High demand for teaching, tech professionals in 2024

Labour market remained tight, with new roles making up almost half of all vacancies

- Sharon Salim

Singapore's labour market remained tight in 2024, with new roles making up nearly half of all job vacancies, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its annual Job Vacancies Report.

The most sought-after professionals were those in teaching and training, software development and marketing sales, among other fields.

Overall, there were 164 vacancies for every 100 job seekers in December 2024, down from 176 in December 2023.

Newly created positions made up 45.7 per cent of all vacancies in 2024, a slight dip from 47.3 per cent in 2023 but still on an uptrend over the years, MOM said in a press release accompanying the report on March 28.

Within the information and communications sector, 75 per cent of the vacancies were freshly created in 2024, reflecting the industry's dynamism and competitiveness.

On the other hand, retail trade and food and beverage services saw declines in the proportion of new jobs, after peaking in 2023.

This reflected the two sectors' slower business momentum as residents shifted their spending to overseas travel destinations, according to the report.

In 2014, professional, managerial, executive and technician (PMET) roles made up only 43.4 per cent of job vacancies. Ten years on, the number hit 57.7 per cent as the Singapore workforce became more educated.