India drove 16% YoY surge in APAC office demand in 2024: Colliers

Source: Colliers landing page. Office space demand in the APAC region rose nearly 16% YoY in 2H24.

Demand for office space across Asia Pacific's (APAC's) top 11 markets* rose 15.9% year-on-year (YoY), to 8.8 M sq m, led by India, Mainland China and Japan, in the second half of 2024.

2H24 saw office demand in the region reaching 4.7 M sq m, a 6.1% rise compared to 2H23 according to global diversified professional services company Colliers. Demand growth over this period was notable in markets such as India, Japan and particularly impressive in Australia, which had a lower base. Leasing activity, however, remained relatively subdued in New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in 2H24.

Colliers' Asia Pacific Office Market Insights H2 2024 and Outlook 2025 report found the significant increase in APAC office space demand to be driven by corporate expansion, return-to-office initiatives, and the growth of global capability centres. Office market activity was strong in India, which saw 6.17 M sq m of leasing during 2024, and 3.44 M sq m of gross leasing in 2H24, an 11% YoY rise compared to 2H23. 

In India, technology firms and flex space operators accounted for a combined 46% of the total takeup across the top six cities during 2H24. New supply remained robust, with over 2.81 M sq m of completed space in 2H24, a 7% YoY growth across the top six cities. Bengaluru and Hyderabad led the office market activity during this period, cumulatively driving more than half of India's Grade A (premium) space demand and supply. Amidst an uptick in both leasing activity and new supply, India vacancy levels largely remained stable at around 17%.

"The APAC office market remained upbeat during 2H24, with demand rising 6.1% YoY to 4.7 M sq m. Office space demand in the region continued to be driven by India, Mainland China and Japan. At the same time, leasing in Australia grew manifold during 2H24, albeit on a comparatively lower base. 

"New office supply declined across most markets in 2H24, resulting in a 16.9% annual drop at the APAC level. Contrary to larger trends, India witnessed 7% YoY growth in new supply, contributing 60% of the new supply in APAC region during 2H24. Looking ahead, we anticipate improved demand-supply dynamics in 2025, supported by balanced economic growth and likely moderation in inflation," said Arpit Mehrotra, MD, MD, Office Services, Colliers India.

"With over 70% share in leasing and 60% share in new supply in 2H24, India remains one of the leading office markets in the APAC region. Strong domestic leasing, coupled with increasing Grade A space uptake by global capability centres (GCCs), continues to fuel office demand in India. During 2H24, GCCs leased 1.4 M sq m of office space in India, accounting for over 40% of the overall leasing during the period. Factors such as rental arbitrage, abundant talent, and language proficiency will continue to support the expansion of GCCs and outsourcing hubs in India," elaborated Vimal Nadar, Senior Director & Head of Research, Colliers India.

Colliers' research forecasts that both demand and supply will strengthen across most APAC markets in 2025, with vacancy rates expected to remain range-bound. Mike Davis, Colliers' MD of Occupier Services, Asia Pacific, said: "The outlook for the office occupier market remains positive, with strong demand set to drive further market shifts in the year ahead. High-activity markets may witness continued rental growth, particularly in peripheral business districts. 

"The overall outlook for 2025 indicates a sustained momentum for the APAC office leasing market. We expect to see steady growth and continued resilience, driven by stable economic growth, corporate expansions, and the return-to-office trend. The flight-to-quality will dominate, with occupiers seeking modern, flexible and sustainable spaces that foster collaboration and productivity."

*The report captured the key markets of Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Tech startups a key source of demand for real estate in APAC: JLL

Startups have emerged as a new category of urban occupiers, with more tech firms adopting unconventional formats such as coworking and industrial spaces, say JLL, a professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management.

Mobile devices, e-commerce and the rise of fintech have driven rapid growth of the technology sector in Asia Pacific, supporting occupier demand for both commercial office and business park space, the property specialist said. India and China in particular are rapidly adopting innovative mobile shopping, financial and payment platforms, reflected by the fact that the Asia Pacific region is home to seven of the 22 global fintech unicorns – startups valued at more than US$1 billion.

In China, there is increasing demand for coworking spaces from these fast-growing companies, with a new trend of coworking operators becoming anchor tenants in retail malls. The number of coworking spaces in China has grown rapidly: in 2016, there were more than 500 coworking sites in Shanghai and Beijing alone, compared to just a few in 2015.

“While there is a greater utilisation of coworking space, tech startups are a future source of Grade A office leasing demand and this is an opportunity for real estate investors and developers to create space that will meet this need,” says Dr Megan Walters, Head of Research, Asia Pacific at JLL.

“Technology companies continue seeking high quality office space to attract talent, and we’ve seen a significant number of tech occupiers upgrading their premises from serviced to proper offices, and from Grade B to Grade A space. Landlords are sitting up and taking notice of what this new category of occupier wants,” she adds.

