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March 13, 2017October 2, 2017

Some Insights Into Salaries and Jobs In Asia During 2017

The 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide has been released, and the biggest news to come out of it is Singapore’s skill shortage epidemic. The shortage threatens to impact Singaporean employers in the year to come.

The Realty Management Associates and recruiting trends gathered from over 3,000 employers throughout Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Singapore. Information and salary ranges come from 6 million employees and over 1,200 different roles.

An astounding 96 percent of businesses in Singapore are concerned about the skill shortage epidemic affecting their operations as they have difficulties finding skilled individuals to fill their open positions. Companies recognize the importance of attracting and retaining top talent to get a competitive edge, and these skill shortages make it even more important.

Because of this well-documented issue, experts are encouraging many employers to invest in their existing staff with training and development opportunities. Employers should also review and adjust their recruitment practices to gain the upper hand in acquiring talent.

Salaries

While most employers in Singapore plan to increase salaries between 3 and 6 percent, 34 percent of employees surveyed in Singapore expect more than a 6 percent raise.

This disconnect in salary expectations requires employers to carefully balance offering a competitive salary to attract skilled workers and to manage the salary for existing workers.

If new hires receive a higher salary, or quicker and bigger increases, it could cause tension between new talent and existing staff.

Benefits

In all of the countries surveyed, 85 percent of employers offered benefits to employees in addition to salary and bonuses.

Healthcare was the top benefit, followed by life insurance, car insurance with a cheap motor trade insurance, pension, housing allowance and a gym membership. A protein promo’s study revealed that the benefit of a gym membership is highly attractive among almost 80 percent of employees.

Bonuses

In Singapore, 66 percent of employers are planning on awarding bonuses to all of their employees, and 25 percent plan to offer bonuses only to some employees.

In all of the Asian countries surveyed, bonuses were typically based on either company-wide or individual job performance.

However, 10 percent of staff bonuses were guaranteed regardless of performance, and 34 percent were based on team performance.

Staffing

In the past 12 months, 36 percent of Singaporean employers added to their permanent headcount, 23 percent decreased permanent staff and 41 percent remained unchanged.

In 2017, 32 percent of Singaporean employers surveyed plan to increase permanent staff, 15 percent plan to reduce headcount and 53 percent intend to stay the same.

In the last year, a little over half (51 percent) of employers in Singapore utilized temporary staffing. Up to 65 percent of employers used a recruitment firm, while 37 percent brought in part-time staff, 26 percent hired casual employees and 14 percent participated in job-sharing agreements.

In 2017, 19 percent of surveyed employers plan on using temporary staff more than last year.

Other Findings

While foreign employees make up 21 percent of Singapore’s workforce, making it the most diverse in the region, it is a 7 percent decrease from the past year. China employs the fewest foreign workers at 6 percent, followed by Japan at 9 percent, Malaysia at 11 percent and Hong Kong at 12 percent.

Singaporean employers improved their gender diversity thanks to 31 percent of management positions held by women, up 4 percent from last year.

Management roles in Malaysia and China are filled 35 percent by women. 33 percent of senior positions went to women in Hong Kong. Japan is last in gender diversity, with 22 percent of management roles filled by women.

February 27, 2017April 2, 2018

Cities And Functions In Asia With The Most Job Opportunities

Asian markets are becoming popular options for millennials and expats alike as they face an uncertain and sometimes volatile Western economy. The body corporate managers help committee members cope with the complex demands of building management and body corporate law. Speaking of law, checkout this awesome blog about legal document assembly, click this link https://www.smokeball.com/features/document-assembly/ to learn more.

Events like Brexit, the U.S. presidential election and the Trans-Pacific Partnership all made companies a bit hesitant to grow their employee base.

Certain Asian cities, though, such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Singapore and Tokyo, are emerging as promising destinations for employees at all levels in a variety of industries. This is as per a survey by ExpatFinder.

Human resources and finance are industries with an overall high demand in most cities, while communications, food and hospitality, and logistics and manufacturing are, overall, the industries least likely to have available positions. These are the effect of poor marketing strategies. Visit Gold Coast Joel for SEO advice and marketing strategies.

Hong Kong: Finance, Logistics and Manufacturing, and Sales and Marketing in Demand

A skills shortage in finance has opened up a variety of positions, especially for individuals skilled in audit, compliance and cybersecurity.

