SINGAPORE: Singapore’s job vacancies declined in 2015 amid softer economic conditions, said the Ministry of Manpower in its “Job Vacancies 2015” report released on Wednesday.
The number of job vacancies declined over the year to 60,000 as of September 2015. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the ratio between job vacancies and unemployed persons declined for the second consecutive quarter to 116 openings per 100 job seekers in September 2015, from 121 in June and 143 in March.
The decline in vacancies was broad-based for all occupational groups. However, vacancies remained available for all occupations, with service & sales workers, professionals and associate professionals & technicians most sought after.
The proportion of vacancies unfilled for at least six months declined from 41 percent a year ago to 39 percent. Occupations in higher demand and turnover such as service and sales workers and cleaners, laborers & related workers remained more likely to be hard-to-fill. On the other hand, only about two in every ten PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) openings were unfilled for extended periods.
Employers indicated unattractive pay, long working hours, physically strenuous job nature and shift work as difficulties in recruiting locals to fill non-PMET openings. For PMETs, unattractive pay and the lack of necessary work experience were common reasons for hard-to-fill openings, the ministry said.
Generally, although the number of job vacancies has declined, it is still more than the number of jobseekers, the ministry noted.
