Expert warns geopolitical, economic uncertainty could impact job creation
Singapore's job market has remained resilient despite the looming threat of trade uncertainties impacting employment growth.
Indeed's latest Hiring Lab report revealed that technical roles have seen growing demand across the job market, with civil engineering job postings climbing 18.8% since February.
However, the report found that there were fewer roles available under pharmacy (-45%), veterinary (-19%), physicians and surgeons (-19%), medical technicians (-18%), as well as medical information (-19%).
"While some job postings are declining, the pace of decline hasn't increased, suggesting that we haven't yet seen an employer response to a weaker global economic outlook," said Callam Pickering, Senior Economist at Indeed, in a statement.
"While Singapore's job creation continues to cool, the overall labour market remains tight. The unemployment rate remains low at 2.1%, while skill shortages remain common across the nation."
Annually, job ads for management roles went up to 13.5% since last year. Education roles also increased to 4.7%, up from 4.3% a year ago.
The biggest annual declines were posted in the:
Pickering said these declines do not mean that these sectors are in trouble.
"In fact, 11.7% of Singapore job postings are for software development roles, ranking second among all sectors," Pickering said.
"What it does mean is that hiring in this area hasn't kept pace with the national trend over the past year, which is why it now accounts for a lower share of job creation."
Overall, the number of job postings is still 40% above pre-pandemic levels despite declining 0.9% for the fifth consecutive month.
Most sectors also remained healthy compared to pre-pandemic levels, with 10% of sectors seeing twice the number of postings, the report said.
Demand in the sports sector is at its highest, reaching three times the levels seen before the pandemic.
Sectors such as education, veterinary, dental, and pharmacy postings are also recording more than double their pre-pandemic numbers.
Pickering, however, warned that the ongoing global trade uncertainty could impact Singapore's employment growth.
"Geopolitical and economic uncertainty may impact Singapore's growth prospects this year, and that could weigh on job creation," he said. "It's currently difficult for many businesses to plan ahead, potentially impacting job creation, since business leaders don't know what the trading environment will look like."
Hiring intentions in Singapore have already taken a dip based on findings from ManpowerGroup, with 69% of employers there saying global trade uncertainty is shaping their hiring decisions.
US President Donald Trump imposed in April a 10% tariff on goods coming from Singapore as part of his global "reciprocal tariffs." In response, the Singapore government has set up a taskforce involving business and workers to guide the country in navigating the changes stemming from the tariffs.
