Overview of Hiring Activity in the Philippines
The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) for the Philippines dipped 4% month-on-month in July 2025. On a year-on-year basis, hiring remained 3% higher, while the 3-month and 6-month trends were -16% and -9%, signalling a short-term cooldown after earlier gains.
Hiring Trends by Industry (YoY numbers)
8 out of 13 industries posted annual growth
In demand
- Health Care (+35%) – Strongest gains, consistent with sustained investment in medical services and insurers’ digital push.
- Logistics, Courier/Transportation & Shipping (+19%) – Benefitting from e-commerce fulfilment and warehousing upgrades
- BFSI (+11%) – Hiring tied to digitisation, risk, and compliance buildouts.
- IT, Telecom/ISP (+3%) – Steady demand as IT-BPM shifts toward higher-value work (software, data, and specialised roles).
- Engineering, Construction & Real Estate (+2%) and Production/Manufacturing (+2%) – Activity tracking capex and supply-chain normalisation.
- Consumer Goods/FMCG (+1%) – Modest improvement despite cautious consumers.
- Hospitality & Travel (+3%) – Supported by inbound tourism, though monthly flows have been uneven.
Facing challenges
- Retail (-29%) – Deep contraction reflects weak discretionary spend and margin pressure.
- Education (-29%) – Hiring remains subdued amid budget rationalisation and programme resets.
- Advertising/Media (-7%) – Soft ad-spend and cautious brand budgets.
- BPO/ITES (-6%) – Transition pain as the sector pivots from volume call-centre work to higher-skill IT-BPM roles.
Hiring Trends by Functional Area (YoY numbers)
6 out of 11 functional areas recorded positive annual growth
In demand
- Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (+25%) – Companies continue to optimise inventories and last-mile operations.
- IT (+13%) – Demand aligned to cloud, data, and platform modernisation in IT-BPM and BFSI.
- Customer Service (+7%) – Stable growth across services and travel.
- Marketing & Communications (+2%), Engineering/Production & Real Estate (+2%), Medical Roles (+2%) – Selective rebuilds as organisations balance growth with cost control.
Facing challenges
- HR & Admin (-34%) and Sales & Business Development (-27%) – Hiring restraint in support and frontline acquisition roles during budget reviews.
- Finance & Accounts (-6%) and Hospitality Roles (-3%) – Lean operating models persist despite improving travel metrics.
Why the mixed signals?
- Policy tailwinds: Inflation has fallen well below target and the BSP has started cutting rates, creating scope for demand to re-accelerate.
- Growth downshift: Government and multilaterals trimmed 2025 GDP expectations (now ~5.5–5.6%), reflecting softer exports and global uncertainty—keeping employers selective.
- Sector rotation: The IT-BPM pivot to higher-value work supports IT roles even as legacy BPO/ITES slows; logistics expands on e-commerce; retail stays pressured by cautious consumers.
About the foundit insights tracker
The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) Philippines, earlier known as the Monster Employment Index, is a leading guide to the country’s e-recruitment landscape. By examining millions of job listings, fit provides timely insights into hiring activity across industries and functions.
