SINGAPORE, March 26 — Job vacancies for software, web and multimedia developers, along with registered nurses and other nursing professionals, were the hardest to fill among roles for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in 2023, said the Ministry of Manpower (MoM).
These information technology developer roles made up 11 per cent of PMET vacancies which were unfilled for at least six months, the ministry said in a report released yesterday.
Registered nurse and other nursing professional made up 6.3 per cent of similar vacancies unfilled for at least six months, while the figure for enrolled/assistant nurse was 2.4 per cent.
“PMET roles in sectors such as health and social services, information and communications, and professional services had a disproportionately higher share of positions that were unfilled for at least six months,” said MoM.
Employers who were surveyed cited a number of reasons for not being able to fill these vacancies, including the lack of specialised skills and work experience, as well as candidates finding the pay unattractive or the job being physically strenuous, and preferring not to work on weekends or public holidays.
Among non-PMET vacancies, waiters, cleaners, receptionists, customer service and information clerks, healthcare assistants and bus drivers were among the top roles that were most unfilled for at least six months.
“Such jobs were deemed as physically strenuous, had unattractive pay and unfavourable work schedules,” added MoM.
In spite of this, overall, the proportion of job vacancies unfilled for at least six months or more still declined to 23.5 per cent in 2023 compared to 27.1 per cent in 2022, continuing the downward trend from 40.3 per cent a decade ago in 2013.
MoM also said that the proportion of newly created positions among job vacancies rose from 38.7 per cent in 2022 to 47.3 per cent in 2023.
This marks the highest percentage seen since such MoM started compiling this series of statistics in 2018.
“The majority (65.2 per cent) of the newly created positions were a result of an expansion of existing business functions as the economy grew, followed by expansion into new functions (24.4 per cent) and restructuring or development in new business areas (6.2 per cent),” said MoM.
Similar to 2022, information and communications roles continued to have the highest proportion of vacancies for new positions at 72.8 per cent.
This reflects the industry’s “dynamism and competitiveness”, said MoM.
This was followed by the construction sector, where newly created positions made up 65.7 per cent of its vacancies in 2023.
Job vacancies in the food and beverage services and retail trade also saw higher shares of vacancies for new positions, as employers redesign jobs and adopt new business models to cater to changing consumer patterns.
MoM also said that the proportion of vacancies where academic qualification was not a main deciding factor in hiring continued to rise.
It went up from 67.1 per cent in 2017 to 73.6 per cent in 2022 to 74.9 per cent in 2023.
For PMETs in particular, the proportion rose from 64.5 per cent in 2022 to 67.3 per cent in 2023.
MoM reported that for these vacancies, relevant work experience, skills and work attitude of the job applicant were the key considerations.
“As long as candidates possess the minimum required qualification, their work experience, skills and work attitude will take precedence when assessing their suitability for jobs,” MoM said.
“Hence, having a higher qualification does not mean a candidate will be ranked ahead of their counterpart with a lower qualification.”
Examples of such vacancies were software, web and multimedia developers, management executives, budgeting and financial accounting managers, and business development managers.
On the other hand, the proportion of non-PMET vacancies where academic qualifications is not a key hiring factor stood at 85.9 per cent for 2023, up from 83.7 per cent in 2022.
“For non-PMET vacancies, personality traits and the fit with the company’s organisational culture and values were more crucial to employers when recruiting suitable candidates for roles such as waiters and shop sales assistants,” said MoM.
The report also stated that at least 68.3 per cent of employers were open to hire candidates with qualifications lower than what was required for the position, if the potential applicants have the relevant work experience, skills or attitude.
However, this was more so for non-PMET roles (74.5 per cent) than PMET (65.5 per cent) vacancies. — TODAY
