By Esther Teo

THERE are growing signs of a pick-up in hiring but only in certain sectors, such as banking, while manufacturers adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

That is good news for job-seekers, who faced bleak times in the recession, which was recently declared over.

The general consensus among human resource consultancies and some employers is that next year holds significantly better prospects for hiring.

Aside from financial services - one of the sectors hardest hit by the downturn - other sectors with a bright outlook include IT and telecommunications, and aviation.

Human resources consultancy Hudson Singapore's director Karen Kwan cited upbeat data in the firm's latest quarterly forward-looking employer hiring expectations for the current fourth quarter.

For the second straight quarter, the report shows a substantial jump in expectations, with 43 per cent of banking and financial services companies planning to hire more staff. That is up from 32 per cent the previous quarter.

Data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry shows the sector grew 3.9 per cent in the third quarter, after a surge of 22.5 per cent in the second quarter, in quarter-on-quarter terms.

DBS Group Holdings, for instance, said earlier this month it will be hiring 300 new relationship managers for its regional priority banking business over the next year. It laid off hundreds of staff in other departments in the recession.

DBS Treasures managing director Pearlyn Phau said the economic recovery had resulted in rapid growth for wealth management services.

Technology workers are also high on the wanted list for employers.

Global recruitment firm Robert Walters' Singapore managing director Andrea Ross said that the IT and telecom sectors have seen a dramatic increase in recruitment demand since the third quarter.

Online marketing firm PurpleClick is a case in point. Founder Leonard Tan said although business slowed in the first two quarters of this year, it had started rebounding by June.

Mr Tan is looking to hire 10 more staff by the end of next year. 'I'm definitely quite optimistic coming into 2010, but we don't want to rush the hiring and will be looking for quality people,' he said.

Ms Ross said her firm has seen a 40 per cent jump in both permanent and contract positions across various industries. She said hiring had been strong this year in the chemical, fast-moving consumer goods, biotechnology, retail, pharmaceutical and health-care sectors - and this is set to continue next year.

The oil and gas, shipping, and semiconductor industries are among those likely to be slow to hire, Ms Ross said.

Some experts also see rising demand for workers in the hospitality, food and beverage, and aviation sectors next year as the integrated resorts open their doors.

Still, aviation industry players say that the operating environment remains very challenging. Last month, Asian carriers carried 11.1 million international passengers, a slight improvement over the previous month but still 3 per cent below levels seen a year earlier.

Manufacturers are set to be slower to hire as global demand for goods made in factories remains weak. Most of those The Straits Times spoke to are keeping a cautious approach on raising headcount.

South-east Metal Industries managing director Alan Lee said while business had picked up 25 per cent since last November, hiring has risen only marginally.

He expects demand to keep steady into the first quarter of next year.

'The manufacturing industry has the flexibility of going into overtime or outsourcing. There is no need to increase our manpower drastically...There'll probably be no retrenchments but any rehiring next year will be measured as well.'

Beacons Pharmaceuticals general manager Gwen Goh had a similar outlook. She was replacing staff who had resigned but said that hiring to increase productive capacity is not yet in the works.

Opening a German electronics plant last Tuesday, Economic Development Board deputy managing director Tan Choon Shian said some manufacturers were starting to hire, but others were more cautious.

'It depends on each company's assessment on whether it is a sustained upturn or if they worry about unforeseen volatiliy,' he said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.