Online hiring posted a double-digit growth in March on the back of positive investor sentiment on the recent economic gains of the Philippine economy, according to a report of Monster.com.
In the Southeast Asia Online Recruitment Trends Report, Monster.com said based on the Monster Employment Index (MEI), online recruitment in the country grew 14 percent in March 2018.
“The spike in hiring activity at the start of 2018 comes as no surprise for the Philippines, given its overall positive hiring trend earlier in 2017, driven partly by positive investor outlook on the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals,” the study read.
Monster.com said the positive trend in online recruitment is expected to continue for the remainder of 2018.
It cited data from the Microsoft and IDC Asia/Pacific, which stated that the country’s GDP will likely increase by $8 billion, or P416.9 billion, in the next four years.
“This increase will likely boost job creation, salaries and training opportunities, pointing toward an even more promising hiring growth prospects ahead,” Monster.com added.
Among the industry sectors, retail had the steepest annual growth in online hiring. This could bode well for a consumption driven economy like the Philippines.
The business-process outsourcing (BPO)/information-technology enabled service (ITES) sector posted, however, an overall decline of 2 percent.
The first three months of 2018 saw a decline in BPOs’ growth compared to last year. But in March online hiring in the sector slowed to 13 percent.
Human resources (HR) and admin professionals were the recorded highest growth in demand among job roles.
The demand for HR and admin employees rose by 18 percent compared to last year.
The report also said the year saw the highest growth year-on-year in online hiring for marketing and advertising sectors compared to Singapore’s and Malaysia’s percentage growth.
“The advertising and marketing sector in the Philippines continue to dominate and exhibit growth in online hiring activity. It is one of the top growth industries in the country, seeing an upward trend since August 2017,” the report read.
MEI Philippines 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 web sites and online job listings nationwide.
The index, however, 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.
The data is based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, including Monster Philippines.