Asia - It is not all doom and gloom for job markets in Asia, if the latest Robert Walters Asia Job Index is anything to go by.
According to the Robert Walters Asia Job Index for Q1 2009, the number of job advertisements for professional positions was 6.2% lower than the previous quarter across Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan. With the exception of Japan which showed a month on month decline, job advertising picked up by 27.6% during the quarter as companies took the opportunity to recruit high-quality talent from the increased number of available professionals on the job market.
Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters Asia explains the drop in recruitment advertising at the start of the quarter was due to organisations waiting for budgets to be approved, headcount numbers to be confirmed and bonuses to be paid. Also, the recession is a factor which caused the slowdown in hiring. He says "the second and third quarters tend to be the busiest periods of the year for hiring".
Hong Kong experienced low job advertising at the start of the year due to Christmas and Chinese New Year. However, advertising picked up immediately and sectors that showed particular strength included retail as well as legal, compliance and accounting disciplines, particularly active as a result of the increased reporting and regulatory compliance.
Singapore was less affected by the festive period and the number of job advertisements remained rather static. However, there was an increase in advertising for some sectors like accounting as a result of the need to control costs and comply with new regulation and reporting standards. In addition, there was an increase in the demand for business development professionals in the retail and tourism industries due to the casino and leisure projects. Engineers, architects and technicians were also highly sought after the rise in government funding for infrastructure projects.
In China, advertising for middle and senior level positions remained, while junior positions were taken in-house to control costs. Similar to Hong Kong, advertising dropped during the festive period but picked up in February and March, with the retail, tourism and hotel sectors showing some strength. There was also a strong increase in advertising for jobs in the IT industry due to multinationals outsourcing their IT requirements to China.
The number of job advertisements in Japan continued to decline in the quarter, indicating it is the worst affected market in Asia. Due to the country's reliance on exports, the recession has caused even stable industries like accounting to reduce recruitment. But due to the country's ageing population, the pharmaceutical industry was still active and there was still ongoing demand for creative talent.
“There are now some extremely talented candidates looking for work, who are prepared to be flexible. This will undoubtedly present opportunities for far-sighted employers," comments Kevin Gibson, managing director of Robert Walters Japan.
