Construction Market Update Report

Demand for talent remains strong in turbulent times

The Singapore construction sector during Covid has seen a swift downturn in activity, halting construction projects across Singapore. Project teams faced uncertainty, redeployment and redundancies. Some companies have had to adapt quickly to address their business continuity planning and digital infrastructure to support remote working.

Notwithstanding the turbulent circumstances, demand for talent has remained steady. The corporate, bid and tender positions amongst opportunistic employers, and the public sector projects have remained strong. Positive government intervention and driving digitalisation, grants, and job support schemes will enable growth for the remainder of 2020.

Live projects are gradually restarting and tenders resuming across both public & private projects. We are seeing a strong pipeline of projects which include Punggol Digital District (PDD), Jurong Regional Line, Cross Island Line, Tuas reclamation plant and Facebook’s largest data centre in Singapore. These key projects will reaffirm the Government’s plans to expand Singapore’s transportation and technology landscape.

As the industry transforms and moves towards digitalisation within construction, there is evidence of more demand in talent with specific skills in artificial intelligence, robotics and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), to name a few. The market outlook is upbeat, with a sudden demand for project-based positions, as well as public sector tenders.

Recruitment Highlights

Salaries to increase with labour shortage

The economic crisis combined with prudent measures has reduced pay levels by 20-25%. Salary levels will remain stagnant as candidates move for little or no increase, creating an employers’ market. With Singapore’s unique labour short market, and tougher job requirements, we expect salary levels to bounce back quickly.