Overview of Hiring Activity in the Phillippines
Online hiring in the Philippines declined by 6% month-on-month in October 2025, reflecting a softer labour environment as employers adjust to macroeconomic uncertainty, cautious consumer sentiment, and shifting global outsourcing patterns.
Despite the monthly dip, the year-on-year trend shows only a marginal decline (−1%), indicating that the broader labour market has largely stabilised after several quarters of volatility.
Short-term indicators offer a mixed picture: the 3-month trend (−2%) reflects mild contraction, while the 6-month trend (−12%) underscores the lingering effects of cost rationalisation and operational restructuring across major industries.
Yet, hiring demand remains resilient in logistics, financial services, healthcare, and selected tech roles — areas closely tied to essential services, infrastructure, and digital expansion.
Hiring Trends by Industry (YoY change)
Hiring trends across industries remain uneven, ranging from strong double-digit growth in healthcare to deep declines in retail and education. While consumer-driven sectors face persistent challenges, business-critical and infrastructure-linked functions continue to perform well.
In demand
- Health Care (+20%)
The strongest-performing sector this cycle, driven by sustained demand for medical practitioners, allied health workers, and clinical support roles as healthcare networks expand capacity nationwide.
- BFSI (+8%)
Hiring remains robust as banks, fintechs, and insurance firms invest in compliance upgrades, digital operations, and customer lifecycle management. - Engineering, Construction & Real Estate (+6%)
Ongoing infrastructure programmes and steady real estate development support continued demand for civil engineers, architects, project managers, and regulatory specialists. - Logistics, Courier/Freight/Transportation, Import/Export & Shipping (+6%)
E-commerce growth and rising distribution needs boost hiring across supply-chain management, warehousing, and transport operations. - Others (+7%)
Miscellaneous and niche industries — including specialised services and SMEs — demonstrate healthy hiring momentum. - Hospitality (+1%) & BPO/ITES (+1%)
Though cooling MoM, both sectors show stable annual hiring supported by tourism recovery and diversified outsourcing contracts.
Facing challenges
- Retail (−35%)
The steepest annual decline, driven by weaker discretionary spending, footprint streamlining, and increased adoption of automation in front-line operations. - Education (−31%)
Enrolment shifts, digital learning adoption, and constrained institutional budgets continue to suppress hiring. - Production/Manufacturing, Automotive & Ancillary (−8%)
Lower export orders and elevated operating costs contribute to muted workforce additions. - IT & Telecom/ISP (−5%)
Tech hiring remains subdued as companies prioritise optimisation over expansion. - FMCG/Consumer Goods (−4%)
Shifts in consumption patterns and cost-management priorities moderate hiring in sales, merchandising, and supply-chain roles.
Hiring Trends by Functional Area (YoY change)
Functional demand in the Philippines reveals stronger performance in customer engagement, tech, and marketing roles, while sales-heavy, HR, and hospitality functions remain under pressure.
In demand
- Software, Hardware & Telecom (+6%)
A standout performer, with rising demand for developers, infrastructure specialists, and IT support professionals — supported by digital transformation and sustained global outsourcing requirements. - Marketing & Communications (+8%)
Brand investment, digital advertising, and performance-led marketing continue to drive hiring across content creation, analytics, and campaign management roles. - Customer Service (+7%)
The Philippines’ position as a global CX hub supports growth in contact-centre operations, support delivery, and omnichannel service roles. - Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (+7%)
Strong logistics-led hiring is reflected in functional demand as companies expand warehousing, routing optimisation, and inventory management capability. - Engineering/Production & Real Estate (+3%)
Steady recruitment driven by ongoing project and site-management requirements across construction and industrial operations.
Facing challenges
- Sales & Business Development (−32%)
A significant decline as companies adopt leaner sales models, shift to digital acquisition channels, and reduce front-line commercial roles. - HR & Admin (−16%)
Hiring lags due to automation, consolidation of support functions, and restructured workforce plans. - Hospitality & Travel (−6%)
Despite tourism recovery, hiring remains restrained as hospitality operators streamline staffing and adopt hybrid service models. - Finance & Accounts (−4%)
Automation of transactional tasks and tighter financial controls continue to reduce new mandates. - Health Care Occupations (−9%)
Despite strong sectoral demand, talent shortages, migration patterns, and cost considerations limit hiring on the occupational side.
Why the Mixed Signals?
- Strong performance in essential and expansion-linked sectors
Healthcare, BFSI, logistics, and engineering remain structurally resilient, supported by demographic needs, digital adoption, and infrastructure momentum.
- Consumer-driven sectors face prolonged pressure
Retail, FMCG, and education continue to struggle with lower discretionary spending, operational optimisation, and digital platform shifts. - Tech and outsourcing stabilising, not accelerating
While IT and BPO show pockets of strength in monthly trends, hiring remains selective as global clients recalibrate outsourcing volumes. - Sales-heavy and support functions continue to contract
Efficiency-first workforce plans mean reduced hiring in sales, HR, and hospitality despite improvements in related sectors.
About the foundit Insights Tracker
The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) Philippines—formerly the Monster Employment Index—provides a forward-looking view of online hiring activity across industries and functional areas. By analysing millions of job listings every month, fit enables businesses and jobseekers to navigate labour-market shifts with timely, data-backed insights.
