By Annie Dang

Singapore’s strengthening economy has kick-started what the market hopes will be a permanent trend for the sector - strong hiring sentiment.

Revised figures released by the government’s Ministry of Manpower earlier this week showed Singapore employers have added more jobs than initially estimated in the last quarter. The Ministry recorded 36,500 jobs added to the Singapore economy compared with an earlier forecast of 34,000, pushing the unemployment rate to 2.2% - the lowest level seen since 2009.

But with the addition of thousands of new jobs, recruiters in Singapore are saying the legal market is yet to reap the benefit of an improving economy. The change in job market sentiment more accurately reflects hiring trends for industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail/gaming.

These industries require a significant increase in manpower following the downturn over the last two years, said Law Alliance managing consultant, Jacqueline Keddie.  “As far as we have seen in the legal industry, while there has been some improvement this year the extent of the change and the increase in hiring has not matched the more positive sentiment we are seeing in the market,” she said.

The legal market in Hong Kong has “bounced back somewhat better” than the market in Singapore, where the number of roles on offer at the end of Q2 is actually less than at the end of Q1, according to Keddie.

Employers are exercising greater caution in the new business environment:  looking for lawyers with specific and relevant experience that compliment the roles which they are looking to fill. Greater preference is also given to candidates already in the country state - or at least in within the Asia region, said Keddie.

“Recruitment [in Singapore] has not yet picked up for expatriate and senior-level in-house roles. Except for roles that require highly specific skills, clients are not considering relocating candidates from external jurisdictions,” she said.

This is a significant contrast to market conditions pre-2008, where strong demand for lawyers meant that expatriate lawyers were generally able to secure roles if they were keen on a move to Singapore.