Hiring expectations in S'pore has declined for the 6th consecutive quarter

Hiring expectations in Singapore continue to stay on a downward trend. The latest quarterly survey by recruitment agency Hudson showed that only 37 per cent of companies are expecting to increase their headcount in the fourth quarter of this year.

Out of 800 executives polled by Hudson, 37 per cent said they expect to increase staff strength. That's down from 43 per cent in the preceding three months.

59 per cent said hiring will remain steady.

The numbers also show that only four per cent expect to reduce headcount, but Hudson said it should be noted that the poll was conducted in August, before the global market turmoil in the last few weeks.

Gina Mclellan, country manager, Singapore, Hudson, said: “If we were to do the survey today, we would probably think there would be an increase in the four per cent who are looking to make retrenchments."

Singapore's last recession occurred in 2002 and that caused over 19,000 workers to be retrenched from the private sector alone.

With the economy slipping into a technical recession in the third quarter of this year, analysts said job losses can be expected.

But some HR experts said they do not expect massive cuts this time.

Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president, Kelly Services (Asia Pacific), said: “There's a big difference between 2002 and 2008. The government has made a lot of steps to have people better educated and retrained for the workforce. We have a lot more industries that are doing much better and we are much more diversified."

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