Employers report positive hiring plans

Positive forecasts are reported throughout the Asia Pacific region, with hiring plans growing stronger in three countries quarter-on-quarter – India, Taiwan and Singapore, according to the Q4 2013 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Q4 hiring plans in India are the most optimistic across the globe. Job seekers are likely to benefit from a surge in demand for talent among firms in IT/ITeS, banking and construction. Employability skills remain a challenge for a number of Indian hiring managers. Many acknowledge that there is an abundance of business and engineering graduates, but that too many of them lack the soft skills that are increasingly necessary as India becomes even more interconnected to the global marketplace.


Singaporean employers report strong hiring prospects for the October-December time frame. While 25% of employers expect to increase payrolls, four per cent anticipate a decrease and 65% forecast no change, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +21%. Outlooks are positive in all seven industry sectors, with hiring prospects strongest in the Public Admin and Education sector (+36%), and in Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector, where the Outlook is +34%.

Source: hrm Asia

2012 Social Recruiting Survey - jobvite.com

The impact of Social media for recruiting(at least in the US) has progressively become the most dominant factor for many companies to find and hire quality candidates. According to the 2012 annual Social Recruiting Survey from Jobvite:

+ 92% of respondents use or plan to use social media for recruiting, an increase of almost ten percent from the 83% using social recruiting in 2010.

+ 73% have successfully hired a candidate through social networks, making social recruiting a highly effective source of quality new hires.

+ A large majority of recruiters (71%) consider themselves savvy in social recruiting, having a sizeable understanding of what to look for in social profiles.

+ 49% of recruiters who implemented social recruiting saw an increase in the quantity of candidates, and 43% noted a surge in the quality of candidates.

Some other notable findings in the 2012 annual Social Recruiting Survey from Jobvite:

- Facebook is gaining grounds in 2012 with 66% share and Twitter at 54% but the undisputed king of social network recruiting is and continues to be LinkedIn at 93%!

- Since implementing social recruiting, 20% reported taking less time to hire while 49% saw an increase in quantity of candidates and 43% saw an increase in quality of hire.

- 89% of respondents have made a hire thorugh LinkedIn, 26% thorugh Facebook and 15% through Twitter.

- 86% of recuiters are likely to look at social profiles when reviewing candidates

"As recruiters continue to collect more knowledge on social recruiting best practices, the number of quality hires acquired through social media increases. The role candidates’ social activity plays in hiring decisions also grows in importance. Hiring in and of itself has broadened its reach to include a multitude of social media sources as companies continue to seek out new ways to find and hire the best talent". - Jobvite.

European bankers seek refuge in Singapore

Singapore – As the banking crisis continues to loom in Europe, bankers are finding new locations to set up camp while waiting for the storm to ride out.

CNBC reported recruitment firms have seen a rise in the number of European bankers keen on relocating to Singapore, with Stella Tang, director at Robert Half, witnessing a 20% jump in the number of those wanting to move. She added most firms here are planning to increase their headcount this year.

Hudson, on the other hand, have seen a 50% increase in the number of queries for Singapore-based jobs. “The market conditions in places like Europe and the U.K. continue to deteriorate and there is a perception out there that market conditions are significantly better in Singapore,” Craig Brewer, Director of Banking, Financial Services & Legal at Hudson said.

However, despite the strong interest to relocate here, European bankers must be prepared to take a pay cut of anything from 10% to 30%. But that may not be enough to put them off, as Andrew Norton, regional manager at Michael Page says bankers are now willing to forgo an expat package or additional allowances.

Aside from expat bankers keen on coming into the region, more Asian bankers are also returning home, many driven by the same doom and gloom currently shadowing the US and European markets.

“They [Asian-born bankers] feel the risk-reward trade-off is better and that they can add more value through local expertise and language skills,” Norton said.

By: Sabrina Zolkifi, Singapore

Singapore banks still hiring, but cautiously, amid current gloom

Banks in Singapore say they will keep hiring staff despite the current gloom.

