35% of 2020 job openings in Singapore were for remote work

The Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) annual Job Vacancies Report is tracking such data for the first time amid drastic changes in work arrangements brought on by the pandemic. 

The ministry decided to start tracking this number after widespread implementation of flexible work arrangements due to COVID-19, said Manpower Research and Statistics Department director Ang Boon Heng, adding that doing so would help the ministry better understand potential shifts in work arrangements. 

The report showed that PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) roles formed 57% of remote jobs openings, contrasting with the 6% for non-PMET ones. 

Manager and administrator roles made up the highest proportion of job vacancies for remote work at 71% as these roles allowed employees to perform their tasks without being bound to specific work locations. Such roles include business development managers and administration managers. 

Other roles included in this category were IT professionals, and research and analysis positions such as policy or financial analysts. In contrast, many non-PMET jobs required employees to work on-site, including retail assistants, waiters and construction labourers. 

The report also found that 45% of job openings were newly created roles instead of replacements. The information & communications and financial & insurance services were the two sectors which created the highest number of newly created positions. About 38% of these positions were for IT professionals and commercial and marketing sales executives. 

READ: Singapore adopts flexible and hybrid work model

In addition, the demand for IT developers and healthcare professionals continued to spike, with the pandemic raising the demand even higher. Software, web & multimedia developers and systems analysts were the most sought-after IT development roles last year, and the demand for such roles has risen in the recent five years, according to Channel News Asia.