Hiring sentiment for HR and administrative positions in Singapore remained sluggish last April amidst the rise of workforce and recruitment technology. Recent data from job portal Monster.com’s monthly employment index also showed “few signs of growth” for the sector – all markets monitored by the index reported a decline.
Malaysia logged an annualised 11% decline in hiring for the sector for April this year, while Singapore and the Philippines both observed a 6% drop.
“With the rise of workforce and recruitment technology, and an increasing budget allocated towards HR tech within companies, select HR & Admin roles are slowly getting replaced across business functions,” said Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com (APAC & Middle East).
“But while such automation drives efficiency, productivity and optimisation within company HR functions, HR is still very much a human-driven role and there are aspects, including employee engagement, which cannot be replaced by AI or automation. Growth in online hiring is likely to remain slow, but unlikely to come to a halt,” he added.
Separate research from the ManpowerGroup revealed that roughly 8 in 10 (81%) employers in Singapore are not expecting to increase staffing levels during the second quarter this year.
Some 13% of employers forecast an increase in staffing levels, while 5% anticipate a decrease, according to the firm’s survey of over 700 employers.
“Hiring sentiment is moderate, as the market remains clouded in uncertainty with the election of [Donald] Trump as US President and the US’ withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),” said
Linda Teo,
ManpowerGroup Singapore country manager.
“In general, companies will definitely still need to hire but many of them lack the budget for permanent headcounts, and are thus using agency contracting as a workaround,” she added.
More than half (55%) of HR managers in the US believe that artificial intelligence(AI)will be a regular part of HR in the next five years, according to a recent poll by CareerBuilder. A majority of them also said the thought of AI in HR does not make them nervous, but only 7% believe that a robot can actually perform their role.
“What robots and AI can't replace is the human element of HR that shapes the company culture, provides an environment for employees built on IQ and EQ, works hand in hand with company leaders to meet business goals and ensures employees have the training and support to thrive,” explained Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s chief HR officer.
“You need living, dynamic people who can navigate the 'grey' to do that, not robots that can quickly work through black and white.”
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