Positions in Hong Kong-based companies along with some Chinese companies moving into the region are available at various levels. This includes full-time as well as temporary and contract opportunities.

More than 27 percent of Hong Kong’s job vacancies were in the financial industry in recent months.

Mid-level and junior employees in logistics and manufacturing, and sales and marketing, are also in high demand. Each of these industries accounts for slightly more than 13.5 percent of the job vacancies.

Food and hospitality positions are extremely hard to find, as the industry makes up only 1.33 percent of the available jobs. Engineering (3.01 percent of available jobs) and retail (4.48 of available jobs) positions also have few available jobs.

Kuala Lumpur: Demand for Sales and Marketing, Consultancy and Management, and Finance

Overall, high turnover in most industries in Kuala Lumpur makes jobs available in many sectors.

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Individuals who look for jobs in sales and marketing may find the greatest job availability, as more than 19 percent of available jobs fell into this industry. Nearly 60 percent of the industry’s jobs are for entry or junior-level positions.

The consultancy, management and financial industries, though, are seeing an overwhelming need for mid-level employees. In the financial industry alone, more than 87 percent of available jobs fall into the middle-level position.

There are fewer jobs available for construction, education and engineering industries.

Mumbai: Technology, Finance, and Sales and Marketing in Demand

Mid- and senior-level employees are highly needed in the top three industries in Mumbai.

More than 29 percent of job vacancies in Mumbai fell into the technology industry. Of those, more than 74.5 percent of the positions were for mid-level employees.

As much as 60 percent of the finance jobs, which accounted for 13 percent of the overall job vacancies, and 75 percent of sales and marketing jobs, which accounted for 8 percent of all job vacancies, were also in the mid-level category.

Few jobs are available in the food and hospitality, sciences, and logistics and manufacturing industries.

Singapore: Demand for Human Resources, Finance, Sales and Marketing

The highest demand for jobs in Singapore is for human resources positions, which account for more than 14 percent of all available jobs.

Entry-level positions in are the most widely available position in the top three industries, making up nearly 54 percent of the positions in the human resources industry.

One-third of the human resources industry positions are filled by middle-level managers. Senior executives and managers in human resources are the least likely to find a position in Singapore, as these jobs make up 12 percent of the available jobs in the industry.

The finance sector makes up nearly 13 percent of the available jobs, with a great need for mid-level executives. Individuals with skills in auditing, compliance and risk are especially needed.

In sales and marketing, which accounts for about 12.5 percent of Singapore’s job vacancies, mid-level executives are also in high demand, as they make up about half of the positions in the industry.

Workers with any level of experience in healthcare, logistics and manufacturing, and communications will have a tough time finding a position, as the are the three industries with the least job availability.

Tokyo: High Demand in Technology, Finance, and Logistics and Manufacturing

Technology professionals, especially mid-level employees, are in very high demand in Tokyo, as nearly 20 percent of job vacancies were in this industry.

A skills shortage, especially in applications development, data and database management, IT security, networking, and software development, has made it hard for companies that need to grow their department to find good candidates, some companies even decide to hire external resources as temporal outsourcing like outsourcing vs offshoring depending on the companies need.

About 12.6 percent of available jobs were in the finance industry. The logistics and manufacturing industry showed a similar number of available jobs. In both industries, companies are looking for middle-level employees.

The challenge of finding qualified candidates has led many companies to look for temporary professionals.

The fewest jobs are available in the communications, media and publishing, and human resources industries.

February 6, 2017February 8, 2017

Relocation/Living Expenses For Singapore Among Top 10 Globally

According to the 2017 Relocation Price Index, Singapore is now the eighth-most expensive city in the world to move to, with a basic first-month living cost of $2,148.45. All figures in this article are in U.S. dollars.

Movinga, an online moving platform, conducted a study researching 75 cities in 51 countries worldwide.

They found that Luanda, Angola had the highest basic costs for the first month, beating out New York and San Francisco. Luanda was followed by Zurich, Switzerland; London, England; Hong Kong, and Sydney, Australia. Tokyo, Japan, came in behind Singapore at ninth place, with Seattle finishing the top 10.

