S’pore saw the biggest drop in job postings in 5 yrs. Here are the industries that are hiring & cutting back.

Hiring trends vary significantly across sectors

Just as hiring appeared to be picking up, Singapore’s job market has reversed course. Job postings have fallen to the lowest level since Mar 2021, according to the latest report from job listing portal Indeed.

In Feb 2026, postings dropped 4.5% to sit 12% below a year ago, a decrease that has more than offset three consecutive months of gains.

Still, the headline figures only tell part of the story. Hiring trends vary significantly across sectors, with gains in some occupations offset by steep declines in others.

Here’s a breakdown of how job postings have shifted across different roles:

The winners & losers

Indeed provides a rolling three-month breakdown for the professions with the largest swings in demand, so we can compare which jobs are going up and which are falling out of favour.

Job postings rose in around half of occupational categories over the past three months, led by gains in IT infrastructure, operations & support (+19%), arts & entertainment (+16%) and software development (+15%).

Interestingly, some of the strongest gains were recorded in occupations that have a high exposure to AI transformation.

But those gains were offset by steep declines elsewhere.

Postings fell sharply in childcare (-29%), dental (-23%) and civil physicians & surgeons (-18%), with education and healthcare among the sectors seeing the most pronounced pullback in recent months.

More remote work opportunities

The report also found that remote work is gradually gaining ground.

In February, 8.6% of all job postings explicitly mentioned terms like “work from home” or “work remotely.” That’s a slight increase from the 8.4% recorded a year ago, and has climbed from a post-pandemic low of 6.9% in late 2022. 

Remote work opportunities are most common in IT systems & solutions at 15.6% of postings in the February quarter, ahead of sales (15.5%) and media & communications (14.0%). 

Large gains were also seen in occupations that have traditionally offered few remote or hybrid opportunities. Social sciences (+4.5%) and real estate (+3.5%) led the way.

But not all sectors are moving in the same direction.

Remote postings fell sharply in insurance (-7.5%), human resources (-6.0%), architecture (-5.3%), and electrical engineering (-3.6%), underscoring how remote work trends vary widely across occupations.

The labour market still remains strong

On the whole, though, it seems like the labour market situation in Singapore still remains stable and strong, despite the decrease in the total number of openings.

At the end of Feb, job postings were still 32% above pre-pandemic levels.

The post-pandemic job boom in Singapore was so large that even though job postings are down 45% from their peak in Jul 2022, it’s still sufficiently high to keep the unemployment rate low—just 2% at the end of last year.

However, the Singapore economy will face some stiff economic headwinds this year as the conflict in the Middle East triggers higher inflation and increased cautiousness from households and businesses alike.

With a tight labour market and solid economic growth last year, Singapore is relatively well positioned to weather these challenges. Nevertheless, the economic outlook has softened in recent weeks, underscoring the risks ahead.

Indeed expects that job opportunities will continue to moderate over the course of 2026. 

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Also Read: 80% of jobs in S’pore don’t look at your degree anymore, especially the ones that actually pay well

Featured Image Credit: Shadow_of_light/ depositphotos