The job market for HR professionals in Asia may look a little different from how it once looked during the hiring frenzy that occurred during much of 2007 and 2008. This created numerous HR opportunities and a candidate-short market. However, anecdotal evidence in the HR community suggests that there are now more opportunities for HR practitioners than there have been in many months. Employees in stable roles are again beginning to assess what they are looking for in their next career move.
As a specialist HR recruiter, interviewing HR practitioners forms a large part of my job. I find that whilst every candidate is unique, the responses from the interviewees often follow a similar pattern. The majority of candidates typically generate the same responses when identifying what they desire from their next career move:
» Opportunity to develop HR functional expertise
» Career progression
» Organisations with credibility
» A high perceived value of HR within the business unit or organisation
» Regional exposure or extended regional coverage
» Competitive remuneration
So how has the current economic situation changed the selection criteria when HR practitioners in stable positions are assessing other opportunities? Whilst the above remains true there is no doubting the caution that many HR practitioners, having retained their jobs through global economic uncertainty, now feel. The two key factors seem to be:
1. Industry Sector
In recent years HR practitioners have become more selective regarding their industry sector, although, with the economic downturn, candidates are now more open to exploring opportunities across industries than ever before. Some of the biggest benefactors include the Healthcare, Life-sciences and Public sectors – which have been widely perceived as resilient to economic downturn.
The financial services sector hasn’t quite done a full circle in terms of popularity yet, although there is no doubting the revival in recent months. Candidates still remain wary of certain organisations or business units that were most exposed during the downturn. The manufacturing sector also produces an element of caution, due to the scale of the retrenchments there over the past year.
2. Stability
Today, candidates are much more calculating when it comes to assessing prospective employers. It used to be rare that I’d be probed for data on the financial performance of an organisation. Now, candidates are being far more thorough in researching the financial fundamentals of organisations and this comes out when positioning a client for the first time at a candidate interview. Whilst HR practitioners have always considered the value that their position adds to the organisation, candidates want to ensure that their position is relatively indispensable when making their assessments. Today’s job seekers are also more realistic with respect to remuneration, and are increasingly looking at internal financial equity, rather than large financial increments.
The HR community is active again - albeit with caution!
By Tom Browne, Manager, HR Practice (ASEAN region), Carmichael Fisher