The 2017 Relocation Price Index calculates the basic costs associated with the first month of living in a new city. Calculations include the average rent for a 35 square-meter apartment close to the city center, the cost of a month’s data plan and mobile phone setup, a month’s worth of groceries, and a month’s use of public transport in the city.

For Singapore, here are the living expenses for the first month broken down:

The average rent for a 35 square-meter apartment was $1,414.13 for the first month.
The cost of a mobile phone set up was $34.74.
A month’s worth of food and drink was a total of $629.77.
Using the city’s public transport for the first month averaged $69.81.

Luanda, Angola, the number one most expensive city in the world to relocate to, has an average cost of $2,030.39 for the first month’s rent, with $1,124.24 in groceries and $95.89 in public transportation costs for one month. Mobile phone setup and monthly data is significantly cheaper than Singapore though, averaging at only $8.81. These give Luanda a total of $3,259.32 in living expenses for the first month.

New York comes in second with a total of $3,084.75, with San Francisco following in third place with a total of $3,050.10. Next is Zurich with $2,625.19, London with $2,614.35, Hong Kong with $2,265.41, and Sydney with $2,163.43. Tokyo follows Singapore with $2,104.13 and Seattle with $2,084.03.

January 13, 2017March 20, 2017

Most Employees In Asia Reject Counter-Offers From Employers

A recent survey from recruiting firm Hays says that last year around 61 percent of employees in Singapore rejected a counter-offer from their bosses to make them stay in the firm. Meanwhile, 30 percent of employees claimed that they accepted their offers and stayed.

Such counter-offers ranged from salary increases, more company benefits, a highly sought-after promotion or a new job title, more responsibility, a change in the current role, or more involvement in projects. These types of counter-offers are made in the hope that managers and CEOs convince employees to stay at the firm.

Hays’ survey revealed that while 30 percent of employees said that they accepted the counter-offers and ended up staying with their employers for more than 12 months after accepting the counter-offer, 9 percent said they ended up leaving the organization anyway less than 12 months after receiving the counter-offer. For these 9 percent, those counter-offers from their employers were not enough to make them stay in the long run.

“People reject counter-offers because in most cases it’s too late” says Lynne Roeder, Hays’ managing director for Singapore “Whether it’s because they want to take the next step in their career or they want to broaden their professional horizons, chances are they made their mind up when they applied for that other job. It could also be that they wish to change industries or simply because they are currently unhappy in their present role. Before considering presenting a counter offer, employers should be wary that once an employee has announced their intention to leave, their long-term loyalty can come into question.”

Singapore is not the only area where a high number of workers are rejecting counter-offers from their employers. Hays has conducted similar research throughout Asia and found that 45 percent of workers in China, 56 percent of workers in Hong Kong, 61 percent of workers in Japan and 63 percent of workers in Malaysia said “thanks but no thanks” to the counter-offers they received from their bosses.

This makes Singapore tied with Japan for the second-highest rate of employees ditching counter offers and leaving their firms, with Malaysia having the highest rate and China having the lowest.

December 20, 2016

Salary Growth Rates Expected Across Asia Pacific In 2017

Mercer recently performed research on the nominal wage growth occurring in Asia-Pacific countries, and found that that employees should be receiving slightly higher salary increases in 2017 compared to 2016.

The region is seen as an outlier due to the uncertainty of the global economy, and the fact that it is expected to perform above the global average. Inflation is low for most of the countries, so that helps to make the real wage growth relatively better.

Expected Percentages

Two countries that have the largest percentage of salary growth are Vietnam at 9.2 percent and India at 10.8 percent.

In addition, the financial regions of Singapore and Hong Kong are both expected to see about a 4 percent increase.

Countries that are among the lowest with increases between 2-3 percent, include Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Employee Pay Levels And Rewards

Korea, Australia and Japan all have starting salaries that begin at about $30,000, and as employees move up the ladder, salaries rise steadily to the point where they could be making between $250,000 and $350,000.

In many of the countries in Asia (especially China), executives that are higher up in companies will earn better paychecks than their counterparts in the United Kingdom and the United States. However, this is only keeping salaries in mind, since things are different when the long-term incentives and social security benefits available in Europe are brought into the equation.

