Did you know that professionals, managers, engineers and technicians (PMETs) took up jobs more quickly in 2017 than the year before?
In contrast, non-PMETs were less keen to get employed mainly due to unattractive pay, work on weekends or public holidays, and shift work.
This was a key finding of the Manpower Ministry’s (MOM) Job Vacancies 2017 report on 7 February 2018.
However, according to the report, job vacancies not filled for at least six months continued to decline from 36 per cent in 2016 to 33 per cent in 2017.
Non-PMET Jobs
MOM said 49 per cent of non-PMET jobs were not taken up for at least six months, particularly those in the service and sales trade.
Most of the jobs were security guards, receptionists, customer service and information clerks, shop sales assistants, waiters, cleaners, and material and freight handlers.
So, what can employers do to improve their hiring rate?
MOM encouraged employers who faced difficulty in filling non-PMET jobs to do more to redesign and improve the quality of the jobs.
PMET Jobs
MOM said only 16 per cent were unfilled for at least six months and they included positions such as software, web and multimedia developers.
To this, employers explained that candidates lacked the necessary work experience and specialised skills.
MOM adds that for PMETs, academic qualifications were not the main consideration for filling 42 per cent of these vacancies.
Vacant positions include civil engineers, commercial and marketing sales executives, and software, web and multimedia developers.
MOM says employers were looking for working experience to fill these positions.
