Online recruitment activities decline in December

MANILA, Philippines - Online recruitment activities in the Philippines continued to decline in December from a year ago, although at a slower pace, online employment website Monster.com said.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) showed online hiring in the country registered a 36 percent drop year-on-year in December 2015.

The latest result is an improvement from the 46 percent annual decrease seen in November 2015.

The MEI is intended to be a gauge of online job posting activities by showing the industries and occupations with the highest and lowest growth in e-recruitment activities locally.

The index was first released in May of last year.

For the period of December 2014 and 2015, the MEI showed the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector saw the highest growth of six percent in online recruitment.

The production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary sector meanwhile, remained to have the worst e-recruitment performance among industry groups with a 63 percent decline year-on-year in December.

“Despite economic uncertainty for financial systems in Asia and across the Asia Pacific region amid slowdown in China, Fitch Ratings has predicted a more positive outlook for the Philippines’ banking sector in the New Year as compared to 2015. This should lead to more of a boost in hiring within the BFSI sector as we move into 2016,” Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com for India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong said.

He noted the local business process outsourcing sector is also quickly catching up given the conducive business environment enticing firms to set up operations in the country.

“More customer service professionals are also expected to be employed into the industry in 2016, especially with the potential job opportunities to follow after the general elections,” he added.

The website is under Monster Worldwide, Inc., which provides online employment solution and services.

Apart from Asia, the firm has presence in key markets like North America and Europe.