According to a new report released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the total number of job vacancies increased 4.4 per cent to the level of 56,400 during a period of one year till September 2012.

The MOM report showed that the largest vacancy was in service and sales at 12,430. It said that service and sales segment accounts for about 24 per cent of total vacancies recorded during the period. The report noted that this indicates that there is a strong demand for sales assistants, waiters, security guards, food service counter attendants, and cashiers and ticket clerks in the city state.

The report showed that associate professionals and technicians recorded the second highest number of vacancies at 8,960 vacancies, accounting for about 17 per cent of total vacancies. Professionals recorded total vacancies of 8,040, which is about 15 per cent of the total number of vacancies.

It is believed that the difficult labour market and a moderate fall in the inflow of foreign workers in the country affected the hiring efforts and resulted in the rise in vacancies.