Showing posts with label talent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label talent. Show all posts

12 January 2026

Five talent shifts redefining Singapore hiring

Source: PERSOL. 2025 talent trends and hiring priorities infographic.
Source: PERSOL. 2025 talent trends and hiring priorities.

PERSOL's Industry Insight Report 2025 has revealed that employee expectations for flexibility, purpose and growth now outweigh pay as key drivers of career choice, reshaping how organisations attract and retain talent across the Asia Pacific region. 

Based on findings from 12 markets and four core sectors – manufacturing, consumer, professional services and supply chain, the report offers a regional view of how work and workforce priorities are evolving: 

Automation, sustainability regulation and demographic change are redefining the labour market across the region. Employers continue to face widespread skills shortages, with demand for digital, analytical and hybrid capabilities outpacing supply in most major markets. Environment, social and governance (ESG) awareness and compliance literacy are also becoming essential hiring criteria as organisations respond to growing sustainability expectations.

The report highlights that Gen Z and Millennial professionals are reshaping what they value at work, prioritising flexibility, purpose and development opportunities over pay alone. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), Asia and the Pacific remains the world’s fastest-growing employment region, underscoring the need for businesses to evolve workforce strategies in line with these shifting expectations.

Elvin Tan, Regional Director and Head of Operations APAC at PERSOL said, “The region’s talent economy is at a crossroads. Workforce gaps are no longer just about headcount. They are about adaptability. Employers who balance technology investment with cultural intelligence and purpose-led hiring will emerge stronger in the next cycle.”

In Singapore, these shifts are even more pronounced, PERSOL said. Employers are seeing strong demand for talent in e-commerce operations, data analytics, sustainability reporting and supply chain optimisation. Foreign manpower controls and expanding ESG reporting requirements are intensifying competition for hybrid digital-ESG talent, the report found. Meanwhile, local professionals increasingly prioritise purpose, flexibility and career progression over compensation alone, prompting organisations to rethink how they attract and retain talent.

The report identified several shifts in how employers hire, engage and compete for talent across Asia Pacific.

At the heart of this transformation is the rise of hybrid skills, where digital fluency and human capability increasingly go hand in hand - employers are now seeking professionals who can navigate technology and strategy in equal measure.

Closely linked to this is the growing importance of sustainability and compliance literacy. As ESG expectations become more deeply embedded in business strategy, roles once limited to sustainability teams are now expanding across finance, operations and supply chain functions.

The study also points to a significant shift in the employer-employee dynamic, with candidates behaving more like consumers. Jobseekers expect transparency, mobile-first communication and a sense of purpose from the hiring process. In Singapore’s highly-competitive market, digitally-skilled and sustainability-focused candidates actively assess employers for clear values, culture and long-term growth pathways.

These evolving expectations are most visible among younger professionals, particularly Gen Z and millennials, who prioritise flexibility, belonging and personal growth. For many, meaningful work and supportive leadership now matter more than salary alone.

The report concluded with a call for deeper collaboration across business, education and government to bridge the widening skills gap. This includes strengthening partnerships that align workforce development with national priorities in digital transformation, sustainability and advanced manufacturing.

Details

Read the PERSOL Industry Insight Report 2025 at www.persolapac.com/industry-insights-2025

26 November 2025

Singapore leads the world in talent competitiveness

Source: INSEAD GTCI infographic. Chart. GTCI ranks in 2023 vs 2025.
Source: INSEAD GTCI infographic. GTCI ranks in 2023 vs 2025. Singapore has moved up while Australia has moved down in the top 12.

Singapore has leapfrogged Switzerland to take top spot in the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), riding on its strength in cultivating adaptable, digitally fluent and innovation-ready workforces in the age of AI.

This year is the first time the city-state topped the annual ranking, which was launched by INSEAD in 2013 as a benchmark for policy thinking on labour markets, work organisation and talent flows.

Themed Resilience in the Age of Disruption, the 11th GTCI examines how nations and economies are building talent systems capable of weathering disruptions. The ranking of 135 economies is based on 77 indicators, including soft skills and AI talent concentration, across six dimensions: Enable, Attract, Grow, Retain, Vocational and Technical Skills, and Generalist Adaptive Skills.

Lily Fang, INSEAD’s Dean of Research and Innovation, commented: “This year’s report should be seen as much more than a race between nations. It offers leaders thoughtful points of reflection on how to integrate powerful technologies, such as AI, into the grand pursuit of human progress.”

This year’s ranking also marks the launch of a new partnership between INSEAD and the Portulans Institute, a non-profit research outfit based in the US. “This collaboration brings renewed depth and clarity to the GTCI at a time when rapid technological change, geopolitical uncertainty and profound societal transitions make dependable talent metrics more essential than ever,” said Rafael Escalona Reynoso, CEO of Portulans Institute.

Singapore stands apart in the latest ranking for the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive and innovation-driven workforce, said the GTCI report.

The city-state was ranked first in Generalist Adaptive Skills for a workforce armed with the soft skills, digital literacy and innovation-oriented thinking that today’s fast-shifting landscape demands. Generalist Adaptive Skills has emerged as one of the strongest determinants of talent competitiveness. Singapore’s ability to retain talent also surged seven spots from 2023, to 31st in 2025. 

The city-state has also scored well for its effective governance and high standard of living, in addition to the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive, innovation-driven workforce. Furthermore, Singapore placed first in the Formal Education and Regulatory Landscape measures, showing the depth and resilience of its human capital systems and institutional frameworks. 

“Economies that cultivate adaptable, cross-functional and AI-literate workforces tend to be better positioned to convert disruption into opportunity and sustain long-term competitiveness,” said Professor Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD and co-editor of the report.

“This year’s results underscore that talent competitiveness is not solely a function of income level, but of strategic policy orientation, institutional quality and effective mobilisation of human capital resources.”

GTCI 2025: The top 20

1. Singapore

11. Ireland

2. Switzerland

12. UK

3. Denmark

13. Iceland

4. Finland

14. Canada

5. Sweden

15. Belgium

6. Netherlands

16. Austria

7. Norway

17. Germany

8. Luxembourg

18. New Zealand

9. US

19. France

10. Australia

20. Czech Republic

One of the defining messages of GTCI 2025 is that the ability to translate investments into meaningful outcomes will set economies apart in the talent race. Singapore, South Korea and Israel stood out for their ability to get better talent outcomes with fewer resources. 

This was also true for some lower-middle income countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Low-income countries also demonstrated strong foundations for talent development. 

Evans said: “Economies that align education, labour and innovation systems towards adaptive talent development can achieve high performance even with modest income levels.” 

Regionally speaking, there were few surprises. Europe continues to dominate the ranking, accounting for 18 of the top 25 positions. In Asia and Oceania, Australia (10th) and New Zealand (18th) outscored Singapore in retaining talent but fell behind in General Adaptive Skills.  

China’s decline from 40th to 53rd reflected a less favourable business climate and labour market, though the report acknowledges that insufficient data could also have played a part. India, on the other hand, climbed three spots, to 100th. Strengthening the quality of its vocational education and employability could help it capitalise on its digital strengths and world-leading IT service exports.  

North Africa and Western Asia were led by Israel (23rd) while the UAE (25th) topped the region in attracting talent and developing skills, although it lagged in high-level skills.

“True resilience in talent is turning adversity into a catalyst for innovation, adaptability and renewed purpose,” said Professor Felipe Monteiro, GTCI Academic Director and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.

“Resilience means learning how to bounce forward, not just bounce back from the inevitable shocks and crises.”

Escalona Reynoso added: “What matters most today are adaptive capabilities: the ability to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments.

