An appetite for talent

What a difference a year makes. Last January, at the height of the global financial crisis, the HR world was full of dark retrenchment threats, engagement problems and budget cutbacks. Fast forward to the first days of 2010 and the employment market is offering a much healthier hue.
Indeed, if the latest research is correct, Asia’s key employment markets could soon be back to pre-recession levels of hiring activity. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2010 indicates that the job landscapes in Singapore and Hong Kong are expected to move back to pre-recession levels.

In Hong Kong, 17% of the 828 respondents to the survey expected to add employees over the first three months of 2010. That’s a significant improvement on the mere 11% who looked to improve headcount in the last three months of 2009. Meanwhile, only 4% of surveyed employers predicted any reduction in staffing levels, compared to 7% in the previous quarter.

76% of the survey respondents expected to keep their current staffing levels unchanged.
“The survey results indicate that employers’ hiring confidence has been restored,” Lancy Chui, General Manager of Manpower’s Hong Kong and Macau operations, said. “The gradual revival of the local economy has helped to improve the labor market as the latest unemployment rate registered its first decline since the outbreak of the global financial turmoil that hit Hong Kong a year ago.”
The same trend is apparent in Singapore. Of the 699 employers interviewed for the Manpower research there, 27% expected to increase headcount in the New Year. Just 6% anticipated a decrease, while 65% foresaw no change to their workforce counts.

The positive plans represent a quarterly improvement of nine percentage points on the Employment Outlook (where the percentage of employers looking to reduce staff is deducted from the percentage looking to hire). But it is the year-on-year statistics in Singapore that really highlight the change. The first quarter result for 2010 is a massive 60 percentage points higher than that recorded the same time last year.

Of course, the results are different depending on the industries involved. In Hong Kong, employers in the services sector are anticipating the most hiring across the six surveyed. The weakest hiring intentions are being reported by employers in the wholesale and retail trade, and transportation sectors.
In Singapore, the finance sector appears to be bouncing back. Also, talent in the mining, construction and services sectors are set to enjoy strong demand for their services.

And that is the double-edged sword for HR in Asia. Increased hiring means an increased need to focus on retention of the staff already employed within an organisation. It means the highest-regarded skills in an industry are at risk of poaching, particularly if they are not quickly brought back on board after the rough ride that was 2009.

Still, the markets may not be as recharged as one survey might suggest. Josh Goh, Assistant Director for Corporate Services, The GMP Group, says strong projections may not necessarily translate into actual hiring numbers.

“Although the job market is picking up, not all sectors are seeing increased hiring activity,” he says. “Even with the green shoots of the economy appearing, there is a possibility that the economy may plummet once again – given the latest Dubai crisis and the fact that the US economy has yet to see significant improvements.”