Singapore’s accounting, engineering and technical, customer service, and healthcare sectors will see the strongest job-growth in 2019, as per the latest Singapore salary guide by Kelly Services.

The increase in employment opportunities will be driven by stronger demand for services, coupled with a decline in manpower and specific skill sets. As per the report, landing these in-demand roles will require job seekers to possess a combination of hard and soft skills.

“As organizations across various industries accelerate their digital transformation journeys, communication, analytics, digital, and change management skills will help employees take on more strategic roles,” the firm stated, adding that those with blockchain skills and artificial intelligence (AI) expertise will also be highly sought-after, especially in the banking and finance sector.

Foo See Yang, Kelly Services’ MD and Singapore country head, stated that talent will find better wage and employment opportunities, regardless of level or industry, despite an expected decline in overall economic growth due to heightened global uncertainties and risks.

“Amidst challenging labour market conditions and the talent crunch, our 2019 Q1 APAC Workforce Insights found several groups of workers that companies may tap into – mature workers, returning mothers, and people with disabilities or special needs. These workers can be valuable assets to the workforce, especially for sectors that face challenges in finding local workers.”

The salary guide highlighted that the accounting industry was poised for growth with 2,000 new jobs set to be created by 2020. With traditional administrative and finance functions increasingly automated, the accountant of the future will need to adapt to higher value work and take on more strategic roles.

The hottest jobs for 2019 will include accounts assistants, accountant/senior accountant, finance executive/senior finance executive, financial analyst/senior financial analyst, finance manager, senior manager/manager, finance planning and analysis.

Meanwhile, in the customer service field, jobs that require a human touch, such as customer service, should continue to see strong demand. The hottest jobs for 2019 within this sector will include concierge/helpdesk officer, customer care consultant, customer service assistant/officer, customer service executive.

The report also noted that while the manufacturing sector remained the biggest contributor to Singapore’s economy, majorly supported by the electronics, transport engineering, and biomedical manufacturing sectors, skilled, quality engineers are required to maintain sustained and steady growth for the sector.

Also, the report further added that Singapore will need to almost double its pool of existing long-term care workers by 2020 to support its aging population. To meet this urgent need, the sector needs to overcome several challenges such as misaligned salary expectations and lack of manpower. More so, when medical records are fully digitized in the next few years, upskilling and reskilling will be imperative for healthcare workers and patient service associates. The hottest jobs this year in the healthcare sector will include laboratory technician, medical sales representative, patient service associate, radiographer, sales manager (pharmaceutical/medical devices), and staff nurse.