E-recruitment sentiment dips in the Philippines amidst economic slump

Overall sentiment for online hiring demand experienced 13%, 10% and 12% year-on-year growth for July, August and September, respectively.

The Advertising & Marketing industry recorded maximum growth among all sectors, charting 26% year-on-year in both July and September, and 20% in the month of August.

Other industries with strong e-recruitment demand growth during the quarter included BPO/ITES, BFSI, IT/Telecom and Consumer Goods.

When looking at occupations, HR & Admin professionals came out on top with a record high of 35% year-on-year in the month of September.

Manila – Economic growth in the Philippines is experiencing a slowdown as the recent World Bank forecast revealed a 5.8% growth rate for 2019, falling below the government’s growth projection of 6–7% for the year, and the effect of the unexpected slump can be seen in the labour economy. This includes e-recruitment sentiment, which experienced a decline in demand growth in Q3, with 13%, 10% and 12% year-on-year growth for July, August and September, respectively – lower than growth numbers in the first half of the year.

Despite the overall slowdown, certain sectors did experience increased growth in online hiring demand during Q3. The most notable was the Advertising & Marketing industry, which consistently witnessed strong growth throughout the quarter, charting 26% year-on-year in both July and September, and 20% in the month of August.

The BPO/ITES sector also experienced an e-recruitment demand in the previous quarter, peaking in August with 21% year-on-year growth, followed by 18% for both July and September. The BFSI, IT/Telecom and Consumer Goods industries also ranked among top growth sectors for online hiring demand in Q3.

When looking at specific occupations, HR & Admin professionals came out on top with an impressive 35% year-on-year increase for September – the steepest growth recorded for this job role since December 2018. The year-on-year growth recorded for July and August was 31% and 29% respectively.

Finance & Accounts talent were also in surging demand during the quarter, charting year-on-year growth numbers of 28%, 24% and 23% for the months of July, August and September, respectively. Professionals in Marketing & Communications and Software, Hardware, Telecom roles also witnessed consistently strong demand during Q3, ranking among the top growing occupations for the period.

“Global trade tensions, together with the nation’s political landscape are affecting the Filipino economy and resulting in a weak outlook, with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s predictions that the Philippines will likely not hit its 2019 GDP growth targets. This impacts online recruitment sentiment, too. Although still positive overall, hiring has been slowing, as marked by the declining growth in the latest quarter after months of a strong upward trajectory late last year,” said Krish Seshadri, CEO of Monster.com – APAC and Middle East.

While Filipino businesses and regulators need to step up and start taking active measures to resolve this situation by improving economic openness, employers should focus on staff retention and retraining, so as to build stronger teams in order to weather out any potential rough patch ahead.”

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across the Philippines. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

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About the Monster Employment Index
The Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster India. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, the Monster Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity locally. Monster has taken due care in compiling and processing the data available from various sources for Monster Employment Index, but does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or action / decision taken or for the results obtained from the use of such information. Monster Employment Index was first launched in India in May 2010 with data collected since October 2009 followed by Gulf in April 2011 with data collected since October 2010; Singapore in May 2014 with data collected since January 2011; Philippines and Malaysia in May 2015 with data collected since February 2014.

About Monster APAC & Middle East
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