The Hardest Roles to Fill in Singapore Right Now, According to 375 Hiring Managers

ManagementJuly 01, 2026 09:00

A Singapore hiring manager reviewing applications for a hard-to-fill technical role, 2026

Only 23.2 percent of hiring managers in Singapore say they feel very confident they can find qualified local talent. That is the headline finding from Reeracoen's Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, which asked 375 Singapore-based hiring managers what is actually getting in the way of their hiring plans this year.

The short answer: it is not that roles are sitting empty for lack of applicants. It is that the right applicants are harder to find than the headcount numbers suggest.

Key Findings

•Only 23.2% of hiring managers feel very confident finding qualified local talent (n=375)

•Hardest roles to fill: tech engineers (hardware and software), sales and business development, logistics and skilled trades

•Top hiring challenges: salary expectations (80.3%), skills mismatch (65.1%), lack of experienced candidates (56.3%)

•Average weekly working hours eased to 42.9 in March 2026, even as these specific roles remain scarce

Source: Reeracoen Singapore Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026; Ministry of Manpower, Labour Market Report Q1 2026.

A Market That Is Hiring, But Not Confidently

When asked how confident they were in securing qualified local talent, hiring managers split three ways. Just under a quarter, 23.2 percent, said they were very confident. Close to half, 49.1 percent, said they were only somewhat confident. The remaining 27.7 percent reported neutral to low confidence.

Source: Reeracoen Singapore Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, n=375 Singapore-based hiring managers.

In other words, fewer than 1 in 4 employers feel genuinely confident about their ability to hire well right now. That is a useful number to sit with before assuming a quiet quarter means hiring has gotten easier.

The Roles Employers Cannot Fill, and Why

The survey identified three categories that hiring managers consistently named as hardest to fill:

  • Tech engineers, both hardware and software
  • Sales and business development roles
  • Logistics, skilled trades, and planning roles

Source: Reeracoen Singapore Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, Section D: Hiring Outlook & Talent Gaps.

The survey puts it simply: the vacancies are there. The qualified candidates are not. This mirrors a pattern in MOM's own data, which has separately pointed to persistent shortages in tech, healthcare, logistics, and built environment roles.

The same survey asked employers what is actually getting in the way, beyond salary. Two reasons stand out. Skills mismatch was cited by 65.1 percent of hiring managers, and a lack of experienced candidates by 56.3 percent. Put together with the salary expectations gap, these three reasons account for most of the friction.

Source: Reeracoen Singapore Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, Section A: Hiring Confidence & Challenges.

There is a structural reason behind some of this. The survey notes that government investment in upskilling, through SkillsFuture, AI training, and Jobs Transformation Maps, is increasing the supply of trained candidates. But employers still hesitate over mid-career applicants with employment gaps. That hesitation can keep a role open even when a workable candidate has applied.

It Is Not Just About Headcount Caution

It would be easy to read a tight market for specific roles as a sign that Singapore employers are stretched thin everywhere. The wider data does not support that. MOM's Q1 2026 Labour Market Report shows average weekly paid hours per employee easing from 43.2 hours in June 2025 to 42.9 hours in March 2026. Over the same period, the number of workers placed on short work-weeks rose from 680 to 940, a tool firms are using as an alternative to retrenchment rather than a sign of overload.

Source: Ministry of Manpower, Labour Market Report Q1 2026.

Put the two data sets together and a more precise picture emerges. Singapore's labour market in mid-2026 is not uniformly tight. Employers are managing headcount carefully, using shorter hours rather than over-hiring or cutting staff broadly. But specific specialist categories, tech engineering, sales and business development, logistics and skilled trades, remain genuinely scarce regardless of that broader caution.

Salary Expectations Are Part of the Gap

Compensation is the single biggest obstacle. 80.3 percent of employers in the survey cited salary expectations as a key hiring challenge, the highest of any reason given. That does not necessarily mean candidates are asking for too much. It often means employers and candidates are anchored to different numbers, particularly in the roles named above, where demand has pushed candidate expectations ahead of what some employers have budgeted for.

Source: Reeracoen Singapore Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, Section A: Hiring Confidence & Challenges.

What This Means for Singapore Employers This Quarter

Reeracoen's advisory for employers navigating this market is direct:

  • Move early to secure bilingual and specialist talent, rather than waiting for the ideal candidate to apply.
  • Benchmark compensation expectations realistically against current market data, not last year's budget.
  • Anticipate moderately longer hiring timelines for the roles named above, and plan headcount timing accordingly.
  • Strengthen retention strategies and employer value propositions, since a hard-to-fill role is also expensive to lose once filled.

Source: Reeracoen Hiring Pulse, March 2026 edition, Market Watch and Advisory.

Q3 is the right time to act on this. If tech engineering, sales, or logistics roles are on your hiring plan for the rest of the year, the data suggests starting the search earlier and pricing it more realistically will matter more than usual.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hardest role to fill in Singapore right now?

According to Reeracoen's Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, the hardest categories to fill are tech engineering roles (both hardware and software), sales and business development, and logistics, skilled trades and planning roles.

Why are employers struggling to hire if Singapore's labour market is stable?

Confidence and stability are not the same thing. MOM data shows employers managing headcount cautiously overall, including shorter average working hours. But specific specialist categories remain genuinely short of qualified candidates regardless of that broader caution.

Is salary the main reason these roles are hard to fill?

It is the single biggest factor, cited by 80.3 percent of employers, but not the only one. Skills mismatch (65.1 percent) and a lack of experienced candidates (56.3 percent) are also major contributors.

How confident are Singapore hiring managers about finding talent in 2026?

Only 23.2 percent describe themselves as very confident. Roughly half, 49.1 percent, are only somewhat confident, and 27.7 percent report neutral to low confidence.

What should employers do differently this quarter?

Start searches for hard-to-fill roles earlier, benchmark pay against current data rather than last year's budget, plan for longer hiring timelines, and invest in retention once these roles are filled.

Get the Full Report

This article covers three of the survey's findings. The complete Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026 includes the full Top 5 Hiring Challenges breakdown, the upskilling and re-entry findings, and Reeracoen's complete recommendations for employers, jobseekers, and policymakers.

Request your copy of the full Hiring Manager Survey report

Struggling to fill a technical, sales, or logistics role right now? Talk to a Reeracoen consultant about sourcing strategy and realistic salary benchmarking

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About the Author

Valerie Ong

Regional Marketing Manager, Reeracoen Group

Valerie leads content and market insights for Reeracoen across Southeast Asia. She works closely with Reeracoen's specialist recruitment consultants to translate hiring data, salary benchmarks and labour market trends into practical guidance for Singapore's employers and professionals. Her work draws on Reeracoen's proprietary research including the annual Salary Guide, Hiring Pulse, and Hiring Manager Survey.

Language note: This article is published in English. Reeracoen Singapore also publishes selected content in Japanese for our bilingual and Japanese-speaking professional community.

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Disclaimer

This article is based on findings from Reeracoen's Hiring Manager Survey 2025/2026, conducted in partnership with Rakuten Insight, alongside publicly available data from Singapore's Ministry of Manpower. The findings are intended to be informative and directional rather than definitive or predictive. They should be used as a general reference and not as a substitute for tailored hiring advice.

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