JobStreet postings down 50% due to COVID-19

Postings on JobStreet.com declined by as much as 50% in April as a number of employers have been hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, the online job portal reported Tuesday.

According to JobStreet Philippines country manager Philip Gioca, job postings have drastically declined from the 100,000 average prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the Philippines, we have seen a significant drop between 30 to 50% in number of placement, worst during the first week of April," he said in a virtual briefing.

Among the most hit were employers that were small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which accounted for a chunk of the decline in postings.

"SMEs are the worst hit because of their capitalization, because of the funds they have, it's really very, very taxing for them to actually continue on business," said Gioca.

He noted, however, that a number of employers have restarted to search for employees following the easing of several restrictions under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

"Now that we are in May, we are seeing very good traction now, people are starting to post again," said Gioca.

"When it comes to June, people will start posting their jobs. It's just a good indicator that business is about to start again," he added.

The same trend is being seen across Southeast Asia, as echoed by Ramesh Rajandran, chief marketing officer of SEEK Asia, JobStreet's parent company.

"Across Southeast Asia, what we've seen is during the first few weeks of the pandemic... there was a steep decline. However, that's slowly starting to come back," he said.

"What is interesting is the types of jobs that we hire changing. We see more roles that are digitally focused -- social marketers, media experts," he added. —KBK, GMA News