Want to Know About the Latest Employment Trends in Asia?
2022 ended with hiring talent making its way back in full force and unemployment rates visibly falling across most of Asia. However, the year didn’t start off on the best note for every country. While Singapore was able to open its borders early in the year, Hong Kong was battling the 5th wave of the pandemic and had tightened its Covid-19 measures, which led to a fall in the number of job vacancies across various industries. China, still adhering to its strict zero-Covid policy, saw its job market struggle for most of 2022.
With China finally opening its borders and as both Hong Kong and Singapore have introduced several avenues to bring in more talent, 2023 is a more promising year for jobseekers. Companies are poised to face a war of talent this year, as the job market is still a candidate-driven one.
In our 2023 Asia Pacific Salary Guide, we take a look at these latest trends in depth, providing a detailed 2022 job market overview, as well as what to expect in 2023.
Highlights from our 2023 Asia Pacific Salary Guide:
- Hong Kong, Singapore, and China are on a steady path to recovery, more so as the Mainland has opened its borders to the rest of the world. Not only will this revive many sectors such as retail sales, tourism, and life science & healthcare, but it will also make the movement of talent easier.
- In 2023, companies are expected to focus on retaining the top talent in their teams and utilising the best skills in their most strategic hires.
- In Q2 2022, Hong Kong saw several HR roles upward trend, another optimistic sign for jobseekers. By Q3, there was a high demand for both HR and Admin roles, with an increased need for HR professionals locally.
Hong Kong
- Unemployment and underemployment rates rapidly declined 8 times in a row from May 2022, and there was a surge in the demand for frontline workers. Catering, for instance, had a 230% jump in job openings between March to December 2022.
- The projected recession may cause salary and bonus increments to be minimal, but this will not apply to all industries. Strategic leaders in Sourcing, Supply Chain and Manufacturing could see up to a 10% hike, while certain Construction Property and Engineering subsectors will see minimum wage increments of up to 12.5%.
- Companies may be wary of hiring excessively due to fears of a recession, but surveys show that many businesses in Hong Kong still intend to retain senior positions due to the value and experience such employees can offer.
Mainland China
- Companies will place higher demands on talent in terms of digital services and collaboration across the value chain, with brand marketing, digital marketing, and retail operations becoming in-demand positions.
- In the long term, rigid market demand, policy support, the introduction of new talent, and investment will drive the rapid development of the life science and healthcare sector.
- More and more companies and workers are starting to adopt remote office work and study methods. In H1 2022, the number of remote office users in China reached 43.8%, representing an increase of 22.6 percentage points from the same period in 2020.
Singapore
- Singapore’s labour market is one of the most candidate driven markets in APAC with unemployment levels dropping to almost historical lows of 2% as of Q4 of 2022.
- The Singaporean Government has introduced a number of schemes to attract the world’s best talent and will also overhaul the employment pass application process with the new Complimentary Assessment Framework (COMPASS) that starts on 1 September 2023.
- The war of talent in Singapore may not be as intense as it will be in Hong Kong, but there will still be a great demand for talent as certain sectors such as travel, retail, IT, sales, and F&B get back on their feet once more.
Want to Learn More About the Markets? Download the Asia Pacific Salary Guide for Free Now!
As job trends are not what they used to be and as we navigate the workplace in the new normal, business leaders and working professionals are encouraged to stay up to date with the latest market trends to understand where the future of work is heading and to prepare accordingly.
Our salary guide also covers projected salary increments and overviews the performance of different functions in their location. Download for free now!
Related Articles:
- How Much Should You Earn – 2023 Hong Kong Salary Guide
- How Much Should You Earn? – 2023 Singapore Salary Guide
- Onboard- APAC 2023 Q1 Legislation Update
- Does China’s Reopening of Borders Mean Businesses Can Hire More?
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