ONLINE HIRING increased by 6% year on year in June, with the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector posting the steepest growth at 18%, according to a monthly survey of job postings.
In its report released on Monday, Monster.com, a global online employment solutions provider, said online job postings in June as reflected in its Monster Employment Index (MEI) was the sixth positive annual growth recorded since January.
“The Philippines has been on an upward economic trend for some time now, and this doesn’t look likely to slow down,” the report quoted Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, as saying.
“In fact, Moody’s Investor rating has suggested positive economic performance in the months ahead, thanks to the nation’s robust private consumption, as well as the healthy BPO sector,” he added.
MEI, a monthly gauge of online job posting activity in the Philippines, records the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity.
In contrast to the positive showing of the BPO-information technology enabled services (ITES), the sector that recorded the sharpest fall at a negative 9% year on year is the engineering, construction and real estate sector.
Monster said that although the BPO-ITES led in terms of growth, the sector slowed compared with the 30% year on year posted in May.
The other sectors that performed well during the month are the combined group of logistic, courier, freight, transportation, import-export, and shipping businesses, with 15% growth; retail with 13%; banking, financial services and insurance with 8%; and hospitality with 5%.
Mr. Modi said the manufacturing, BPO and agricultural sectors “are likely to be the key driving forces behind the Philippines’ booming economy, in line with the country’s nation reform plans.”
Based on occupational groups, customer service talent maintained its performance, recording 26% year-on-year growth.
“The group has also been registering positive double-digit annual growth since November 2016,” the report said.
Based on the report, the other occupations that performed positively did so but well below the growth posted by customer services. These are sales and business development, with growth of 1%; and software, hardware and telecommunications, with 1%.
Monster said human resources and administrative jobs “continued to exhibit the steepest decline across all occupational groups, at a 13% year-on-year decline.” — Victor V. Saulon