In Asia countries need to focus more on benefits and take a tailored approach. For instance, Korea and Japan both have an aging workforce with the average age of 45, and the benefits provided revolve around retirement and long-term incentives, whereas places with a younger workforce like in the Philippines, Indonesia and India focus on learning and development along with flexible benefits.

Turnover

Turnover seems to be an issue for companies in just about all of the Asia-Pacific countries as the research uncovered a double-digit turnover rate. The only two countries that aren’t facing these high rates of turnover are New Zealand and Japan.

December 12, 2016December 20, 2016

Tech Firms In Asia Raise Salary Budgets Due To Rising Turnover

Experts might expect that, given the fluctuating state of the global economy, employees would want to retain their positions for longer periods of time. However, at least in the technology industry in the Asia-Pacific region, and in Singapore, specifically, this does not hold true.

New reports show that technology companies in Asia-Pacific have high voluntary employee turnover rates. These high turnover rates are a surprising outcome considering the high levels of instability and uncertainty in economies around the world.

In fact, voluntary turnover rates in all markets, except for Japan and South Korea, are higher than 10 percent. Singapore is fourth when compared to all regional major markets at 11.7 percent, trailing Australia, Malaysia and India in terms of the highest voluntary turnover rates.

These stats came from the Radford Trends Report, which publishes surveys and reports about compensation and development in more than 80 countries. Radford is a part of Aon Hewitt.

As a result of the increasing voluntary employee turnover, the report shows that many of the companies in the region have started to create hiring plans that might be deemed more aggressive than normal. Two-thirds of companies in the technology sector in Asia-Pacific have created detailed plans to help address this situation.

India is also leading this trend, with 13 percent of the companies implementing an aggressive hiring plan. Companies in India are also reporting plans to take their salary increase budgets from 10.5% in 2016 to 11% in 2017.

While the salary increase isn’t quite as drastic in Singapore as it is in countries like India or Indonesia, it isn’t far behind.

Companies in Singapore are also working to improve their employee retention. To respond to median voluntary turnover at 11.7%, technology companies in Singapore are keeping more aside for salary increase budgets (4.4% in 2017 vs 4.2% in 2016).

December 7, 2016December 7, 2016

Economic Activity Improved For 14 Of 19 Sectors In Asia (Nov 2016)

The Nikkei Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) measures economic activity (such as output, new orders, prices) and consequently employment growth/contraction.

A number above 50 points towards an economic expansion and below 50 points toward a contraction.

Here is a summary of the PMI numbers for countries in Asia, during November 2016. Numbers in brackets are for the previous month.

Singapore: 52.8 (50.5)
Hong Kong: 49.5 (48.2)
Japan: Services 51.8 (50.5), Manufacturing 51.3 (51.4)
India: Services 46.7 (54.5) , Manufacturing 52.3 (54.4)
Philippines: 56.3 (56.5)
Malaysia: 47.1 (47.2)
Indonesia: 49.7 (48.7)
Thailand: 48.2 (48.8)
Vietnam: 54.0 (51.7)

The PMI increased for 14 of the 19 sectors in Asia. Below are some of the sectors which showed the strongest growth and contraction.

General industrials: 57.0
Industrial services: 56.3
Commercial & professional services: 56.1
Real estate: 48.9
Healthcare services: 48.5
Insurance: 46.6

October 27, 2016October 27, 2016

Severe Skills Shortages On The Horizon For Asian Economies

Many of Asia’s economies are discovering how difficult it has become to continue sustained growth.

A recent report published by the Workforce Analytics Institute (WAI) has found that skill shortages, caused by less-than-adequate education needed to prepare workers, are becoming a problem for many nations in the region.

The report, which focused on factors such as demographics within a country, labor supply and compensation, predicts a big shortage of qualified and properly educated workers. In a few of the region’s nations, the percentage of the population with an education beyond the secondary level is less than 10%.

According to the report, these economies “have a distance to go before their workforce is fully equipped to work in an international environment.”

Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong rank highest among Asian nations on the verge of experiencing severe skilled worker shortages. The lack of of supply comes at a time when skilled labor across Asia is in demand.

Although countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, have relatively better education levels, they are still seeing a decrease in their labor supply due to a lack of a working-age population needed to replace retiring workers.

