According to the latest data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the total share of job vacancies for professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs) rose from 48.5 percent in 2017 to 53 percent in 2018.

This shows an increase in vacancies in PMET-dominated industries including professional services, financial and insurance services, and information and communications (ICT), MOM said in its report which surveyed 15,900 establishments.

Of the 63,300 job vacancies in 2018, 42 percent were newly created positions arising from business formation and expansion, the report added. The majority of job vacancies in 2018 came from the community, social and personal services, manufacturing, as well as ICT industries.

ICT roles that had noteworthy growth were chief information officers (CIOs), database designers and administrators, information technology security specialists, and network and communications managers, over the last five years.

The most sought after roles in finance, marketing, and business development were commercial and marketing sales executives, business development managers, financial or investment advisers, and sales and marketing managers, as the report finds.

The MOM study also finds an emerging demand for analytical positions in regulatory and risk assessment as well as market research. Employers also went beyond academic qualifications while hiring PMETs, the report added. The proportion of PMET vacancies where academic qualification was not the main consideration increased from 42 percent in 2017 to 52 percent in 2018.

Employers instead placed emphasis on skills and relevant work experience for positions including software, web and multimedia developers, system analysts and commercial and marketing sales executives, said the report.

However, 21 percent of PMET job vacancies remain unfilled for six months or more in 2018, according to MOM’s report. That was because employers indicating lack of candidates with specialized skills (54.9 percent) or work experience (31.8 percent) among top reasons.

Non-PMET jobs

According to MOM report, non-PMET positions remain harder to fill, with 49 percent of non-PMET jobs unfilled for at least six months. Employers indicated reasons such as unattractive pay (47.2 percent) and physically strenuous job nature (52.8 percent). Vacancies for non-PMET positions such as cleaners, shop sales assistants and security guards have also declined, the report said.

“In particular, the share of vacancies for shop sales assistants was nearly halved from five years ago, as the retail industry continues to evolve in the face of changing consumer preferences and competition,” the report said.

Vacancies for healthcare assistants such as therapy aides increased over the past five years, with employers prepared to pay at least S$1,400 in 2018, more than S$1,200 two years ago.