Rise in online hiring seen in run-up to elections

ONLINE job portals play a strategic role in matching job seekers with prospective employers here and abroad, thus boosting employment numbers.

However, recent data from the Monster Employment Index (MEI) by Monster.com, one of the world’s largest online employment sites, showed a decline in online hiring activities across certain sectors.

According to the MEI, the number of successful hiring activities done online in the Philippines fell by 32 percent in June this year compared to the same period last year.

However, June results were an improvement from the previous month’s decline of 43 percent.

Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com for India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong is optimistic, however, that online hiring activities in the country would pick up pace, leading up to the national elections slated in May next year.

“Slow online hiring in the first half of the second quarter can be attributed to the Philippines’ weak foreign direct investment (inflows), wherein figures have fallen by over 50 percent. The business process outsourcing sector—the best performing sector as seen in the MEI results—is set for growth with the continued support from the government,” Modi explained.

“With the 2016 presidential elections coming up, online hiring activities are more likely to see greater improvement, as the new government is expected to boost Philippines’ economy, creating more job opportunities,” he noted.

The MEI, which was first released in Philippines in April 2015, is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Philippines over the last four years.

Highest, lowest growth

The index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry. It records 12 industries and 10 occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity locally.

The 12 groups of industries being monitored were BPO; IT/Telecom; banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI); engineering, construction and real estate; consumer goods, food and packaged food, home appliance, garments, textiles, leather, gems and jewelry; production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary; retail; hospitality; education; healthcare; logistics, courier/freight/transportation, import/export, shipping; and advertising, market research, public relations, media and entertainment.

The occupational groups included in the Index were software, hardware, telecommunications; finance and accounts; sales and business development; customer service; marketing and communications; human resources and administration; engineering/production, real estate; hospitality and travel; healthcare; and purchase/logistics/supply chain.

Latest data showed that across the 12 industries monitored by the Index, the BPO sector in the Philippines registered the most significant growth in the number of online hiring activities at 8 percent in June compared to the same month last year. It was also the only industry sector that saw a positive growth, Modi said.

Online hiring in the IT and telecommunications industry remained stagnant, while production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary industry registered the biggest drop of 56 percent in online hiring—the group’s fifth consecutive month of decline.

In terms of occupational group, customer service saw its first positive growth since April 2015 with a 10 percent increase in hiring year on year. It is also the only group that registered a positive growth.

Engineering/production, real estate roles, meanwhile, saw the steepest plunge at 49 percent, marking its fifth consecutive decline since February 2015.

Monster.com (Philippines) is considered one of the leading online and career recruitment solutions providers in the country. To boost its offerings, the company launched in December last year a new suite of features to improve the Philippines’ online employment landscape.

These were identified as the intelligent Mobile App and Professional Networking features, which were created exclusively for stronger job and talent search, thus empowering job seekers and recruiters alike to identify the best opportunities.

The Monster Mobile App allows active and passive job seekers better access to the most suitable roles, and informs recruiters for stronger hiring decisions, all on mobile. The app’s standout function lies in its customized Avatar feature, which segments job seekers by experience based on their career lifecycle, and then matches their career needs to job opportunities. Jobseekers receive alerts with recommendations and vital information even if they are not actively searching.

Aside from the mobile app, Monster (Philippines) also introduced professional networking features for jobs available on the Monster app and website, wherein job seekers and recruiters can create unique profiles and connect with other professionals on Monster’s network for more compatible job placements.

“Monster is incessantly researching, developing and innovating to help employers as well as jobseekers by taking advantage of the exploding mobile and digital prospect… Monster is now the one-stop shop for better jobs—we provide better access through our unique mobile app and better connections through Professional Networking for Jobs,” Modi earlier said.