The hiring activities in Singapore are not showing signs of relief as businesses have frozen recruitment caused due to uncertainty brought about by Covid-19.

The hiring outlook among Singapore employers for the next quarter has relinquished to the weakest level since 2009, according to a report by ManpowerGroup.

Out of 266 firms participated in the survey, 38 percent anticipate headcount to fall in the July to September quarter, compared with the current quarter. Another 11 percent anticipates an increase in headcount, while 46 percent expect no change and five percent are unsure.

The resulting net employment outlook is -28 percent after reckoning for annual variation. This is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to fall from the percentage expecting to see an increase in employment at their location in the next quarter.

The net employment outlook figure for the next quarter is 37 percentage points lower than the figure that had been reported for this quarter and 40 percentage points lower than the figure for the third quarter of 2019.

ManpowerGroup Singapore country manager Linda Teo said most employers are putting non-critical hiring on hold and focusing on streamlining their current headcounts instead. She further said, "Amid the bleak hiring climate, job seekers can still find pockets of opportunities, especially in the public administration and education sector due to ongoing government initiatives to stimulate hiring and upskilling during this challenging time."

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said last week in his speech rounding up the debate on the supplementary Fortitude Budget that the number of unemployed residents is likely to exceed 100,000 this year. This would exceed the record number of 91,000 unemployed residents during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic.

Preliminary data from the Manpower Ministry released in April showed that total employment in Singapore, excluding maids, plunged by 19,900 in the first quarter. This was the sharpest quarterly contraction since Sars, and was due to the fall in foreign employment, while employment of residents - Singaporeans and permanent residents - still grew at a "modest pace", the ministry had said.