Online hiring activities in the Philippines rose by 4 percent in October 2017 compared to the same period last year, reflecting optimism over the economy.
This was according to the latest Monster Employment Index, which tracks online job postings and the sectors that show the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity.
The index showed that the retail sector was the fastest growing in October, ahead of the traditionally busy December Christmas season.
The Monster Employment Index showed that hiring activity here rose 22 percent.
It said retail had been the leading online recruitment activity since July this year while the education sector was the worst performing, with a 5 percent decline year-on-year.
“The Philippine economy clocked year-on-year growth of 6.9 percent in the third quarter, on the back of healthy growth in the industrial and service sectors, making them the second-fastest-growing economy in Asia,” Sanjay Modi, managing director of monster.com, said in a statement.
“Moreover, consumer spending—sustained by overseas Filipino remittances—continues to lift the buoyant mood of the economy. Mirroring this sentiment, the job market has also witnessed an uptick in hiring, in line with the MEI,” he added.
Modi also warned that the outsourcing sector, a pillar of the Philippines’ economy, “continues to be vulnerable to the growth of artificial intelligence”.
He noted that AI could replace 40,000 to 50,000 business process outsourcing jobs in the next five years.
“Needless to say, the key remains in improving the skills and staying relevant to meet the needs of dynamic businesses,” he said.
“Loss of highly skilled tech talent remains a concern for employers across the region, who are at risk of losing this talent to more affluent neighboring countries. It is key for the government to determine how best to regulate this labor flow and implement better measures to avoid a potential brain drain,” he added.
Software, hardware and telecommunications talent was most in demand with 7 percent year-on-year growth in online hiring in October, according to the index.
Engineering, production, real estate and healthcare, in contrast, saw the steepest year-on-year decline, which was 5 percent, among professionals.