“These are the skills that increasingly define a country’s competitiveness - and the GTCI now captures this reality more clearly than ever.”

Escalona Reynoso, Professor Evans and Professor Monteiro co-authored an INSEAD Knowledge article that identified the Nordic nations, Singapore and Switzerland as good examples of societal resilience in action. Resilience entails giving priority to active labour market practices to support citizens in bouncing forward from job loss, which may accelerate with the impact of AI, they explained.

Resilience also means having educational systems that help people learn from adversity, alongside a continued focus on developing organisational agility and collaborative problem-solving. To achieve resilience, people must be able to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments. The Generalist Adaptive Skills dimension of this year’s report operationalises this idea within the talent framework, while new indicators on AI capability, soft skills, employee well-being and workforce resilience measure not only where countries stand, but their preparedness for what comes next.

Taking an AI lens to the situation, the authors said that "the capacity to integrate AI tools, think critically about their use, and combine technological fluency with human-centric soft skills will be indispensable".

Explore

Download the report and infographics at https://www.insead.edu/global-talent-competitiveness-index

Hashtag: #GTCI2025

25 November 2025

Robert Walters: AI, wages, and flexibility: What Singapore hires want

Concept artwork for a workplace
generated by Bing Image Creator.
Global talent solutions business Robert Walters’ Salary Survey 2026, a benchmark of salary trends, forecasts a challenging 2026 for Singapore. The market will continue to see volatility, combined with cost pressures and the lack of skilled talent, the company said.

Demand for talent in AI, data and cloud skills continues to outstrip supply, resulting in a skills mismatch. At the same time, firms are cautious in pay planning due to economic and sectoral uncertainty. On the talent front, candidates are expecting job offers to go beyond higher pay, and include areas such as flexibility, learning opportunities and purpose, Robert Walters said.

Companies are therefore tapping on flexible resource models, which include contract roles and project-based hiring, as a valuable tool to help them stay agile.

Key findings include: 

- Industries such as banking and finance are starting to see AI applications go from pilot phases to actual implementation, and various industries across the board are seeing AI usage increase. A third of companies said that they have already introduced AI with the objective of optimising headcount, while 30% are planning to do so. 

- Functions that companies see are most at risk with the integration of AI are administration and business support (50%), IT and digital transformation (29%), as well as accounting and finance (28%). 

- Nearly eight in 10 (78%) businesses expect up to 50% of their workforce to need reskilling/upskilling due to advancements in AI over the next 5 years. To prepare themselves for AI-driven changes in the workplace, one in two (46%) of professionals surveyed said they have started to research or pursue AI-related training.

- Top skills that employers are looking for in an AI-driven workplace are critical thinking and fact-checking (71%), data analysis (59%), adaptability (44%) and ethical decision-making (41%). 

- Professionals using AI at the workplace tend to mostly use AI tools for research and information gathering (50%), chatbots or virtual assistants for communication and support (43%), as well as copywriting, content creation and editing (42%). 

- Top concerns over AI adoption at the workplace include having their jobs displaced due to automation (48%), bias or unfair treatment due to algorithms (such as in hiring or promotions) (42%), and the lack of training to keep up with AI skills (41%).  

Flexible workforce models

When asked about their hiring plans for 2026, 37% of employers are looking to increase their headcount, with most of them (30%) looking to increase it by 5-10%. 55% of companies will start or continue to hire contractors in 2026. The top reasons for hiring contractors include hiring for project or short-term needs (74%), limited headcount (36%), and a desire to not commit to a permanent headcount yet (33%).

Companies continue to need to explore employee value proposition (EVP) offerings to attract and retain talent. Among the benefits offered to employees currently, the top initiatives were giving a bonus scheme (80%), parental leave (71%), flexi/remote working (65%), commercial medical insurance (65%) and dental cover (58%).

Modest wage increments

Talent moving between jobs can expect increments of 5 to 15%, or up to 20% for niche areas such as AI or cybersecurity. Employees staying with their current companies will see their salaries increase by 3-6% to align with inflation, Robert Walters predicted.

Most employers shared that they are likely to give a modest salary increment in 2026 to current employees. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) of Singapore employers who responded said they would be giving at least 3%. Within this segment, 7% said it would be more than 6%. 

Around a quarter (27%) are likely to give a pay rise of under 3%, while 4% said that they will not be increasing salaries. On the other hand, 57% of professionals expect at least a 3% increment from their current employer, with 14% expecting more than a 6% increment.

New hires can expect a pay rise of at least 6% from 56% of employers. Over a quarter (27%) of this segment expect to give pay rises of above 10%. On the other hand, professionals looking to move jobs are more ambitious; 83% expect more than a 10% pay rise, with 23% of them likely to request a more than 20% increase in salary. 

One of the challenges when sourcing for staff is that salary and benefit expectations are too high (53%), with other top challenges being: 

- Lack of quality candidates with the right skills/experience (72%) 

- Qualified professionals are hesitant to move (25%) 

- High competition for candidates (counteroffers and buy-backs) (25%)

Beyond compensation and benefits (62%), professionals shared that flexible work arrangements (42%), job security and stability (39%), and inspiring colleagues and culture (34%) are what they would value in an employer.

Talent snapshot 

Beyond compensation and benefits, talent value having flexible work arrangements, job security and stability, and inspiring colleagues and culture from an employer. But there is an expectation gap: 27% of employers are likely to give new hires a pay rise of above 10%. However 83% of talent looking to move jobs expect more than a 10% pay rise, with 23% of them likely to request a more than 20% increase in salary. 

Employer snapshot 

Nearly four in 10 (37%) employers plan to increase their headcount, with most of them looking to increase it by 5-10%. 

- Roughly seven in 10 (69%) employers are looking to give a salary increment of at least 3% in 2026 for current employees 

- Over half (56%) are likely to give a salary increment of at least 6% to new hires 

Lack of candidates with the right skills/experience, gap in salary and benefit expectations, and talent staying put, are among the challenges faced by companies in attracting talent. Other trends include:

- Soft skills: 65% of employers value Interpersonal, communication and collaboration skills, and 59% value problem-solving and critical thinking among their employees.

- Contract hiring: 55% of companies will start or continue to hire contractors in 2026, with 74% of companies hiring contractors do so for project or short-term needs. Other reasons include headcount limitations, and a “wait to try” attitude. 

- AI-driven workplace: 78% of the businesses expect up to half of their workforce to need reskilling due to AI advancements.

- Employers are looking for talent with skillsets in critical thinking and fact-checking, data analysis, and who are highly adaptable.

- Top concerns by professionals over AI adoption at the workplace include having their jobs displaced due to automation, bias or unfair treatment due to algorithms, and the lack of relevant training.

The rapid growth in demand for AI and data skills plus the automation of transactional roles dominated the job market in 2025. Employers focused on a skills-based workforce planning approach, invested in targeted upskilling/reskilling (AI, cloud, data), and used AI to automate screening and candidate engagement. 

At the same time, talent with skills in AI, data and cloud were more mobile, while mid-career professionals saw stronger incentives to reskill. Increased competition for AI-savvy candidates led to more selective hiring and higher packages in those niche areas. 

Companies took a cautious approach to pay reviews and pay planning, with talent with in-demand skillsets benefitting from stronger pay adjustments. Some companies had stagnant salary growth, however. Companies have had to balance the cost of living and the pressure of retaining talent in terms of increments and benefits. 

Contract or gig roles continued to be made available to support business needs, while those in slower sectors faced slower hiring and more contract roles.