Source: JLL website. Tech is hot in the Asia Pacific region, affecting demand for real estate.

Continued tech sector growth, however, faces a number of challenges. Recent data from JLL reveals that rising labour and operational costs, skills gaps, lack of supportive government policies, as well as real estate and infrastructural development remain the key tests to the burgeoning industry.

“High and rising labour and operating costs were frequently cited by our leasing experts as obstacles to future growth of the tech sector,” says Christopher Clausen, Associate Research Director, Asia Pacific at JLL. “High home prices and cost of living were also mentioned as key considerations in some markets, while a shortage of talent and skills gaps may hold back tech development in others.”

When searching for office space, tech firms look for reliable power supply, and room for future expansion within the same building. “The importance of a high-quality and stable power supply to tech companies cannot be overstated,” says Clausen. “Many tech firms continue to store large volumes of data onsite meaning they are housing a large number of server racks within their office.”

“Tech firms also want large floor plates that allow them flexibility in layout,” adds Clausen. “In addition, these companies are putting a priority on quality of life for their employees, so transport connectivity is another important factor.”

Interested?

More details are in JLL's Tech firm office location choice — where do they cluster and what building features do they want? report

View the video introducing findings from the Tech firm office location choice — where do they cluster and what building features do they want? report

Project leaders who can communicate in high demand in Singapore

JobTech has identified the most sought-after skills by employers in the info-communications technology (ICT) sector in Singapore. The top five technical and soft skills/traits in the ICT sector were identified and ranked based on the number of unique job postings that employers were seeking from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2016.

Top skills demanded by Singapore ICT sector employers

No	Technical skills	% share of all unique job postings in the ICT sector	Soft skills/ traits	% share of all unique job postings in the ICT sector
1	Project management	> 10%	Communication/ interpersonal	> 95%
2	C++	> 10%	Analytical/ problem-solving	> 40%
3	C	> 10%	Self-motivated/ proactive	> 20%
4	SQL	> 5%	Leadership	> 20%
5	Java	> 5%	Customer service	> 15%

The data shows high demand for a common set of soft skills/traits within the ICT sector, with communication/interpersonal skills being sought after by more than 95% of all unique job postings in the sector, followed by analytical/problem-solving skills, which make up close to half of the demand. Given that communication/interpersonal skills are required by almost all job postings in the ICT sector, they are probably viewed as a hygiene factor* for employment, Jobtech said.

JobTech also notes that there is great variability in the demand for technical skills within the sector. JobTech has identified at least 20 different types of programming languages that are widely demanded in the ICT sector today, including the four in the top technical skills listed.


*A hygiene factor, or 'dis-satisfiers', first mentioned by Frederick Herzberg in his motivation theory, is something that does not make an employee happier at a workplace, but would cause dissatisfaction if it is missing.  

LinkedIn's top skills for 2016 shows cloud, visualisation are hot

The annual LinkedIn Global Top Skills of 2016 list, which shows what skills employers want most from candidates. has unveiled several new trends about the global job market:

Demand for marketers is slowing
While marketing skills like marketing campaign management, search engine optimisation/search engine marketing (SEO/SEM), and channel marketing were in high demand in 2015, things have changed.

Demand for marketing skills is slowing because the supply of people with marketing skills has caught up with employers’ demand for people with marketing skills, says LinkedIn. This year, SEO/SEM dropped five spots from No. 4 to No. 9 and marketing campaign management dropped completely off the list. SEO/SEM is still in the top three for Australia and Singapore nevertheless.

Data and cloud reign supreme
Cloud and distributed computing, No. 1 for the past two years, is the top skill on almost every list — including in India and Singapore, reflecting the complex nature of actually adopting cloud computing. Following closely is the statistical analysis and data mining category, which was No. 2 last year and No. 1 in 2014.

While LinkedIn says that these skills are in high demand because they are at the cutting edge of technology, it is also because both skills are in complex fields, and training and experience is relatively hard to come by.

Show me
Data visualisation has made it to the list for the first time, in No. 8 spot. Basically, people who can organise data so that it looks attractive and is easy for others to understand is now a sought-after skill.

User interface design is the new black
User interface design, design for products that users interact with, has jumped from No. 14 in 2014 to No. 10 last year, and is now No. 5 this year.

These are the top three skills for various countries in Asia Pacific and the Middle East:

Australia

• Statistical analysis and data mining
• SEO/SEM marketing
• Middleware and integration software

China

• Virtualisation
• Network and information security
• Statistical analysis and data mining

India

• Cloud and distributed computing
• User interface design
• Web architecture and development framework

Singapore

• Cloud and distributed computing
• SEO/SEM marketing
• Public policy and international relations

UAE

• Statistical analysis and data mining
• Public policy and international relations
• Algorithm design 

LinkedIn recommends its members to make sure that they list such skills on their LinkedIn profiles. "In addition to showcasing your professional brand, you’ll also show up higher in recruiters’ search results," the company said in a blog post.

