SINGAPORE – Job prospects in Singapore are looking up despite the global economic uncertainties, with nearly half of employers polled here planning to continue to hire in the last quarter of 2023.

A total of 48 per cent of the respondents expect to increase their staffing levels in the fourth quarter. Another 12 per cent anticipate a decrease, while 38 per cent of employers reported no plans to change their headcount, and 2 per cent were unsure.

This brought the seasonally adjusted net employment outlook for the fourth quarter to 36 per cent, up 2 percentage points when compared with the previous quarter, and matching the figure from the fourth quarter of 2022.

The net employment outlook is a measure of hiring optimism, based on the percentage of companies surveyed that intend to take on new staff and deducting the percentage that intend to scale down on their workforce.

The survey of 510 public and private sector employers was conducted in July 2023 by recruitment company ManpowerGroup, and the results were released on Tuesday.

It was also conducted in 40 other markets, including the United States, Hong Kong and Japan.

In Singapore, all nine sectors surveyed are expecting staffing levels to increase. This includes industries such as healthcare and life sciences, communication services and information technology, among others.

Ms Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore, said: “Employers are maintaining a confident but cautious outlook towards their hiring activity, continuing to grapple with the global economic slowdown and talent shortage concerns.”

Singapore downgraded its 2023 economic growth forecast in August amid a weak outlook for the export-driven manufacturing sector.

However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry had said then that the new forecast of between 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent – down from the 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent range forecast earlier – still means relatively higher growth is expected in the second half of the year compared with the first half.

Associate Professor in Practice Terence Ho of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore explained that when looking at the employment outlook against Singapore’s economic growth, it is important to note that export-oriented sectors have a large weight in the Republic’s gross domestic product versus domestic sectors which have a larger share of employment.

He said: “It is noteworthy that employers across all nine sectors surveyed maintained expectations of staffing gains. These findings reflect a labour market that remains tight, especially in domestic services sectors such as healthcare, transport and logistics where demand remains strong.

“This contrasts with the slowdown in economic activity in export-oriented sectors, which tend to be more capital rather than labour-intensive.”