Singapore career news: Hirings on the upswing

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Hirings on the upswing

With Asia's economies rebounding, firms are seeking more staff as they look to grab new opportunities in the region

By Shefali Rekhi

A 34-YEAR-OLD senior marketing executive in a top Bangkok hotel is contemplating a change.

Though she has not even started searching, she is confident a few phone calls will land her the job she wants. She earns around 70,000 baht (S$3,000) a month.

Across the border in Malaysia, optimistic economists believe the nation will see 'zero unemployment' this year, meaning the jobless rate will be below 4 per cent.

'The outlook is good,' said MIDF Sisma Securities economist Azrul Anwar.

The underlying fundamentals are strong and the new emphasis on services and agriculture spells hope, he said.

In China, the logistics industry wants 600,000 professionals, says an analysis by online news service China Economic Net. Thousands more are needed in the integrated circuit industry, the financial sector and the games industry to name a few.

The Indian economy, too, is surging.

Human resource consultancy Hewitt Associates predicts that the average pay hike in the boom sectors will range from 9.7 per cent to 13.4 per cent.

Take away an average inflation rate of 5 per cent, and that still leaves a healthy pay hike.

As Asia's fortunes seem set to rise - leaving behind the scars of the Iraq war and Sars - banks, financial institutions, the logistics industry and those in tourism are seeking talent, showing a pattern that clearly suggests jobs are on a rebound in Asia.

The elections - being held in most Asian economies - and the avian influenza could be dampeners but prospects look positive.

Hiring specialists say existing multinational clients and new ones seeking manpower are calling up or sending e-mail messages more frequently than in the past year.

The upswing in business has been discernible since the last quarter of 2003, and is now gaining pace.

'There has definitely been a pick-up,' said Kelly Services managing director Dhirendra Shantilal, who oversees the global recruitment firm's Asia operations from Singapore.

'Companies have started to hire people. But they still have to get over their fears of a downturn and are still somewhat cautious,' he told The Straits Times.

Kelly, which has offices or alliances in every major Asian country, plans to add one more office to its two in India and is working on a plan to increase its own staffing elsewhere to meet client needs.

Analysts say the business outlook for Asia suggests that most firms - specially those on the fast track - have cut costs dramatically and chief executives are back to focusing on new ways to boost bottom lines.

Profit-driven companies in Asia are itching to push sales, grab new projects and even venture into areas they have not attempted yet to make the most of the opportunities the continent throws up.

Companies are willing to pay a premium for those with a proven ability to make sales surge in a market that has become fiercely competitive, and for entrepreneurs with a gut feel for making the most of risks.

Next, hiring analysts report a growing search for those with experience in the logistics sector - for professionals who are capable of planning, moving and delivering at short notice.

As Asians get hooked on placing orders on the Net, this industry has been rapidly growing, they say.

Corporate Asia is also hunting for marketing and public relations professionals, engineers, researchers and those with operational and technical skills.

Leading global recruitment and human resource consultancy firm Hudson - which did a survey for Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore - says the consumer products sector will offer the most jobs in these economies.

Based on hiring patterns, Hudson and other human resource consultancy firms say that apart from the fast-moving consumer goods category, companies in info-tech, telecom, financial services, research and engineering will also be on a hiring spree.

A visible trend likely to gain pace will be the rise of the Asian expat - the upwardly mobile, talented Asian who will find his skills in demand in nations other than his own.

'The word expat till now usually meant the elite well-educated Westerner,' said Hudson general manager Stefanie Cross-Wilson, who is based in Singapore.

'That will no longer be the case. The well-educated Asian who knows the Asian culture, speaks one or two Asian languages, is growing in demand.'

Mr Roger Wilson, the managing director for Boyden Global Executive Search, has recently head-hunted a Singaporean chief financial officer for a large European firm's China venture and believes his firm will be doing more such hirings.

Singaporeans can understand the language in China, many have an international education and/or global work experience - assets that multinationals seek for their China operations, he said.

Many are certain that the big push is and will continue to be in the two giant economies of the region - China and India.

Chinese online employment website www.Chinahr. com said Sars did not dramatically affect hirings and Beijing quickly recovered from the crisis.

Website president Zhang Xiangjie predicts that 'positions available this year will experience a dramatic increase, compared with last year'.

Talent is badly needed.

A report by the China Economic Net said that more than 2,700 job advertisements appear in the automobile sector alone each month.

It estimates the industry will need 600,000 professionals in the next 10 years as the nation powers ahead to be the world's fourth-largest automobile manufacturer.

In India, which has sucked in many outsourcing ventures from Europe and the United States, many are certain the boom in the info-tech area will continue in the next few years, given comparatively low pay for professionals.

Such is the demand now that Europeans and Americans are urging recruitment firms to push their resumes with Indian ventures.

And hirings indicate Japan is also showing signs of an upswing.

In South-east Asia, analysts say jobs will be easier to find within the next two to three years - if the avian influenza does not blow up into a Sars-like crisis and if Sars itself does not recur.

On the salary front, there is also sunshine ahead for those who excel.

Companies are increasingly linking pay to the ability to make a difference - not loyalty or years of service.

Boyden's Mr Wilson believes the variable pay component - that is linked to individual and corporate performance - will increase across Asia.

He is also certain the jobs rebound will become a boom.

There has been a big build-up of capital in government and private hands in the past three years and there will be a sea-change in the way capital is viewed, he said.

From being protective, there will be a greater willingness to invest. 'And that will create jobs.'