October 26, 2016

People In Asia Don’t Want Female Bosses

Despite countless campaigns, seminars and movements pushing for more gender equality in the workplace, there are many places in the world where businesses are still dominated by men as compared to women.

Workplaces in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia have a long way to go in achieving gender equality.

It is a known, and unfortunate, fact that women face discrimination, biases and challenges at work.

While these are problems that women also face in the United States and countries in Western Europe, they are especially prevalent in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Unlike countries in the west, Asian countries rarely address these issues. Furthermore, as per findings from a study by Randstad Workmonitor, employees in these regions simply prefer to have a male boss over a female boss.

Randstad Workmonitor’s research measured the preferences employees have for a direct manager in their workplace.

Globally 65 percent of respondents said they preferred a male boss. In Hong Kong the number is 78 percent, with Singapore following close behind at 76 percent and Malaysia at 73 percent.

The study also looked at Japan and Greece, where a whopping 80 percent of respondents said they preferred a male boss over a female boss.

Another interesting finding is that even female respondents declared a strong preference for a male supervisor over a female one. The study found that 74 percent of women in Singapore, 74 percent of women in Hong Kong and 63 percent of women in Malaysia preferred a male boss over a female boss. This compares to the global average for female preference of 58 percent.

Despite numerous reports highlighting the huge pay gap between genders, 79 percent of employees all over the world felt that men and women who had the same job were rewarded equally. This perception was especially strong in Asia, with 81 percent of respondents in Singapore, 81 percent of respondents in Hong Kong and 83 percent of respondents in Malaysia echoing this sentiment.

Michael Smith, the managing director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, expressed his concern over these disparaging results.

The results show a worrying trend in this region with such strong preferences for having male bosses in the workplace, despite open discussions around the issue of gender equality going on around the world. Corporate and government initiatives are just a start, but for real change to take place, the issues around gender equality need to be recognized and mindsets need to evolve. As a staunch supporter of gender equality in the workplace, I expected to see these sentiments slowly change for the better over the coming years as traditional family structures, where the notion of men being the sole family breadwinner is dominant, are starting to be challenged in the region.”

October 4, 2016October 21, 2016

Lower Salary Increases Expected in 2017, For Most Of Asia Pacific

As per a report by Willis Towers Watson, salaries in Asia Pacific are expected to increase by 5.9% in 2017.

For 2016 they had predicted an increase of 6.4%. However, the actual salary increase in Asia Pacific was 5.8%.

If the same pattern plays out in 2017, then Willis Towers Watson expects an actual increment that is a fair bit lower than 5.9%. That will make it the third consecutive year of declining budgets for salary increments.

If these numbers are adjusted for inflation, then the real salary increase in 2017 is projected to be 2.9% in Asia-Pacific, as compared to an actual increase of 3.5% in 2016.

Here is a breakdown of the numbers for several countries across Asia Pacific.

Country	Projected Salary Increase % (2017, After Inflation)
Vietnam	6.4
Bangladesh	5.0
Pakistan	5.0
China	4.9
Philippines	4.4
Thailand	4.4
India	4.3
Indonesia	4.3
Cambodia	4.0
Singapore	3.2
Malaysia	3.1
Japan	1.9
Hong Kong	1.7
Australia	0.9
Myanmar	-2.2

“We are seeing lower salary increase budgets across much of the region,” stated Sambhav Rakyan, Business Leader, Asia Pacific, at Willis Towers Watson.

September 29, 2016October 21, 2016

Singapore On Top Of Asian University Rankings In 2016

When it comes to institutions of higher learning, Asia has some high quality universities and colleges compared to many other regions in the world.

According to the Times Higher Education’s (THE) Asia University Rankings, the top three countries in the area are Singapore, Japan, and China.

In fact, for the first time since the list has come out (four years ago), Singapore is sitting pretty at the top of the list. What’s most remarkable is that Singapore has not only taken the pole position but second place as well.

Traditionally, Chinese and Japanese institutions have been in the top three spots, but due to some impressive work by the Singaporean government in the past year, these institutions have achieved increased success.