2026 industry predictions for Singapore

2026 will see the prevalence of AI usage, sustained careful wage management to persist, and a stronger demand for flexible workforce models. There will be continued demand for AI, data and cloud skilled talent. Companies will continue to focus on skills-based hiring, instead of looking at traditional qualifications, as well as internal mobility and talent development programmes to retain and nurture talent. 

As Singapore companies respond to the volatility and agility required in the market, the workforce will see traditional permanent roles matched with an increasing number of contract positions and project-based hiring, forecast Robert Walters.

“Gone are the days of market-wide increments. Attracting and retaining talent has become more challenging due to the volatility and pace the market is working to, combined with cost pressures and lack of skilled talent in all areas. Companies will need to stay flexible, explore employee value proposition (EVP) offerings to draw talent, and tap on analytics for market intelligence and workforce planning.

"Employers can also look into tapping on executive recruitment firms to source for leadership talent, and use leadership assessment and coaching to retain and evolve talent. They can invest in contractors to meet the pace and project-based work requirements, and look into outsourcing and managed services to support business scale and control costs,” said Kirsty Poltock, Country Manager at Robert Walters Singapore.

Other Singapore-based insights from the Salary Survey include:

Soft skills valued by employers include interpersonal, communication and collaboration skills (65%), problem-solving and critical thinking (59%), and having a positive attitude, emotional intelligence and empathy (44%). 

The functions that are likely to see the highest attrition (defined as the number of respondents who will be looking to change jobs in 2026): 

- Supply chain & procurement (82%)

- Accounting & finance (79%)

- Tech & transformation (78%)

- Sales & marketing (78%)

Top functions which can expect pay rises in 2026: 

- Accounting and finance (98%)

- Supply chain & procurement (98%)

- Sales & marketing (97%)

- Human resources & business support (97%)

The top in-demand professions for 2026 are:

- Accounting & finance: financial analysts, finance business partners, finance managers 

- Banking & financial services: fintech & quantitative specialists, risk & compliance specialists, wealth & portfolio managers 

- Human resources & business support: HR business partners, HR generalists, transformation specialists 

- Sales & marketing: Head of growth, GM, marketing automation specialist 

- Supply chain, procurement & logistics: supply & demand planners, supply chain project managers, analysts 

- Technology & transformation: cybersecurity specialists, data/AI engineers, cloud engineers

By industry:

Tech & Transformation

● Demand for talent: very high 

● In 2025: With strong interest in AI adoption, there is a sharp rise in demand for skillsets related to AI, cloud and data. New data centre projects and capacities boosted hiring volumes in infrastructure, engineering and operations. Cost pressures kept headcount growth for permanent positions to the minimum, while driving contract hiring and offshoring. 

Professionals were more open towards contracting. Hybrid work stayed the norm, but has created new challenges around employee engagement and productivity.

● In 2026: Cost pressures will see companies maintain a flexible mix of permanent and contract employees. Employers will need to show stronger local representation in their workforce.

Key trends

● Employers are moving towards a skills-first approach, with a heavier focus on practical assessments, real project experiences and proof of skills. 

● Evolving talent strategy with roles that were once offered permanently increasingly filled by contract talent, in particular for project-based and transformation-heavy work, such as in cloud, data, AI and cybersecurity. 

● While global talent will remain important, regulatory scrutiny around Employment Passes will see local talent have an advantage during the hiring process. 

Sought-after professionals

● Permanent roles: Commercial roles such as sales and presales talent, AI/machine learning (ML) and data engineers, cybersecurity specialists especially in cloud and data centre security.

● Contracting: Cloud engineers, DevOps, cybersecurity specialists, data and AI engineers.

● Nearly eight in 10 (78%) professionals are looking for a new job, and 37% are confident about job opportunities in the sector. 

● What talent value most: excellent compensation & benefits, flexible work arrangements, and job security. 

● Valuable soft skills include change management, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration in hybrid cross-functional teams, and the ability to influence and communicate with business leaders. Adaptability and learning agility are also prized, especially for contractors.

Robert Walters says:

● Talent are advised to develop adaptability across tools and platforms, deepen their domain knowledge and carve out specialisations in niche technologies.

● Companies that are looking to attract and retain talent should be competitive (move quickly on offers, competitive salaries on scarce roles), be efficient (streamline the recruitment process, build an alumni pool of contractors), and showcase clear career value (help professionals see how they can grow in a role).

Salaries 

Permanent roles are expected to see their pay rise at a stable rate, while skills such as AI, cloud and cybersecurity continue to seek high premiums. Similarly, contract roles for domains like cloud, data and cybersecurity are expected to see increases in rates. 

● More than nine in 10 (93%) of businesses are giving pay rises, while 85% of professionals are expecting a pay rise in 2026.

Future-proofing against AI

Roles with repetitive and standardised tasks, such as entry-level data reporting, low-level programming, and first-line IT support are most vulnerable to automation. Professionals need to show a strong grasp of their domain expertise, understanding of AI governance, and an ability to harness AI in daily work. In- demand skills include stakeholder management and business storytelling as well. 

Banking & financial services

● Demand for talent: very high 

● In 2025: Firms kept a closer eye on costs and hired more selectively, focusing on skills that directly supported business priorities. 2025 saw AI move from pilot to practice in the industry, particularly in risk and operations. 

On the contract front, demand reduced for manual operations while new roles in AI implementation and oversight were created. Stricter compliance requirements saw an increased demand for risk management and regulatory reporting skills. 

● In 2026: A growing preference for contract positions and an emphasis in skills and agility in terms of hiring. They will take a skills-based approach and prioritise a candidate’s abilities. Contract and project-based hiring, as well as cross- border hiring will increase, particularly for niche talents in areas such as quant, fintech, private equity and private wealth. 

With tightened regulations in areas like digital assets, environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) disclosures and anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC), there will be a surge in hiring for compliance and risk projects.

Key trends

● A rise in contract and project-based roles, offering flexibility under hiring freezes or headcount caps. However, contracts for transformation or regulatory projects will be shorter-term (six to 12 months).

● Hybrid and 'contract-to-perm' are becoming the norm. While remote work is accepted for certain roles, most roles will be hybrid. According to Robert Walters, there is an increasing trend to convert contract staff to permanent positions when headcount frees up.

Sought-after professionals

● There is consistent demand for roles that sit at the intersection of strategy, regulation and technology - fintech professionals, quantitative (quant) specialists, wealth and portfolio managers and risk and regulatory experts with strong technical depth. 

● Demand has increased for contract roles for risk and compliance specialists, internal auditors that specialise in financial services, and treasury operations specialists. 

● What talent value most: Excellent compensation and benefits, flexible work arrangements, and job security 

Soft skills including adaptability, clear communication, and the ability to influence will help talent advance in their careers. Stakeholder management and problem-solving skills will also be valued among contract roles. 

Robert Walters says:

● Schedule flexibility has become a baseline expectation to attract and retain talent. Companies can also appeal to contract talent by focusing on the strengths of flexibility and autonomy, exposure to cutting-edge projects, and offering clear career progression pathways.

Salaries

Base salaries to hold steady, with selective premiums for scarce skills and domain expertise in AI, risk and ESG. Bonuses will be linked to individual performance.

● Nine in 10 (91%) of businesses are giving pay rises, while 92% of professionals expect a pay rise in 2026. 

● Seven in 10 (69%) of professionals are looking for a new job, and 46% are confident about job opportunities in this sector. 

Future-proofing against AI

Positions that centre around repetitive and manual tasks like transaction processing, basic compliance checks and data reconciliation are vulnerable to automation. Professionals need to build data fluency, sharpen their judgement and communication, stay updated on AI-related regulations, and step into roles where human insight complements technology, Robert Walters advised.

