Large proportion of new hires in Asia not considered 'good'

By CFO Innovation Asia Staff | Apr 12, 2012

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The latest Hudson survey across key business sectors in Asia shows that hiring expectations are set to rise in Hong Kong in Quarter Two (Q2) 2012, remain almost unchanged in Singapore and whilst still positive, show a small decline in China.

While the hiring outlook is generally positive this quarter, in all three markets, however, there are clear indications that employers’ hiring practices do not always produce the desired results.

Respondents in Hong Kong are more optimistic this quarter than last: with 41 percent planning to hire more staff, up 3 percentage points (pp) on last quarter. The proportion of respondents planning to reduce headcount has more than halved, from 13 percent to 6 percent.

The IT&T sector reports both the highest expectations and the greatest increase: 49 percent of respondents say they will grow headcount, a sharp rise from Q1’s 41 percent.

Sixty percent of respondents in China across all sectors forecast headcount growth in Q2, down from 66 percent in Q1. The figure of 60 percent is almost half as big again as the hiring expectations reported for Hong Kong and Singapore.

The IT&T sector again has the highest expectations, with 65 percent of respondents planning to increase hiring. The proportion saying that hiring will remain steady has risen from 12 percent to 30 percent.

Hiring expectations in Singapore remain steady, with 42 percent of respondents across all sectors expecting to grow headcount in Q2 2012. The corresponding figures for Q4 2011 and Q1 2012 were 42 percent and 44 percent respectively.

As well as having the highest expectations this quarter, IT&T is the only sector to report an increase: 56 percent of respondents plan to hire more staff, up from 49 percent in Q1. There is strong demand for specialists in several key areas, notably cloud computing, security, mobility and business intelligence.

“The hiring outlook is generally positive this quarter," says Mark Carriban, Managing Director, Greater China, Hudson. "In all three markets, however, there are clear indications that employers’ hiring practices do not always produce the desired results."

Carriban notes that a substantial proportion of hires are considered only ‘average’ or even ‘bad’.

"In a challenging economic environment, organisations with robust hiring practices that enable them to identify and recruit high quality candidates have a significant competitive advantage,” says Carriban.