Rankings at a Glance: Top Ten Asia Universities 2016

THE Ranking	World Ranking	Name	Country
1	26	National University of Singapore	Singapore
2	55	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore
2	42	Peking University	China
4	44	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
5	47	Tsinghua University	China
6	59	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong
7	43	University of Tokyo	Japan
8	116	Pohang University of Science and Technology	South Korea
9	85	Seoul National University	South Korea
10	148	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	South Korea

As you can see, China and Hong Kong dominate this year’s top 10 list. In fact, the prestigious Peking University tied with NTU for the second spot. That, however, does not diminish Singapore’s accomplishments in the slightest.

In addition to monitoring and tracking Asian universities, THE also keeps a record of all college rankings worldwide. For the last few years, the Singaporean government has taken a strong stance on education by working hard to create world-class universities that bring pride to the country. The standing for both the National University of Singapore and NTU is just the result of a somewhat meteoric rise in world rankings. NUS has climbed fourteen spots since 2012 to be ranked 26th place last year. That, however, pales in comparison to NTU’s incredible 119-spot leap to get to 55th place, all within the last five years.

As far as China and Japan are concerned, both nations are currently tied for the number of universities within the top 200 of THE’s worldwide list. Each country has 39 institutions listed, but the edge goes to China, who has 22 in the top 100 compared to Japan’s 14. Ultimately, however, considering the population difference between the two, Japan’s standings are arguably a bit more substantial. That being said, however, the University of Tokyo did drop from first place to seventh. That drop is significant, especially when compared with China’s two top-ten universities.

When it comes to Singapore, the country has been able to make a lot happen in just a short amount of time. According to Gerard Postiglione, a chair professor at the University of Hong Kong, the Singaporean government has spent a lot of time and money to strategically place its top two universities at the head of the list. In an effort to compete globally, the government has created a lot of value regarding its higher education.

Another reason for Singapore’s standing this year is that the country has reached out internationally. It also did a lot to entice top talent from around the globe. Singapore has a very inviting immigration system which allows the best and brightest to attend its institutions.

Moving beyond Singapore, it’s fair to say that Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are fast becoming top competitors in the region. With twenty-four institutions each, both South Korea and Taiwan represent the most universities after China and Japan. However, the edge clearly goes to South Korea, which has two top-ten institutions on the list this year.

Hong Kong has done well also and is a good competitor in the international education community thanks to six institutions on the extended 200 list, and each of them is within the top 45.

According to Tony Chan, president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (in sixth place), what makes the area rich in education is a variety of factors. As a gateway into mainland China, Hong Kong has a free flow of information, a diverse group of locals, and a low tax system that incentivizes people to live and work there. Overall, the success of Hong Kong is indicative of a larger positive trend in Asia. As far as Tony is concerned, the area will only become richer, and the universities will only become more successful.

This year, the THE Asia University Ranking features twenty-two countries, including first-timers Bangladesh, Qatar, and Indonesia. This number is higher than last year, which only had fourteen nations in the ranks. It would seem that Tony is right, in that the trend towards better higher education is growing in the region. Soon, titans like Japan and China may have to make room for the new guys. But, for now, Singapore can take a moment and pat itself on the back.

September 14, 2016October 21, 2016

Asian Job Market Outlook For Q4 2016

Manpower surveyed around 15,000 employers in the Asia Pacific region, to arrive at an outlook for the job market in 4Q 2016.

They measure hiring outlook using a term known as Net Employment Outlook (NEO), which is the percentage of employers expecting total employment to increase in their organisations, minus the percentage who think total employment will reduce.

Employers have the highest hiring plans in India and Japan, while those China and Singapore have the lowest.

Here is the NEO for various countries, along with a few highlights:

India (+31%) : Slightly weaker hiring plans compared to the previous quarter and year. The largest growth in jobs is expected in the Wholesale/Retail Trade and the Services sectors. India continues to have the strongest job market in the region.

Japan (+20%) : The job market in Japan remains tight, especially due to demographics. Most industries report good hiring levels, with Mining and Construction showing the most gains. This could be due to needs of the Olympics in 2020.

China (+5%) : Positive hiring is expected in all sectors and most regions in the country. The strongest growth is expected in the Services industry. Hong Kong (+13%)

Australia (+12%) : The country is showing signs of a mild rebound in hiring. All industries expect increased hiring levels, with the best outlook for Transportation & Utilities, Services, and Finance.

Singapore (+8%) : Hiring activity is forecast to decline for the seventh quarter in a row and to levels which are the weakest since 2009.