Accounting & finance

● Demand for talent: very high 

● In 2025: AI, automation and data analytics were adopted, while businesses battled cost pressures stemming from US trade tariffs and other geopolitical shocks. Demand rose for talent with the rare combination of finance and IT skills, as well as contract roles for tech-savvy, data-fluent candidates who can improve automated processes.

Companies managed costs by outsourcing roles that were transactional in nature to countries with lower labour costs, or moved more to contractors. Back-office and repetitive accounting roles, such as accounts payable and accounts receivable (AP/AR), were offshored or filled by local contract talent.

● In 2026: AI is now common in many workflows, prompting a shift in hiring and role expectations. Technical skillsets such as data analytics will be a key feature in the hiring market. A skill-based approach will be taken in hiring talent with these in-demand skillsets. 

Contract hiring will increase for all roles. Hiring processes have lengthened, especially for contract roles that may be converted to a permanent one. Singapore continues to struggle with a shortage of talent with technical skills.

Key trends 

● Soft skills such as storytelling and communication will become more important, especially for accountants, positions in accounts payable and accounts receivable, and financial analysts (reporting). 

● Demand for hybrid talent who combine domain knowhow (e.g. audit, regulatory, financial planning and analysis) with technology, analytics or sustainability literacy.

● Hiring processes to lengthen for both permanent and contract non-transactional roles, which will continue to stay in Singapore. Companies will consider case studies, cultural assessments, up to three more rounds of interviews.

Robert Walters says:

● Professionals should also learn how to collaborate with AI in their daily work, using these tools to their advantage. Professionals in less transactional roles can hone their soft skills in data storytelling, presenting findings and collaboration with other business units. 

● Companies look at shortening/condensing interview processes, and define critical skillsets clearly. They should also look to foster a great workplace culture to better attract and retain talent. Flexible work arrangements and competitive compensation remain baseline expectations for most job seekers.

Salaries

Expected to stay flat for permanent roles, with a slight increase (2-5%) for contract roles. However, niche and strategic roles that are in demand, as well as candidates with strong technical capabilities, will see higher increases.

Future-proofing against AI

Task-heavy and transactional roles (junior accountant, account executive and AP/AR) are most prone to automation via AI, robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent document processing. 

Job seekers should look at upskilling themselves with technical skillsets in data, Power BI, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and consider career pathways in finance analyst, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), or business partnering. 

Sought-after professionals

- Financial analysts

- Finance business partners 

- Finance managers 

● What talent value most: Excellent compensation and benefits, Job security, and Flexible work arrangements.  

Salaries 

● Almost all (98%) businesses are giving pay rises in 2025, while 86% of professionals expect a pay rise in 2026. 

● Nearly eight in 10 (79%) of professionals are looking for a new job, and 50% are confident about job opportunities in this sector. 

Human resources & business support

● Demand for talent: very high 

● In 2025: A conservative approach to hiring, with a focus on redesigning the HR function to meet new business objectives, and roles offshored to lower-cost countries. The introduction of the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements in 2024 saw HR departments design frameworks to balance flexibility and productivity. 

Contract and interim hiring grew in momentum with an increased demand for experienced contract professionals in areas such as human resources information systems (HRIS) implementations, restructuring projects, compensation benchmarking and employee wellbeing.

● In 2026, businesses will expect more from HR professionals as team sizes shrink and AI integration happens. HR skillsets in business partnering and total rewards will be the key focus. HR teams will also need to drive workforce agility, implement digital HR solutions, and ensure both flexibility and performance. 

Trends 

Blended workforce models remain a key focus. Demand is expected to go up for HR transformation or fractional HR leadership roles.

Sought-after professionals 

● Experienced HR business partners who can balance strategic and operational responsibilities. There is strong demand as well for roles within total rewards, and compensation and benefits. 

● HR project managers and transformation specialists. Professionals with a proven ability to lead change initiatives will have an advantage. 

HR generalists are also in demand. 

● What talent value most: Excellent compensation and benefits, job security, and inspiring colleagues and culture.  

● Soft skills include compassion, firmness and fairness to support a workforce in transition. Professionals who can build trust, inspire teams and communicate clearly will stand out.

Robert Walters recommends: 

● Companies are encouraged to put a robust talent management programme in place. Opportunities for lateral or internal moves will help keep top talent motivated. They can also take a holistic approach to talent attraction and retention, from regular benchmarking of compensation and benefits, blended workforce strategies, to promoting transparency in areas such as hybrid work decisions and performance evaluation.

Salaries

Salaries may dip for some roles in HR, while increments will remain flat for permanent roles. Contract roles are expected to see salaries increase at usual rates (5-10%), as well as through the introduction of completion bonuses, flexible leave policies and extended benefits. Increments will depend on roles, with steady increases for HR business partners with regional exposure and stakeholder management experience.

● The vast majority (97%) of businesses are giving pay rises, while 90% of professionals expect a pay rise in 2026.

● Nearly three quarters (73%) of professionals are looking for a new job, and 47% are confident about job opportunities in this sector.

Sales & marketing

● Difficulty in hiring talent: very high 

● In 2025, lower B2C sector consumer spend saw companies flatten workplace structures, with roles at junior and senior levels being made redundant, and mid-level management employees stretched to cover operational and strategic tasks. On the contract front, roles are often offshored and have a shorter term (e.g.: from 12 months down to 6 months). AI adoption has also led to companies being able to function with smaller teams. 

In 2026: AI-skilled workers will be prioritised, while there will be reduced demand for entry-level executional roles. Senior digital specialists will be more in demand.

Trends 

● On the B2B front, companies are looking to hire revenue-generating roles to help achieve their sales targets, with a reduced focus on marketing roles. 

● Due to cost-cutting measures, companies are merging roles and responsibilities. Employers value candidates with more generalist experience and hybrid experience to cover a wider scope of responsibilities.

● Companies are moving their regional hubs and talents to lower-cost markets like Thailand or Malaysia. Compared to 2025, there will be significantly fewer senior leadership roles based in Singapore.

Robert Walters recommends: 

● Companies should have a strong employer brand. They should think about succession planning, be transparent and communicate career outlooks. identifying talents to groom for succession, offering skills-based career mobility, inventing in AI and marketing tech training budgets will help employees evolve. 

● Companies are increasingly valuing candidates with more generalist experience, and using automation to cut costs and increase productivity, hence replacing roles in content writing and basic design. Thus, professionals need to have the willingness to take on an expanded portfolio to remain relevant and in demand in today’s workplace.

● Professionals are also advised to maintain a healthy and robust network, creativity rooted in culture and emotion, and have good commercial judgement.

Sought-after professionals

● Revenue-generating roles such as sales directors, GMs, and heads of growth. Contract roles for customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation specialists, and AI-enabled specialists (performance and growth marketers, content strategists) are also required.

● What talent value most: Excellent compensation and benefits, job security, and inspiring colleagues and culture.

● Soft skills in demand include leadership experience, adaptability, ability to collaborate across functions, being a strong communicator who can articulate and drive compelling outcomes.

Salaries

Permanent roles may see salaries stagnate, with some executional roles likely to regress. For contract roles, employers may use bonus/incentive pay, stock options, and non-monetary benefits (such as flexible work and upskilling allowances) more aggressively than large fixed salary increases. Niche and talent-scarce sectors (healthcare, life sciences & diagnostics) may see better increases. 

● The large majority (97%) of businesses are giving pay rises, while 92% of professionals expect a pay rise in 2026. 

● Seventy-eight percent of professionals are looking for a new job, and 61% are confident about job opportunities in this sector.

