SINGAPORE: Singapore’s insurance sector saw a 15.3% rise in remote work demand from a year earlier, though overall remote roles across all sectors remain limited, accounting for 8.2% of October job postings, up from 7.7% a year ago.
According to Singapore Business Review, citing Indeed’s Hiring Lab, remote arrangements were most common in IT infrastructure, operations and support (17.2%), followed by insurance and sales (14.9%), while other sectors recorded less than 5%.
Over the past year, the biggest increases in remote demand were seen in marketing, medical information and legal, while architecture, beauty and wellness, and hospitality and tourism saw declines. The report said the shifts were driven by firms changing their policies and stepping up efforts to attract talent.
Singapore’s overall job postings fell 3.1% in October, the eighth month of decline this year. While the job market has been in a downward trend over the past three years, the report described the job market as remaining “incredibly tight”, as job postings were still 32% above pre-pandemic levels by the end of October.
“The post-pandemic job boom in Singapore was so large that even though job postings have fallen for the past three years, it’s still sufficiently high to keep the unemployment rate low,” it said.
In addition, job postings in 86% of occupations remain above their February 2020 baseline. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, pharmacy was up by 181%, sport by 122%, and hospitality and tourism by 119%. Veterinary, education and training, and physicians and surgeons also showed continued strong demand. However, job postings for driving, childcare, arts and entertainment, and beauty, as well as beauty and wellness, remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Over the past three months, job postings for retail (17%), hospitality and tourism (13.1%), and healthcare roles, including physicians, surgeons, therapists, medical technicians and medical information, climbed but were offset by declines in postings for childcare, driving, sports, community and social services, installation and maintenance, and insurance. /TISG
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