Online hiring sentiment slips 8% in December

The IT industry saw the highest demand in recruitment activity for the month.

Online recruitment demand dipped 8% in December YoY, following a 13% slide in November and a 20% decrease in October, according to a report by recruitment platform Monster.

The IT industry saw the highest hiring demand amongst industries at 24%, despite seeing a lower figure in December. 

In terms of specific job roles, professionals under software, hardware and telecom led the online hiring activity, though at a slower pace. Demand slowed to 23% and 24% YoY for November and December, respectively, following its peak of 37% YoY in October.

Other prominent industries such as advertising & marketing continued to witness a slower pace of demand, dropping from 33% in October YoY to 21% and 18% in November and December, respectively.

Meanwhile, the hospitality & travel industry also reflected a downward trajectory during the quarter. From a 33% jump in October YoY, recruitment demand slowed by 27% in November and eventually crashing by 20% in December. Real estate recorded the steepest annual decline amongst all job roles with a 9% by year-end.

Amongst all 14 sectors monitored by the employment index, production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary were the most impacted as e-hiring demand plummeted by 4% between December 2018 and December 2019.