Future-proofing against AI

Roles related to content creation, as well as contract roles that are junior or executional in nature (e.g. in content, social media, performance marketing operations, basic customer relationship management or CRM) are most at risk. 

Professionals should think about growing the pipeline, increasing conversions, and build AI skillsets such as data and analytics, and martech. As AI cannot replace relationships, professionals should maintain a healthy and robust network, creativity rooted in culture and emotion, ideally with commercial judgement.

Supply chain, procurement & logistics

● Difficulty in hiring talent: high 

● In 2025: The sector remained subdued throughout the year as businesses faced mounting challenges - Inflation, geopolitical shocks, and changing immigration controls created significant volatility. It also adopted a cautious “wait-and-see” approach. There was significant offshoring from Singapore to lower costs.

Ongoing expansion of technology and sustainability efforts defined demand for contract positions. Companies sought tech-savvy professionals but struggled to find talent in niche areas such as Blockchain implementation of AI-powered logistics optimisation. Companies also doubled down on efforts to reduce their environmental impact.

In 2026: The industry will be increasingly focused on risk management, resilience, sustainability, and digital transformation. Automation and AI are reshaping traditional roles, particularly those involving planning, inventory management, operations, and procurement. 

Trends

Demand for roles that can help businesses align operations with ESG mandates - green procurement practices, carbon reduction strategies, circular supply chain design - will be highly sought after. Contract roles will also increase as companies seek greater flexibility amidst headcount restrictions and economic uncertainty.

Sought-after professionals

● Professionals with skills in strategy, analytics, and AI model prompting will be highly sought after as companies implement and stress-test new systems. 

● Trade compliance specialists with expertise in free trade agreements (FTAs) and data analytics, as well as adaptable, technologically-proficient candidates who can effectively manage data tools are prized.

● Supply chain project managers are also in demand. 

● Contract roles related to demand planning, supply planning and supply chain transformation will be in demand. 

● What talent value most: Excellent compensation and benefits, flexible work arrangements, and job security.  

● Soft skills that are good to have include the ability to communicate and collaborate well with others, as well as strategic thinking, problem-solving and resilience to drive innovation and solve complex challenges.

Robert Walters recommends: 

● Companies are encouraged to provide upskilling opportunities, as they can help raise productivity, and help employees develop a healthier relationship and stronger adaptability to change.

● Attractive compensation packages remain necessary for specialised and strategic roles, as these talents remain in short supply. Hybrid and flexible work models will remain key as candidates value work-life balance.

Salaries

Salaries for permanent roles are expected to remain flat, with companies possibly exploring non-monetary benefits. Contract roles can expect a rise of 5-8%, though specialised roles may see increments of up to 10-15%.

● Almost all (98%) businesses are giving pay rises, while 87% of professionals expect a pay rise in 2026.

● Eight in 10 (82%) professionals are looking for a new job, and 56% are confident about job opportunities in this sector.

Future-proofing against AI

Roles heavy on repetitive supply chain work, data entry and inventory management are at risk or being replaced as more companies integrate AI. Professionals are advised to focus on picking up technologies such as data analytics and AI, as well as to improve human-centric attributes that AI cannot replace, such as emotional intelligence and business partnering skills.

Explore

Read the Robert Walters Salary Survey at https://www.robertwalters.com.sg/salarysurvey.html

*Salaries shown in the Robert Walters Salary Survey are based on an analysis of placements made across our network of offices and specialist disciplines during the course of 2025.

Now in its 27th year, the Survey is used by employers, HR managers and employees for benchmarking salary levels within their industries.

Robert Walters surveyed 361 professionals and companies in Singapore in September 2025 to get feedback on their main expectations or concerns for the year to come with regards to salaries, career changes or staff retention.

1 January 2025

Positive outlook for Singapore employment in 2025

Source: Randstad Singapore's 2025 Job Market Outlook and Salary Guide. Chart. Hiring managers are prioritising those with sales and business development skills.
Source: Randstad Singapore's 2025 Job Market Outlook and Salary Guide. Hiring managers are prioritising those with sales and business development skills.

Singapore’s job economy is set to see improvements in 2025, with services sectors leading growth, said Randstad. The trend is supported by AI adoption and a strong focus on revenue and cost management, the company said.

Randstad Singapore's 2025 Job Market Outlook and Salary Guide highlights the demand for skilled professionals across finance, technology, and professional services as companies navigate digital transformation and growing skills gaps in the workforce.

David Blasco, Country Director at Randstad Singapore said: “Singapore's digital transformation journey is creating unprecedented opportunities and challenges across sectors. As employers grapple with talent scarcity, we're witnessing greater demand for professionals skilled in AI, data analytics and digital infrastructure, alongside a strong focus on revenue generation and business development capabilities.

“The evolution is reshaping traditional corporate roles, with functions from banking and finance to human resources now expected to contribute to business growth and adapt to new technologies. The dual pressures of technical advancement and commercial expectations are elevating hiring requirements for both technical expertise and business acumen, presenting new challenges in talent acquisition and development.”

A recent survey by Randstad Singapore revealed that 49% of employers plan to increase their headcount in 2025, while 40% aim to maintain their current workforce. In addition, 43% of companies are projecting average salary increases of 3% to 5% in 2025. These findings signal positive business sentiment, with organisations regaining their confidence to expand their teams in 2025. 

The results also indicate that revenue generation is a key priority for businesses, with 45% of employers expecting the highest hiring activity in sales and business development. Technology remains a crucial focus, with 23% of employers prioritising tech talent acquisition, followed by 13% planning to invest in digital transformation and AI professionals.

Despite optimistic growth plans, employers face significant challenges. Two thirds cite a shortage of candidates with required skills as their primary hiring challenge, while 38% report intense market competition for talent. In response, 38% of organisations plan to increase their budgets for technical roles, while 30% will focus on internal promotions.

Blasco said: "The convergence of AI adoption, sustainable finance and digital transformation is fundamentally reshaping Singapore's business landscape. Success will hinge on organisations' ability to bridge the skills gap, particularly in high-demand areas like AI, sustainability and digital transformation where competition for talent is most intense. As we enter 2025, more companies will seek support from industry experts to secure top professionals while building inclusive, driven and flexible work cultures that attract and retain exceptional talent.”

Explore

Randstad Singapore's 2025 Job Market Outlook and Salary Guide serves as a strategic resource for employers navigating talent acquisition in high-competition areas, providing insights into in-demand skills, talent expectations and salary data for 2025. This year's report features detailed salary benchmarks across nine key industries in Singapore. The report is available on https://www.randstad.com.sg

27 February 2024

LinkedIn: Talent development crucial when work is reshaped by AI

With skills needed for a job changing by 68% by 2030 due to the impact of AI, 91% of companies in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) say they plan to enhance their people’s skills and abilities this year. 

Last year, technology took centrestage – LinkedIn saw a 21x surge in global English-language job postings mentioning GPT or ChatGPT; this year, LinkedIn said companies are directing their attention towards talent development. Today, the top five skills that hiring managers in APAC consider the most important in the era of AI are a combination of both hard and soft skills – problem-solving abilities (35%), communications skills (27%), critical thinking (25%), AI skills (19%) and IT & web skills (17%).

Feon Ang, VP, LinkedIn Talent Solutions and MD, APAC said: “In the past year, the narrative was dominated by technological advancements, particularly the integration of AI into business workflows. The resulting surge in demand for AI expertise reflected the challenges many businesses faced in navigating this transformative shift and incorporating cutting-edge technologies into their operations. 

"However, we are now witnessing a pronounced shift towards skills – both technical and soft skills – to thrive in the era of AI. Investing in people’s growth is no longer a perk but a strategic imperative, considering that our workforce is the driving force behind companies’ success in an era shaped by both AI innovation and collaboration with AI.” 

