the first half of 2015, which means that the Singapore job market will be competitive.
As more companies plan to hire, there will be limited numbers of high-caliber professionals available. Robert Half Singapore’s managing director Stella Tang says that companies will fight to secure the best talent this year since hiring is up almost 66% since 2013.
She predicts that the fight for talent will be challenging for companies. Robert Half expects that employees who are not happy with their current positions to look elsewhere as more companies fight for high quality professionals.
Companies hiring technology professionals have seen the biggest growth in the first two quarters compared to 2013. Back then a staggering 14% of companies were reducing the amount of technology professionals they hired. Now only 2% plan to reduce their technology staff while 50% plan to hired even more employees. This shows an increase of 24 percentage points from the same time in 2013.
Hiring for Jobs in Singapore is due to an Increase in New Projects and Initiatives
When hiring decision makers were asked why they planned on hiring, the majority indicated that they needed more personnel to work on new projects and initiatives. Overall 54% reported that new hires would work on new projects in the Banking and Finance sector, 59% reported the same thing in Commerce and Industry and in Technology 64% reported they needed professionals for new projects.
These new positions that are being created indicate that companies in Singapore are driving new growth. For professionals seeking a chance to grow, these newly created positions offer them the chance to make a name for themselves and carve out their own niche.