{"id":55877,"date":"2026-10-30T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T08:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/?p=55877"},"modified":"2026-10-30T13:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T08:20:14","slug":"foundit-insights-tracker-singapore-sep-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/foundit-insights-tracker-singapore-sep-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore\u2019s Hiring Landscape in September 2026: foundit Insights Tracker"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Overview of Hiring Activity<\/strong>&nbsp;<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Singapore&rsquo;s online hiring activity was down 1% year-on-year in September 2026. The small decline reflects a stronger year-ago base rather than fresh weakness. Month-on-month, the index rose 1% to its highest level in a year.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>The broader trend is steady rather than accelerating. Hiring is up 3% over the last three months and 4% over the last six months, nudging just above the narrow band it held for most of the year.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>Gains remain concentrated in consumer goods, advertising and technology. Legal and sales roles continue to weaken as firms keep commercial and in-house teams lean.&nbsp;<\/p><div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file aligncenter\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_SG_September_26-Final.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of &lt;strong&gt;Singapore Hiring Trends in Sep_26&lt;\/strong&gt;.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-5e35d877-a66e-4921-829d-91f18db3d38e\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_SG_September_26-Final.pdf\"><strong>Singapore Hiring Trends in Sep_26<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fit_SG_September_26-Final.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-5e35d877-a66e-4921-829d-91f18db3d38e\">Download<\/a><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hiring Trends by Industry (YoY change)<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>5 of the 14 industries tracked recorded year-on-year growth in September 2026, with 4 holding flat and 5 recording declines.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In demand<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Consumer Goods\/FMCG (+14%)<\/strong> The top performer. Retail and consumer brands continue to add front-line and supply-side staff.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Advertising, Market Research, PR, Media &amp; Entertainment (+10%)<\/strong> Continued digital and campaign spend keeps creative and media hiring firmly positive.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>IT, Telecom\/ISP &amp; BPO\/ITES (+7%)<\/strong> The largest-volume gainer, underpinned by sustained AI, cloud and cybersecurity demand.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Production\/Manufacturing (+3%)<\/strong> Steady project-led hiring sustains modest growth.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Engineering, Construction &amp; Real Estate (+2%)<\/strong> Project pipelines keep construction and engineering roles marginally ahead of last year.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Holding steady<\/strong>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Government\/PSU\/Defence (0%)<\/strong> Public sector hiring holds at year-ago levels.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Health Care (0%)<\/strong> Flat for a second month, as replacement hiring keeps pace with demand.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Shipping\/Marine (0%)<\/strong> Stable trade route activity keeps hiring at maintenance levels.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Oil &amp; Gas (0%)<\/strong> Capital discipline keeps hiring neither growing nor contracting.&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Facing challenges<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Import\/Export (&minus;1%)<\/strong> A marginal decline, as soft global trade and tariff uncertainty cap demand.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Education (&minus;4%)<\/strong> Tight budgets continue to limit hiring across institutions and training providers.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/bfsi-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BFSI<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong> (&minus;6%)<\/strong> Banks remain focused on cost control and automation rather than net headcount growth.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Retail\/Trade &amp; Logistics (&minus;6%)<\/strong> Softer consumer volumes and efficiency-led cost control keep hiring below last year.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hospitality (&minus;8%)<\/strong> The steepest industry decline. Visitor arrivals have held broadly steady, but shorter trips and fewer overnight stays mean hotels need fewer staff than a year ago.&nbsp;<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hiring Trends by Functional Area (YoY change)<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4 out of 11 functional areas recorded positive annual growth in September 2026. Technology roles lead, while legal and sales functions remain under the most pressure.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In demand<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Software, Hardware &amp; Telecom (+7%)<\/strong> The leading function for a second month, in line with firmer technology demand on the industry side.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/customer-service-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Customer Service<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong> (+4%)<\/strong> Steady support-desk hiring keeps this function positive.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Engineering\/Production (+3%)<\/strong> Continued project-led demand supports modest growth.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/marketing-communications-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marketing &amp; Communications<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (+1%)<\/strong> Still positive, but cooling as advertisers slow fresh campaign hiring.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Holding steady<\/strong>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Purchase\/Logistics\/Supply Chain (0%)<\/strong> Flat for a second month, as operational demand holds without expanding.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Facing challenges<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/finance-accounts-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Finance &amp; Accounts<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> (&minus;3%)<\/strong> Banks continue to keep back-office hiring tight.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/health-care-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Care<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (&minus;3%)<\/strong> A modest decline, though clinical recruitment improved over the summer.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>HR &amp; Admin (&minus;5%)<\/strong> The decline in support-function hiring is beginning to ease.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/hospitality-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hospitality<\/a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/travel-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Travel<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (&minus;9%)<\/strong> Still deep in negative territory as the tourism recovery remains selective.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sales &amp; Business Development (&minus;10%)<\/strong> Hiring is at its lowest level in over a year, as companies hold back on expanding commercial headcount.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/search\/legal-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Legal<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (&minus;14%)<\/strong> The sharpest functional decline, extending a year-long slide as firms rely more on outside counsel and keep in-house teams small.&nbsp;<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the foundit Insights Tracker<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) Singapore (formerly the Monster Employment Index) is a monthly benchmark of online hiring activity across the nation. By analysing millions of job postings, fit provides timely, data-led intelligence on recruitment trends across industries, occupations, and skill categories, helping organisations and talent navigate an evolving labour market.&nbsp;<\/p><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview of Hiring Activity&nbsp;Singapore&rsquo;s online hiring activity was down 1% year-on-year in September 2026. The small decline reflects a stronger year-ago base rather than fresh weakness. Month-on-month, the index rose 1% to its highest level in a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;The broader trend is steady rather than accelerating. Hiring is up 3% over the last three months and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/foundit-insights-tracker-singapore-sep-2026\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Singapore\u2019s Hiring Landscape in September 2026: foundit Insights Tracker<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":48297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights-tracker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55879,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55877\/revisions\/55879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}