Eighty-eight percent of employers have observed substantial changes in the skills and qualifications they prioritise in job candidates due to the pervasive impact of AI and automation in their industries. Companies are placing emphasis on candidates who possess not only AI expertise, but also soft skills and a capacity for learning.

According to LinkedIn’s latest Workplace Learning Report, 94% of learning and development (L&D) professionals in APAC believe that human skills are increasingly becoming the most competitive in our economy. In particular, ‘communication’ has topped LinkedIn’s most in-demand skills list for 2024 across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Singapore. LinkedIn said this is not surprising when AI tools free up time for professionals to excel in jobs only people can do, like build relationships and collaborate with others.

In addition, 40% of APAC hiring managers consider an individual's potential for growth and ability to learn as the most important factor when evaluating internal and external candidates.

Most of the companies in APAC (91%) are also focusing on preparing their employees for the future world of work by enhancing their skills and capabilities, believing that this will lead to increased confidence and job security. In fact, APAC HR professionals are offering online training programmes (44%) and internal learning and development sessions focused on generative AI (43%) to do so.

As companies increasingly invest in learning opportunities, the focus on creating a culture of learning has soared, becoming a top priority for L&D professionals in 2024 across all APAC markets. In fact, 92% of them in APAC say they can show business value by helping employees gain skills to move into different internal roles.

A recent survey of APAC leaders has revealed that internal mobility is becoming an increasingly important factor in attracting and retaining top talent within organisations. The survey found that 48% of APAC leaders identified providing career progression opportunities as their key priority this year.

Nearly four in 10 (37%) hiring managers see career growth opportunities as key to retaining top talent, along with competitive salary and benefits (39%). In addition, 49% of APAC employers believe that highlighting opportunities for career advancement and increasing internal mobility are the top two ways to attract talent. These findings suggest that organisations in the APAC region would do well to focus on internal mobility as a key strategy for attracting and retaining top talent in the years to come.

To assist companies in their pivot towards a skills-centric approach, LinkedIn has introduced tools such as Recruiter 2024, LinkedIn’s AI-assisted recruiting experience. Recruiter enables hirers to quickly access high-quality candidate recommendations by using natural language search prompts and data from millions of professionals and companies, ensuring they are able to shortlist talent based on skills they need. These features will ramp to all APAC customers in English-speaking markets from end February.

To empower companies to build the skills they need for the next decade of work, the company has launched AI-powered coaching in LinkedIn Learning – a chatbot experience that offers real-time advice and tailored content recommendations personalised for learners based on their job title, career goal, and skills they follow. 

This is currently available to APAC customers in English-speaking markets. The company has also been expanding its in-demand skill library, including AI courses. AI courses in particular have seen a 5X uptick in learners.

In early March, we will be launching new career development and internal mobility features within LinkedIn Learning to help guide employees to critical skills, develop skills that matter to grow, and connect to the best-fit opportunity at their organisation. This will be available in English, Hindi, Japanese, Indonesian and Malay, amongst others.

Ang said: "Business leaders recognise that they cannot rely on old talent playbooks in this new era of work that’s being reshaped by AI, and where skills needed for the same job will change by 68% by 2030. Every minute, LinkedIn helps seven people get hired and 140 hours of learning content is consumed. 

Pins and other symbols on a map. Concept art representing a journey generated by Blue Willow.
Concept art representing a journey generated by Blue Willow.

"Building on this, we’ve supercharged our hiring and learning solutions to help companies recruit and retain the best talent. Take the National Healthcare Group in Singapore, for example, which is on a journey to foster self-directed learning amongst their employees by nurturing a robust culture of continuous learning. They're looking to incorporate LinkedIn's AI-powered coaching into their learning and development programmes, empowering employees to take charge of their professional growth.”

Explore

View insights from LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report for Australia/New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia.

*LinkedIn’s research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 4,323 hiring managers (middle management+) aged 18-77 in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US, India, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, China, Netherlands, Sweden, MENA, and Brazil. The data was collected between 15 December 2023 and 4 January 2024.

17 January 2023

JAC Recruitment India opens second office in Bengaluru

JAC Recruitment India has established its second office in Bengaluru to provide greater assistance to companies with Japanese operations in the southern region of India.

“We’re always looking at ways we can support our clients with their business and expansion plans,” said Adil Driouech, Group MD, JAC Group (Ex-Japan).

JAC Recruitment India is a specialist recruitment firm that supports clients through permanent hiring and client advisory across a range of industries, including chemicals, manufacturing, industrial, textiles, consumer goods, engineering, construction, logistics, IT supply chain, trading, and healthcare.

Its first office was established in Gurgaon in March 2014 and is managed by Kazuo Komaki, MD of JAC’s operations in India. Komaki will also manage the Bengaluru operation.

4 January 2021

Digitalisation to drive Singapore recruitment in 2021

Randstad Singapore has released its 2021 Market Outlook Report, which discusses the economic climate and recruitment landscape in 2021.

Jaya Dass, MD for Randstad Malaysia and Singapore said, “The increasing focus on digital transformation will no doubt drive talent demand and shape the local workforce in 2021. There will be higher demand for technologists and digitally-adept professionals skilled across all functions and industries.

“The fear of uncertainty due to the virus outbreak has very much dictated the climate in 2020, and businesses are likely to remain cautiously optimistic in 2021, depending on the rate of market recovery. With change and innovation as a constant, companies must stay agile and find new pockets of growth in 2021. As a global talent recruitment agency with a strong local market focus, it is important for us to start putting people to work so that we can achieve recovery and growth together.”

Randstad expects most firms in Singapore to further tighten budgets and re-allocate their resources accordingly, with the majority going to digital initiatives. These areas of focus will also be where there will be more hiring, the company said.

Companies in industries that are driven by growth and consumption, like banking and financial services, e-commerce, healthcare, logistics and technology are likely to remain robust in Singapore, with some even looking to expand. The growth in these industries is largely driven by the increasing use of digital technology by both businesses and consumers.

As organisations strengthen their capabilities to capitalise on the growing digital economy, the talent demand for technologists and digitally-adept professionals will increase exponentially in 2021.

However, companies in industries such as aviation, hospitality, tourism and construction are expected to undergo further business restructuring in the near future. They should remain conservative when it comes to hiring, and will likely re-engineer some roles within the organisation to meet new or additional demands, Randstad said.

Explore:

Download the report

8 November 2019

Singapore employees welcome automation, AI

- Four in 10 (41%) Singapore-based employees anticipate that their companies will increase investment in automation or artificial intelligence (AI) within the next two years

- They believe that these investments will be focused on IT (61%) and operations (49%)  

- Over one-third (38%) of respondents believe that their jobs will eventually be taken over by automation and AI

Source: Kelly Services infographic. APAC workforces expect more automation and AI initiatives at the workplace.
Source: Kelly Services infographic. APAC workforces expect more automation and AI initiatives at the workplace.

Singapore-based employees anticipate that their companies will be increasing investment in automation or artificial intelligence (AI) over the next two years, but are not too concerned that these new technologies will take over their jobs anytime soon, according to the PERSOLKELLY 2019 Q4 APAC Workforce Insights.

Singapore-based employees think automation and AI will become more common in the workplace. Two-fifths (41%) believe their companies will continue to invest in automation or AI within the next two years, and that it will be directed towards IT (61%) and operations (49%). They welcome these new technologies, with more than half (57%) agreeing that automation and AI are needed in their companies.

Overall, most employees are satisfied with the automated processes (71%) and AI programmes (66%) that are currently present in their workplace.