Interested?

View the full list of skills wanted by country (Slideshare - The up and down arrows reflect changes in the skill rankings compared to last year’s list)

*LinkedIn grouped similar skill descriptions into several dozen categories. For example, skills like “Android” and “iOS” would fit into the “Mobile Development” category. The company then looked at all of the hiring and recruiting activity that happened on LinkedIn between January 1 and September 1, equaling billions of data points, and identified the skill categories that belonged to members who were more likely to start new jobs and receive interest from recruiters. Skill categories that did not meet a specific threshold for membership were excluded from our analysis. 

posted from Bloggeroid

Digitisation drives job demand in Singapore: Robert Walters

Source: Robert Walters. Click on the
image to view a larger version.

Robert Walters, the international recruitment consultancy, has found that recruitment in Q2'15 was led by digitisation in Singapore. The findings were part of its Asia Job Index* for Q2 2015.

Said Toby Fowlston, Managing Director, Robert Walters Southeast Asia: "The annual dip in job advertising this quarter did not come as a surprise. What we have seen is a softening in the investment banking market, which has resulted in some banks downsizing and off-shoring to cheaper locations."

Fowlston added that the atmosphere in industries such as marketing and IT remains positive. "Due to the surge in e-commerce and mobile applications, candidates with the relevant skill sets are seeing multiple job opportunities. Hence, senior decision makers need to be more involved in the recruitment process to ensure they make swift assessments to secure the best professionals. Singapore remains the gateway to businesses in Southeast Asia due to its sound infrastructure and will continue to attract multinationals in the commerce industry.”

The key findings of the report for Singapore include:

· More companies have started to increase their investment in digital technology in a bid to stay connected with their clients. As a result, IT job advertisement volumes saw a 10% year-on-year increase with the corresponding demand for skilled IT professionals.

· The growth in the digital space has also increased job advertising by 3% annually for marketing professionals. Talent with sound online experience in e-commerce, social media and consumer media consumption were specifically sought after.

· The decline in investment banking activity has also affected traditionally strong sectors such as accounting and finance as well as legal and compliance. These industries saw a weaker quarter compared to 2014 as seen by the 7% and 8% dip in annual job advertising.

Interested?

View more findings from the Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q2 2015. 

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Robert Walters' views on contracting

*Asia Job Index tracks job advertising volumes for professional positions across the leading job boards and national newspapers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Highest-paid tech jobs for 2014 - if you're in the US

The 2014 Salary Guides from Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group have named six tech and digital jobs which are especially in demand in the US this year, possibly mirroring demand in the Asia Pacific region. 

Specifically, companies are looking for professionals who can help them keep information and networks secure, turn data into business intelligence and seize new opportunities in the mobile space.
 
"It's becoming imperative for companies to build their online presence and connect with customers through mobile channels, but finding the specialised talent to design and develop for this fast-evolving space can be difficult," said John Reed, Senior Executive Director of Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group. Both Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group are divisions of Robert Half, the world's a specialised staffing firm.

"Similar recruiting challenges exist around business intelligence. Companies want to use their information more strategically, but they struggle to find skilled professionals who can analyse raw data."


Following are six roles that are among those expected to see the most substantial increases in average starting compensation in 2014, according to the Robert Half Salary Guides: 

Mobile Applications Developer
As companies expand their mobile initiatives to connect with consumers anytime, anywhere, they need professionals who can develop for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Experienced mobile applications developers in the US can expect to see the largest increase in starting compensation of any tech position listed in this year's Salary Guide.  

Business Intelligence Analyst
Organisations want to derive more value from the data they generate, collect and store by turning it into actionable intelligence.

Information Systems Security Manager
Keeping data secure and protecting users and the network from cyber threats is a priority for any modern business. Information systems security managers who can assess and remedy vulnerabilities, threats and intrusions are in demand.

User Experience Designer
Designing engaging user experiences is essential to the success of any mobile or web initiative.

Mobile Designer
Compelling content and functionality are vital to delivering a satisfying interactive mobile experience. 

User Experience Specialist
Developing innovative, interactive user experiences for web and mobile applications requires creativity and technical expertise. 

Both Hays and Robert Walters have predicted that usability- and security-related jobs as will as anything related to mobile development will be big this year in Singapore.

More information about the positions listed above can be found in the Robert Half Technology 2014 Salary Guide, which includes a wide range of IT job descriptions, and The Creative Group 2014 Salary Guide, which focuses on interactive, design and marketing jobs.