The demand for retail workers is projected to increase in the next three years on the back of the planned construction of more malls nationwide, according to Monster.com.
In a news statement issued on Thursday, Monster.com Managing Director Sanjay Modi said finance and accounts professionals will also be in demand in 2018 due to the country’s strong economic growth.
“The retail sector is also another one to look out for, since there are plans to add up to 630,000 square meters of shopping-mall space in the next three years, defying trends from the rising e-commerce space,” Modi said.
In 2017 Monster.com considered the retail sector one of the best performers in terms of online hiring activities with an average of 19-percent growth in hiring in 2017, from an average of 12 percent in 2016.
Monster.com said hiring activity in the sector peaked in April 2017 at 33 percent year-on-year growth and reported the lowest activity in July 2017 at 8 percent YoY.
“The year capped off with a 25- percent year-on-year growth in hiring activity in December 2017 and emerged as the best performing industry in the Philippines for the sixth consecutive month,” the Monster.com report added.
However, Monster.com said the hiring sentiment for human resources and administration roles have remained feeble over the last 12 months in the country.
According to the Monster Employment Index (MEI), the occupational group reported a 1-percent YoY decline on average for overall hiring activity in 2017.
Despite starting the year with a 4-percent YoY growth in hiring activity, that growth plummeted into the negatives by March, as it reported eight consecutive months of decreasing hiring activity. July saw the steepest low in hiring for the group, reporting a 16-percent YoY decline.
In spite of the consecutive declines, hiring activity slowly picked up by the end of the year, reporting a 15-percent YoY growth in hiring activity by December 2017.
Overall, online hiring in the Philippines remained robust in 2017, which will likely continue this year.
Monster.com said online hiring in 2017 saw an average of 6-percent YoY growth in online hiring, kicking off the year with a 6-percent YoY growth in January 2017.
The growth continued for two quarters, before hitting a low of 2- percent contraction in July. But the dip was short-lived, with increases in hiring recorded after August.
The year capped off with a 13 percent YoY activity last December, the highest reported for the year.
“The Philippines has solidly positioned itself as a shining spot for economic expansion this year, with a strong gross domestic product [GDP] growth projection and an overall growth momentum that fell well within targets. This will have an impact on hiring within the country’s key industries, which include retail, banking and finance, IT [information technology] and BPO [business-process outsourcing], and more,” Modi said.
“This can be attributed to a few factors, including the country’s expansion in export activities and an increase in domestic demand and growth in public-sector investment. Such optimism has definitely provided some peace of mind for employers, considering a rise in headcount this year,” he added.
The Philippines’s IT sector also demonstrated outstanding hiring performance in 2017, starting off strong with a 19-percent YoY growth in online hiring in January.
Last March the sector reported its highest annual growth in hiring at 27 percent.
Hiring activity within the Philippines’s banking sector for 2017 suggests momentum for an even stronger 2018, as the sector recorded positive hiring activity year-round.
In 2017 the sector started with a 19-percent YoY growth in hiring activity and witnessed its peak in February, and reporting a 24-percent YoY growth in hiring activity.
The report is based on data collated from the monthly MEI, a gauge of all online job-posting activities in the country that records the industries and occupations showing the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity.
Monster has taken due care in compiling and processing the data available from various sources for MEI, 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.