Hays, a recruiting company has revealed a thorough market overview of business outlooks, salary policies and recruitment trends, based on survey responses from more than 7,000 working professionals from five Hays operating markets in Asia mainly China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Throughout Asia, 34 per cent of employers noted a rise in innovation over the last twelve months – rising to 37 per cent in Singapore – testimony to the truism that crisis spawns creativity. The rise is led by digital transformation across numerous industries, the implementation of AI and cloud technologies and the utilisation of various technological advances required to ensure that employees could work from home with minimal disruption.
70 percent of employers established a number of flexible working options, up from 54 percent in 2020. The most common of these options was remote working (57 percent) including 71 percent in Singapore and 69 percent in Japan. In addition, 31 percent of companies provided a flexitime option, the most popular option in China (40 percent).
Despite the fact that job seekers regularly demand these options when chasing a new role, with home and mobile working the most preferred option (63 percent) followed by flexitime (57 percent) and compressed hours (28 percent), it seems that these benefits are having a surprisingly detrimental effect on work-life balance.
Of employees looking to remain in their role, 48 percent cited work-life balance as an important pull factor, rising ten percentage points since 2017. Yet a shrinking proportion feel that they have a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ balance, down to 46 percent in 2021 from 50 percent the year before, evidence of a growing imposition of work-life upon their free time.
Though work-life balance is a key consideration in 2021, salary is the primary concern as it was the most preferred option for employees (49 percent) and candidates (58 percent) alike, with job seekers in China (69 percent) and employees in Malaysia (57 percent) most likely to make this selection.
However, salaries stagnated over the last year, as 35 percent of companies provided no increase, rising to 38 percent in Japan and Hong Kong, almost double that of 2020 (18 percent). In addition, six percent of companies in Asia decreased wages, and these trends are likely to continue in 2021, with 37 percent of employers forecasting stasis and four percent predicting decrement.
As salary budgets are tightened in 2021, so will be for recruitment funds. In the next 12 months, just 36 percent of companies expect permanent staff levels to increase, leaping to 50 percent in China, while 45 percent expect headcounts to stay the same, including 56 percent in Hong Kong and 54 percent in Singapore.
However, while these figures may not suggest overt assurance, they are an improvement on the previous year, when only 29 percent of companies increased staffing levels, and 30 percent saw cutbacks, including 32 percent in Malaysia.
As such, these low-level predictions for 2021 may reflect the fact that 42 percent of organisations will implement hiring freezes – whether for the first three months of the year (nine percent) the first six months (16 percent) or indefinitely (17 percent), with companies in Malaysia being the most likely to do so (10, 21 and 21 percent respectively) – with the potential for lifting them later in the year.
Furthermore, this leaves 58 percent of companies – 72 percent in China and 64 percent in Japan – which may be open to recruitment should the opportunity arise.
Companies throughout Asia saw 2020 fourth quarter recruitment rises, and as hiring freezes in the coming year there will be opportunities for candidates skilled in the right areas, and the majority of companies (59 percent) prefer candidates with hard skills, particularly in Malaysia (68 percent) and Singapore (67 percent).
Reflecting the growing desire for candidates in digital, AI and Big Data fields, employers are on the hunt for professionals with technical (67 percent), analytical (66 percent) and project (45 percent) skills.
Despite possessing a wealth of experience fewer temporary or contract professionals are being employed on a regular, ongoing basis, with only 26 percent of businesses doing so, a decline of six percent since 2020.
Employers in Japan, where there is a strong history of contract professional utilisation, was once again the most likely to continue with this strategy (38 percent), though at a markedly lower level than in 2019 (54 percent). The good news for temporary staff is that just 17 percent of companies plan to cut back in the year to come – the same as in 2020 – and in Hong Kong 68 percent of employers will maintain their contractor headcount.
Despite the obvious hardships faced last year, 55 percent of companies in Asia expect business activities to increase in 2021.
