Are you looking to access a wider talent pool in the Asia Pacific region?
The battle for talent is heating up, and businesses are searching for new ways to find the best and brightest employees. Asia represents a massive opportunity in this regard, as the region is home to some of the world’s most populous and fastest-growing countries.
However, there are certain challenges that come with attracting and hiring talent in Asia.
In this blog post, we will explore how to expand your talent pool in Asia and remain competitive in a challenging business environment.
The Growing Challenge of Talent Shortage
Talent crunch is not a new phenomenon for businesses across Asia. While the problem has been ever-present, in the post-pandemic era, it has grown to become a chronic problem. A global report highlights talent acquisition as one of the biggest challenges businesses face (KF – 2022 Talent Acquisition Trends).
In Singapore, for instance, businesses in IT/tech, marketing, sales, operations, management, and finance are finding it very difficult to recruit people with the relevant skillsets (AmCham – 2021 Manpower Survey Results).
The pressure to recruit will only increase as the mass resignations continue. In fact, over 50% of professionals surveyed believe turnover will worsen in 2022. In Hong Kong, over 85% (Digital Salary Survey 2022) of businesses are concerned about the shrinking talent pool and skillsets.
High Demand Skills in Asia
While there are country-specific variations, a report from WEF (World Economic Forum) states these skills are in the highest demand in 2022 across Asia:
- Data analysts
- Banking and finance professionals
- Business Development Professionals
- AI and Machine Learning specialists
- Management specialists
- IT professionals
Clearly, the way forward for growth-oriented businesses is to adopt a regional mindset when conducting a talent search instead of being limited to the local talent pool. If you are looking for insights on how to create a bigger talent pool, the solution lies in open search hiring.
Understanding Open Search Hiring and Its Benefits
Open search hiring is a concept that seeks to expand the access to talent pool by looking beyond local boundaries. With a streamlined approach and a regional mindset, open search helps you hire talent with the relevant skillsets regardless of the location.
One of the key advantages of recruiting international talent is that it automatically boosts workplace diversity.
Here are the multiple benefits of open search:
- Expand search across Asia-Pacific to access a wider talent pool
- Strengthen the workforce diversity
- Bring alternative perspectives and creativity to solve business problems
- Scale quickly with a flexible hiring model
- Save on hiring and payroll costs by accessing affordable labour
- Fill roles that require specific skill sets
- Create agile and innovative teams that adapt quickly to a dynamic market
- Leverage remote work and hybrid work arrangements
Things to Consider When Implementing Open Search
Hiring internationally has its own set of challenges, that go beyond cultural and language barriers. Legal and HR compliance is one of the most important challenges of open search hiring. Here are the things to consider when implementing open search and ways to overcome the main challenges in this type of hiring.
Determine the Need
Begin by identifying project and customer needs as well as the overall business goals. Assess internal skills and identify the talent gaps in the present time and the estimated skills required in the future. Factor in the business’s geographical growth, attrition rate, and retirement.
Salary Benchmarking
The key to implementing open search successfully lies in knowing if your pay is competitive in the industry when hiring for international roles. Collaborating with an HR outsourcing partner who offers salary benchmarking for the APAC region will help design data-based benefits packages and hiring procedures to attract top-tier talent.
Measure ROI of the Role
To calculate the ROI of a hire, leverage a cost-benefit analysis. Start by calculating the cost of hiring, this includes time spent on posting job ads, outreach, recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and training. Quantify the benefit from the role such as increased sales, innovation, streamlined processes, or increased customer satisfaction score.
Hire PEO/EOR Services Providers
One of the challenges of hiring regionally is the complexity involved in setting up legal entities in different markets. This can negate any cost advantage you have with the open search strategy.
Businesses looking to expand their business can mitigate this cost by partnering with PEO/EOR services providers. The PEO/EOR services provider will handle all administrative responsibilities while bypassing the need to set up a legal entity, allowing you to explore the potential of a market before fully investing all your time and money into it.
PEO/ EOR services allow businesses to:
- Minimise time to hire – Get a team on the ground in as little as 48Hrs
- Guarantee local labour law compliance
- Cut costs of remote resourcing by up to 10 times
- Manage and streamline payroll processes
Overcome the Talent Shortage Crisis with Links
If you are challenged by a talent crisis, we at Links International can help. We have a vast network of Asia-Pacific experts who can provide regional HR outsourcing services for our clients. Whether you need help managing remote talent overseas or a local workforce spread across Asia-Pacific, you can rely on us as your single point of contact for a seamless talent acquisition experience.
Get in touch with us today for a consultation.
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Links International is an industry leader in innovative HR outsourcing with services such as payroll outsourcing, visa application, PEO/EOR Secondment, outplacement, recruitment and more! Contact us for more information on how we can help leverage your HR function.
