ONLINE JOB postings rose 4% year on year in October, with growth little changed from September, according to the Monster Employment Index (MEI).
In a report released Tuesday, Monster.com said job postings by the retail industry rose 22% year on year. Education was the weakest of the sectors tracked, declining 5% year on year.
Postings for advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment rose 9% while those for information technology and telecommunications grew 8%.
Sanjay Modi, Monster.com managing director for the Asia Pacific and Middle East said robust consumer spending, fueled by overseas Filipino worker remittances and robust growth in many sectors helped buoy online recruitment.
“The Philippines’ economy clocked year-on-year growth of 6.9% in the third quarter, on the back of healthy growth in the industrial and service sectors, making them the second fastest-growing economy in Asia,” he added.
Business process outsourcing job postings rose 1%, Mr. Modi said, with the industry on the brink of automating, with artificial intelligence expected to replace up to 50,000 jobs by 2020.
“Needless to say, the key remains upskilling and staying relevant to meet the needs of dynamic businesses. Loss of highly-skilled tech talent remains a concern for employers across the region, who are at risk of losing this talent to more affluent neighboring countries,” he added.
Mr. Modi urged the government to take action in upskilling their work force to prevent brain drain.
Job postings in the logistics, courier, and other transportation sector rose 18% year on year, followed by banking, financial services and insurance at 11%.
Software, hardware and telecoms were still the specializations with the highest demand, with job postings growing 7%, slowing down from 12% in September. Job postings for sales and business development, marketing and communications, finance and accounts grew 5%.
Purchasing, logistics and supply chain job postings rose 3% while human resources and administration postings were flat.
Engineering, production, real estate and health care job postings contracted 5%.
The MEI gauges online job posting activity monthly through real-time analysis of career websites and job listings. It was first launched in May 2015. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
