For the second consecutive year the banking sector has been the top hiring industry in Cambodia spurred by increased demand for employees by a wave of new banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs), according to an annual report released yesterday by online career portal Everjobs Cambodia.

The data, collected by the company’s own internal analytics calculated through the number of job postings and traffic flow, showed that jobs in the banking sector accounted for 11 percent of all listed hiring opportunities.

“According to the National Bank of Cambodia, by July 2016, the Kingdom had already welcomed four more specialised banks and 12 more registered MFIs than during the full year 2015, which explains the increase in job offers within the banking industry during the past 12 months,” the report said.

Correspondingly, banking sector jobs were the most coveted, with 12 percent of all job-seekers applying for these positions. The hotel and hospitality sector had the second-highest amount of total hires, buoyed by increased arrivals of international tourists that reached 4.4 million last year, a 4.7 percent increase from 2015, the report concluded.

The report also highlighted that employment opportunities in the food and beverage industry and within NGOs gained market share against the education and the import and export sector.

Gijs Verheijke, CEO of Everjobs Asia, said after operating for nearly two years in Cambodia his company has accrued “substantial data to identify the past and upcoming trends of the online job market in the country”.