“Organisations in Singapore are embracing automation and artificial intelligence, with support from the government through the Smart Nation initiative. According to our report, organisations are implementing more of these new technologies across their businesses – from internal engagement to supply chain, resulting in a positive uplift in their businesses,” said Foo See Yang, MD and Country Head, Singapore at Kelly Services.

A majority (62%) of employees do not think that they will be displaced by these new technologies. Two-thirds (67%) believe that less than 25% of the workforce will be displaced by automation or AI. While 62% say these new technologies are better than humans at simple tasks, only 35% say they are better at complex decisions, giving humans the advantage.

“Despite this integration with the workforce, Singapore-based employees are not too worried that it will replace their jobs as they see how these technologies can help them perform better at work. Rather, they are concerned about having to learn new skills to keep up in this digital economy. Therefore, not only do companies need to better integrate these technologies to realise its benefits, they need to ensure employees are exposed to and able to adopt new skills,” Foo added.

Employers can also benefit from these overall positive sentiments. According to the report, employees who have access to automation or AI are more likely to be satisfied with their companies, as compared to those with no access to these technologies:

-  More than half (57%) of respondents believe that automation and AI are needed in their companies.

- A similar proportion (55%) of employees feel that it is worthwhile to be spending on automation and AI.

- Close to half of Singapore-based respondents (46%) and more than a third (35%) have indicated that the availability of automated processes and AI is important in their choice of company.

The presence of automation and AI in a company will result in increased employee satisfaction, but to ensure that employees remain happy, employers need to address any concerns that their workers may have, Kelly Services advises. More than one-third (38%) say automation and AI can perform their current jobs better than them and will take over their jobs in the future. Employers can alleviate these concerns and ensure higher levels of employee satisfaction through properly integrating their employees with automation and AI, the company said.

Details:

PERSOLKELLY outlines a Total Integration Framework to promote the integration of workers with automation and AI in the workplace. The framework outlines tangible measures for companies to introduce and familiarise their employees to automation and AI. View the PERSOLKELLY 2019 Q4 APAC Workforce Insights infographic here (PDF)

4 November 2019

Hire for potential for long-term success: Robert Walters

When recruiters hire for potential in Southeast Asia, 94% of their hires are retained in their jobs. Yet nearly half (42%) of all hiring managers in the region remain reluctant to evolve their recruitment strategies beyond hiring based solely on experience, despite the resources required to recruit, evaluate and subsequently manage employees who are not a good fit.

These findings are based on Grow your Talent, Hire Based on Potential, a guide released by Robert Walters in October 2019. The guide offers insights on the motivations and results behind hiring for potential as a long-term strategy towards talent growth. Over 3,000 respondents, including hiring managers and professionals from six countries, shared their views.

Across the region, respondents cited a preference for candidates who can pick up work immediately, the technical nature of the role, and the lack of knowhow to evaluate the person’s potential as key reasons for not hiring high-potential professionals. The research has found that a significant number (42%) of hiring managers have never hired a high-potential candidate because they lack the 'right' experience. Further, about one in three (30%) respondents believe that a candidate with the right qualifications and experience will eventually show up.

While relevant experience is perceived to be of top priority during recruitment, the ability to deliver satisfactory work, display a good work attitude, and adapt to company culture are valued more highly in the workplace, according to Robert Walters.

“Vying for top talent will be an everyday occurrence as companies accelerate in their digital transformation journeys. This includes a sustained demand for professionals with skillsets such as in tech-related areas that may not have existed in as little as a decade ago. As companies become more competitive about attract the right talent, they are moving beyond adjusting compensation packages to consider longer term and sustainable strategies,” said Ling Xiang Lee, Manager of Sales and Marketing, Robert Walters.

In Singapore, over 65% of companies took at least two months to fill a position. Yet one in three of those hired did not work out, with 47% taking three months to over a year to reach a mutual decision that the employee was not the right fit. For those who hired high-potential candidates, 96% proved to be quality hires. On the other hand, hiring managers who had not hired a candidate based on potential were mostly unable to find the right opportunity (38%), although nearly one in 10 (8%) were not keen to consider the option at all.

Successful respondents said that top traits that hiring managers look out for are the willingness to learn, the motivation to take up the job and succeed in the role, and engagement (a perceived level of enthusiasm and dedication towards the job).

Faced with a shrinking pool of talent who have in-demand skillsets, hiring managers continue to place having relevant experience (64%) as the most important criteria. This is followed by the candidate’s ability to learn quickly (57%), soft skills exhibited (48%) and if they seemed aligned with the company’s culture (44%).

Having relevant experience, while commonly viewed as important at the recruitment stage, however proved to be less of a deciding factor in measuring the quality of hire. Top reasons cited for determining a bad hire include the failure to deliver satisfactory work (31%), a less-than-desired work attitude (23%), and the inability to adapt to the company’s culture (20%). Only 8% of respondents attributed the lack of relevant skills, knowledge or expertise as a reason for a hire that did not work out.

“Candidates who show strong potential may lack some of the job requirements, skillsets, industry knowledge or experience within a role, but demonstrate a positive learning attitude and aptitude, and fits well with your team. By hiring by potential and providing them with the support and training to grow, businesses will find that in the long run, they gain employees who are not only skilled, but also loyal, resourceful and motivated,” added Ling.

The guide suggests that companies can identify what is crucial or secondary requirements to the role, ensure a realistic job description, look out for signs of opportunities or progress in the candidate’s job experience, and engage the expertise of recruitment consultants, especially in hiring talent with niche skillsets.

31 January 2019

Demand for HR and admin professionals sees upturn in Malaysia

HR and administrative (admin) job roles in Malaysia have entered positive territory for the first time since March 2018, with numbers up 2% year-on-year in December.

In the short- term, this job-role category also saw an improved growth rate, exhibiting 4% growth month-on-month and 2% growth on a three-month basis. The positive sentiment was echoed in the Philippines as online hiring demand for HR and admin professionals in the country continues to soar, to the tune of 22% year-on-year.

Demand for HR and admin interns in Malaysia and Philippines continued to be the highest of all occupations surveyed, at 13% and 5%, respectively. These findings are from the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI), a monthly gauge of online hiring activity across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines tracked by Monster.com. The MEI comprises data of overall hiring activity in each country, as well as specific data in the HR and admin sector.

The job role however is one of the lowest-growth occupations in Singapore. It registered an overall decline of 2% year-on-year.

“As the year ended, the online demand for HR and admin professionals in Malaysia swung upward to clock in a positive year-on-year growth after nine months of decline. It was also one of the three job roles that exhibited positive growth among the nine monitored by the index,” said Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster.com – APAC & Middle East.

“Careers are no longer simply defined by jobs and skills but through learning agility and experiences. The ongoing transformation of work, the need for people and organisations to constantly upgrade capabilities and evolve, and shifts in employee preferences demand new approaches to performance management, job design and career development.

"As rapidly advancing technologies and team-centred business models drive organisations to redesign themselves, leaders must keep up to create new career models and build a culture of learning.”

The MEI is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

Source: Monster. Demand for HR and admin jobs.
Source: Monster. Demand for HR and admin jobs.

9 January 2019

Stars facilitate innovation: INSEAD

Good mentors are worth their weight in gold, according to new research from INSEAD.

In Where Do Stars Come From? The Role of Star vs. Nonstar Collaborators in Creative Settings, published in Organization Science, Manuel Sosa, INSEAD Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management, Jürgen Mihm, INSEAD Professor of Technology and Operations Management and Haibo Liu, Assistant Professor of Management, University of California Riverside, discuss the skills required to integrate, or synthesise, various raw materials in a way that will maximise creativity, and create innovations that help organisations outperform their competitors.

