As the talent war continues and expectations for the workforce evolve, companies in Singapore are placing employee engagement among their top priorities.

As a result, they are driving up the demand for skilled HR professionals.

That was according to the Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q3 2015, which noted an overall increase of 4% in local job advertising volume.

Advertisements for roles within the medical services (19%), IT (16%) and HR sectors (5%) grew the most.

On the other hand, due to increasing automation of internal company processes, job advertising for administrative and secretarial professionals has seen a 15% annual dip.

“Technology remains one of the largest recruitment drivers in Singapore. This is a result of new initiatives from companies which all involve strengthening IT infrastructure,”  said Toby Fowlston, managing director for Southeast Asia at Robert Walters.

“This rampant rise in consumer engagement has also created a push from organisations to improve their online strategy.”

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In Hong Kong, a similar situation was seen with a 4% overall increase in job advertising volumes.

As regulatory requirements tighten and corporate compliance grows, an increase in legal and compliance professionals is seen in the 23% year-on-year increase in advertising for legal and compliance jobs.

Similarly, increases in advertising volumes are seen for accounting and finance roles (17%), sales roles (15%) and IT roles (14%).

On the other hand, advertising volumes for product and logistics operation roles saw a 13% dip.

Matthew Bennett, managing director for Greater China at Robert Walters said, “The recruitment market was relatively active with a 4% year-on-year growth in job advertising volumes this quarter, despite signs of softening, particularly in the retail and tourism sectors.

He added there was a steady stream of replacement-based openings with many organisations opting not to hire like-for-like replacements but rather taking the opportunity to upskill roles.

“Hong Kong remains a prime gateway for companies looking to enter the Asia market with the ease of setting up business in the city, and we therefore expect the demand for top talent will continue to be strong for the rest of the year.”

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In Malaysia, however, a slightly lower (3%) increase in annual job advertising volumes are seen.

The top three roles with the highest demand are marketing (17%), IT (15%) and accounting and finance (13%) while demand for engineering roles saw a dip of 11%.

“The 3% increase in annual job advertising is a reflection of market caution driven by the weakening Ringgit and falling crude oil prices. Hiring in the third quarter was largely focused on key hires and business-critical niche positions,” said Sally Raj managing director for Malaysia at Robert Walters.

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