Coronavirus: Business and jobs

Coveted roles among over 36,000 openings on national jobs portal for Singaporeans

Many positions posted on the national jobs portal are in the technology and financial sectors, where some firms are still expanding their operations despite the pandemic-induced downturn. ST PHOTO: NORHAIZA HASHIM
Many positions posted on the national jobs portal are in the technology and financial sectors, where some firms are still expanding their operations despite the pandemic-induced downturn. ST PHOTO: NORHAIZA HASHIM

More than 36,000 job and training opportunities are currently on offer on the national jobs portal, MyCareersFuture.sg, including highly coveted roles such as business analysts and project managers.

Over one in 10 positions posted on the portal pay more than $10,000 a month, four in 10 offer $5,000 and up monthly, and about a third of them are permanent roles, a check by The Sunday Times shows.

Many positions are in the technology and financial sectors, where some firms are still expanding their operations despite the pandemic-induced downturn.

These fall under the ambit of the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package unveiled in May, which aims to create some 100,000 jobs, traineeships and skills training places for locals.

MyCareersFuture.sg caters to all local job seekers, Workforce Singapore (WSG) told The Sunday Times, noting that the bulk of the job postings are at the professional, manager and executive (PME) level, since other job platforms focus on listing non-PME jobs. It also pointed out that job listings on the portal may have more than one vacancy.

WSG, however, did not provide details on successful placements, as "employers may not update the outcome of their job postings and we are not able to capture all job matches facilitated" by the portal.

It has been sending reminders to employers "to dutifully update their applicant status on the portal, so job seekers are kept informed of their application outcomes".

JOB POSTINGS REFLECT GAPS IN MARKET

Observers said the opportunities listed on the jobs portal largely reflect gaps in the current market.

Information and communications technology, professional services, wholesale trade, financial services and the built environment are the top five sectors with the highest number of job posts, said WSG.

Ms Linda Teo, country manager at ManpowerGroup Singapore, said the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalisation for many businesses, which are actively hiring information technology talents to support such operations. This adds to the already high demand for tech professionals that was accruing before the coronavirus outbreak.

She added that employers in the financial scene are planning for the long term by hiring Singaporeans now to build up their local talent pipeline, after the announcement that salary thresholds for Employment Passes would be raised, with a higher bar for financial services.

On the proportion of permanent roles, NeXT Career Consulting Group managing director Paul Heng said: "Fixed-term contracts are more prevalent these days, especially if the future is uncertain."

"In-demand" roles that employers are actively seeking to fill include software developers, business analysts, nurses, pre-school education teachers and restaurant managers, according to the portal.

Experts explained that there is a shortage of local talent who can fill some of these jobs, partly owing to factors such as widening skills-job mismatch and tightening restrictions on foreign manpower.

SOME JOBS ATTRACT OVER 200 APPLICATIONS

Job seekers may face more competition when applying for jobs such as project managers, business analysts, marketing executives, accountants, and human resource executives, which are listed as roles that get high numbers of applications. Some of these receive more than 200 applications on the portal.

Ms Natalie Craig, managing director of C&W Services Singapore, the facilities and engineering arm of real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, said its project manager position, posted on MyCareersFuture.sg just a week ago, has already been filled. "Project management skills are transferable across industries and is probably why the role remains attractive," she added.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based peer-to-peer lender Validus Capital has started interviews for its business analyst role, which will support the company's regional expansion.

Despite the pandemic, its offices in Indonesia and Vietnam are doing well, said co-founder Nikhilesh Goel, adding that it will expand into Thailand by the end of the year.

Some firms offering these roles said the current crisis has brought them opportunities for growth.

Software solutions provider Y3 Technologies, which is hiring for several roles, including business and data analysts, said the pandemic has opened up more business opportunities, as it "has accelerated the adoption of digitalisation" within the supply chain and logistics industry.

Ms Ho Jia Yii of cyber security firm Shield said cyber security remains one of the most resilient and important sectors in today's digital world. The company aims to double its global headcount in the coming months. It has been advertising for several positions here and received thousands of applications across various platforms.

Observers such as Ms Teo said the national jobs portal gives a fair overview of the range of job opportunities available here.

"Even though employers are not required to advertise higher-paid roles there, some are seeing the value of advertising the more senior positions to reach out to the local talent pool," she added. "As the Government continues to push employers to develop a strong Singaporean core, we can expect more such roles to appear on the site."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on September 06, 2020, with the headline Coveted roles among over 36,000 openings on national jobs portal for Singaporeans. Subscribe