Specifically, the research zeroes in on the creative aspects of interpersonal collaboration from a new perspective: the quality of the collaborator, both stars - people able to generate a disproportionate amount of influential output - and non-stars.

“We wanted to understand, if by working with a star, you would be more likely to become a star; we found that indeed you would,” Sosa said. “The interesting question is how does this happen and why does this happen? What happens when you work with a star that is different from when you work with other people?”

By examining the creative performance of designers who have been granted design patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office over a 35-year period, the authors found that collaborating with star designers indeed significantly increases the chances of becoming a star. Interestingly, they found evidence that creative stars are more likely to possess creative synthesis skills required for creating breakthrough innovations and that they transfer such skill to their collaborators.

Such skills include the ability to understand existing innovation paradigms and create a new one by reconciling distant and often seemingly contradictory viewpoints and then continue to iterate and refine such a new paradigm until it leads to an outstanding innovation output.

All of these creative skills are highly tacit and unlikely to be learnt through a book or in a classroom, the researchers say. While some creative stars may pick them up intuitively or through years of trial-and-error experience, the likelihood of someone absorbing these skills is much higher if they work in close proximity with someone who already possesses them. This allows innovators to observe, learn and practice synthesis skills from the star.

“It is important to note that collaborating with stars doesn’t preclude collaborating with others who are non-stars,” Sosa noted. “Both types of collaborators benefit the innovator’s creative performance and increase the likelihood of creating a breakthrough innovation.”

In fact, some companies today avoid the idea of having a design team with a dominant star, and instead focus on the proven premise that diversity – having a wide-ranging pool of potentially innovative ideas – is key to creativity.

Sosa added, “What we found is that as well as bringing with them new data and experience like a non-star, stars contribute a set of creative skills, rarely found anywhere else, that can have a lasting transformation of the innovator’s creative abilities.”

The paper expands on this to assess the conditions required to maximise the chance of rising to stardom, and noted that this varies greatly depending on whether a star is part of the collaboration team.

When non-stars collaborate, shared expertise or a cohesive social network can limit diversity and steer the team towards “group think” - a phenomenon where everyone agrees with each other, even if the conclusion is wrong. This can negatively impact creative output.

However, when non-stars work with stars, greater shared social network connections and closer similarities in expertise facilitate the exploitation of creative synthesis skills. That is, the circumstances help to build a common insightful understanding of the problem at hand; it encourages collaborators to see similarities among their different perspectives and iteratively refine the most promising ideas, increasing the likelihood of breakthrough innovations.

Most importantly, such cohesive collaborative conditions facilitate the transfer of tacit creative skills from stars to his/her collaborators which in turn increases the chances of them becoming stars in the future.

26 September 2018

Singaporean IT leaders say skills shortage could hinder Smart Nation

- Ninety-three percent of Singaporean CIOs are concerned IT talent in Singapore is insufficient for the successful implementation of Smart Nation initiatives.

- Six in 10 believe Smart Nation initiatives will increase job opportunities for IT professionals, 53% say it will increase average IT salaries.

New independent research* commissioned by specialised recruiter Robert Half has found that more than nine in 10 (93%) Singaporean IT leaders are concerned Singapore does not have the IT talent readily available for the building of a Smart Nation-ready workforce. Following the government's launch of Smart Nation initiatives in 2014, businesses have been increasingly involved in the strategic deployment of technology across the nation for improved living, economic growth and national progress - which inevitably requires highly skilled IT professionals to manage.

Compared to five years ago, almost nine in 10 (87%) CIOs find it more challenging to source qualified IT professionals. A similar proportion (83%) say that it is more challenging to attract qualified IT professionals to their organisation.

Employers are struggling to find skilled job candidates in specific functional areas, namely IT security (59%), cloud technology (36%), business intelligence (28%), IT management (27%) and business analysis (25%).

The research has also found IT leaders are optimistic as the clear majority (92%) of CIOs believe that the government’s Smart Nation initiatives will positively impact the local IT employment market. Additionally, more than half (60%) expect an increase in IT job opportunities and 53% predict an increase in average salaries.

Just under half are expecting increased competition to top IT talent, and 29% feel the initiatives will increase the number of locally-trained IT talent. Only 8% of CIOs believe the Smart Nation initiatives will not impact the local IT employment market.

Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard, MD of Robert Half Singapore said: “There is no doubt the government’s Smart Nation initiative will propel Singapore into a prosperous future. However, for Smart Nation to become a reality and result in nationwide success, a stronger supply of highly-skilled local IT talent will be required. Many companies are currently experiencing challenges sourcing and attracting qualified IT professionals – these crucial skills gaps will need to be filled quickly in order for Smart Nation to be a success.”

“As the demand for top IT skills continues to increase in Singapore, a more comprehensive approach will be required to close the current and future technology skills gap. Educational institutions should be encouraged to work with the business community and government to build a more robust business and technology ecosystem that develops and nurtures more talented IT professionals within the local talent pool.”

Imbert-Bouchard also suggested that employers create awareness around the benefits and opportunities available with a career in IT and technology in Singapore, both on a company as well as industry-wide level.

*The annual study is developed by Robert Half and was conducted in June 2018 by an independent research firm, surveying 75 CIOs/CTOs in Singapore. This survey is part of an international workplace survey, a questionnaire about job trends, talent management and trends in the workplace.

12 January 2018

AI-backed recruitment services promise more accurate match-making

AnyMind Group, which aims to transform industries through artificial intelligence (AI), has launched TalentMind, a new business unit with proprietary AI-driven recruitment software.

TalentMind will offer an integrated platform that taps on natural language processing (NLP), profile analysis and machine learning to screen, analyse and match prospects to businesses. The platform will be launched in four phases:

● TalentMind screening - leverage social media and résumé data to determine a prospect’s cultural fit and personality through candidate profiles. The person’s behavioural and personality traits, role competency and skills will be studied.

● TalentMind analytics - analyse the abilities and personalities of top performers across an organisation and develop custom hiring models that evolve in real-time. These hiring models will also be used to match candidates to different organisations.

● TalentMind sourcing - Engage with candidates directly on the platform

● TalentMind matching - Candidate-to-company matching based on organisational hiring and talent models

Source: TalentMind. Screen captures of the AI-powered recruitment platform.
Source: TalentMind. Screen captures of the AI-powered recruitment platform.

Leveraging on learning algorithms, a human resource professional can develop customised hiring models that are optimised in real-time, based on candidate pick up and acceptance rate, existing company culture and core competencies of high-performing staff within the organisation. The AI engine will be further enhanced under the supervision of newly-appointed advisor to AnyMind Group, Masayasu Morita, CEO, Founder and President of Hitomedia.

Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder of AnyMind Group said: “We scaled our headcount very quickly the past 20 months and found areas in the hiring process that could have been optimised. Our human resource team has now integrated TalentMind into their workflow and have used the platform to bring in an additional team for this expanded vertical.”

The TalentMind Platform is powered an AI-driven matching engine similar to that being used by sister company CastingAsia, for influencer marketing.

“We are already utilising our AI engines to drive the matching of social media influencers to brands and are now scaling it into the human resource industry. Ultimately, we want to enable professionals to make smarter decisions with a suite of AI-driven solutions across business lines,” said Sogo.

Since starting operations in April 2016 as AdAsia Holdings, the now 21-month-old AnyMind Group has expanded into 10 offices in nine countries and territories with over 250 staff, and is aiming to expand into 15 offices across 14 countries with a headcount of 400 by the end of 2018.

Explore:

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about the formation of AnyMind Group