BPOs drive May hiring growth to double digits
ONLINE HIRING continued to rise last month, showing double digit growth year on year, driven by the continued expansion of the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, according to online hiring site Monster.com.
The Monster Employment Index (MEI) showed a 12% yearon-year rise in online hiring last month, hitting 106 index points in May.
This is also higher than the 7% recorded in April or 101 points. May represents the highest reading since November 2014, when the MEI was at 113.
“With a highly stable macroeconomic environment backed by strong economic structures, Philippines is poised for sustainable employment growth in the year ahead. This is evident from the latest results from BMI research, which revealed that Philippines’ business friendliness has made it favorable for investments, production activities and job creation,” Monster.com Managing Director of Asia and the Pacific and Middle East Sanjay Modi said in a statement.
The surge in online job postings may have been driven by robust economic growth which put the country on the radar of possible investors.
“Being a shining spot in Asia’s economy, it is likely that the country has come under the scrutiny of international players who can potentially and rapidly introduce new jobs in a short span of time,” the report read.
Monster. com, however, said that business owners and employers should “remain cautious” and to always have sufficient plans to cushion potential headwinds.
The Monster Employment Index Philippines is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a representative selection of career Web sites and online job listings across Philippines. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.
The top growing industries in online employment in May are led by the business process outsourcing ( BPO)/ information technology enabled services (ITES), logistics, courier/freight/ transportation, import/export, and the retail sector.
“The BPO/ ITES sector recorded the steepest growth in online hiring activity, while the engineering, construction and real estate sector recorded the sharpest fall,” the online hiring site said.
The BPO/ITES sector booked growth of 30%, logistics, courier/ freight/ transportation, import/ export, and shipping industry expanded 17%, retail saw a 16% increase, banking, financial services and insurance ( BFSI) at 12% and the advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment at 8%.
Meanwhile, the industries which recorded lowest growth were consumer goods, food and packaged food, home appliances, garments and jewelry at 2%, production and manufacturing at 2%, health care at -1%, education at -3% and the engineering, construction and real estate sector showed the steepest decline in online hiring activity at -6% year on year.
It added that customer service talent was the most in demand with 40% growth, followed by software, hardware telecom 10%, hirees with purchasing/ logistics/ supply chain backgrounds at 8%, and finance/accounts and marketing/communications, which both grew 5% year on year.
HR and Admin professionals saw the steepest annual decline at -3%, with engineering/production, real estate and the health care sector at -2, followed by sales and business development which was flat and hospitality and travel sectors growing just 2%. —