This is a breath of fresh air, amid the job cuts that have swept the United States and Europe in recent weeks. An estimated 50,000 jobs have so far been affected in banks such as Credit Suisse, HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs.

As in 2008, banks worldwide are in the eye of the gathering financial storm.

However, despite their relatively upbeat outlook, banks here have added a caveat: Hiring in the next few months will be done more cautiously, in the light of the global economic uncertainties.

Source: Straits Time

Singapore banks on hiring drive!

What most of us in recruitment industry are in the know for the past few months became a headline news this morning as The Straits Times did a check on banks here in Singapore on their recruitment forecast for 2010.

On top of the pile was British-based Barclays Bank, which is leading the hiring resurgence with plans to add more than 500 staff here this year. Most will be employed in the bank’s technology section, in general operations and in finance.

Besides Barclays Bank, notable mentions are DBS with 500 positions, HSBC with 200 senior positions and ANZ Bank with more than 800 staff that will include the staff they will inherit from RBS' retail and commercial businesses.

From local to foreign, small players to big boys, almost all banks operating here have recruitment high on the agenda.

Morgan Stanley, State Bank of India, Standard Chartered Bank and OCBC Bank are just some of the others adding staff.

The outlook definitely seems very upbeat at least for the first half of the year and as for the rest of the year one has to wait and watch how the global economy sustains its recovery momentum.

For the moment, its happy billing days for the recruitment industry here in Singapore and here's wishing everyone a great 'Year of the Tiger' ahead.

*Happy hunting folks!*

Happy hiring days are here again!

Singapore: There's something positive, bullish and a general feeling of subdued excitement in everyone's outlook these past few weeks more so within the recruitment community.

Look around and you will see, hear and feel the difference in the air as compared to few months back.

News are abound with confident boosting plans, actions and positive forecast for hiring needs.

For some this week itself has brought in loads of business in the form of new assignments and projects that they've not seen in the past 2 months combine. Pipelines are very strong so are the billing numbers.

The feeling that I get when I spoke to couple of recruiters is that they are going to end with a strong quarter. Which needless to say is a very welcoming change indeed.

I am very confident that this positive momentum is going to see us through the remaining quarter and take off in Q1 2010 to something of a record of sort.

Some of the notable banks that are in hiring mode are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, StanChart, ANZ, Credit Suisse and even the locals banks.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is resorting to having specialist in-house recruiters for different streams by infusing new blood by hiring experience recruiters and also calling back some of their recruiters who were made redundant during the aftermath of BoA buying ML. They are now poised to hire financial experts and technocrats in the hundreds.

Barclays is as strong as ever with every recruiter fighting for a share of the headcount pie.

Credit Suisse on the underhand is looking for senior leaders in big numbers while they continue to build their offshore support strength.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group which was very much a small player, an unknown entity here in Singapore is bursting in its seams with their program to built a Super Regional Bank and now added to this aggressive growth plan they also have the huge task of hiring in hundreds resources for their integration with RBS (retail, wealth and commercial businesses).

StanChart is still in the news with their plans to hire 850 priority bankers while ANZ is planning to hire over 100 private bankers over the next 18 months.

The hiring market is bullish indeed but I am positive that we are still in the initial stage of the bottom curve and we can be prepared to see much more hiring frenzies in the months to come.

Happy hunting and bigger billings to all the recruiter folks out there!

StanChart to boost pool of relationship managers to 300

AS AFFLUENCE in Asia rises, Standard Chartered Bank is ramping up its wealth management business in Singapore.

In an expansion of its priority banking business here, the foreign bank yesterday said it planned to hire 300 relationship managers over the next three years, more than double its current number.

So far, it has hired 80, it said. Priority banking caters to individuals with $200,000 or more in net assets.

Other banks are also hiring more. HSBC says it is planning to take on about 100 staff in wealth management, while OCBC says it will continue hiring selectively.

Market watchers say this is a good time for banks that are relatively unaffected by the financial crisis to capture more market share.

Singapore job market shows signs of pick-up!

This is my second post in as many weeks on the improving sentiments in the job market here in Singapore. I would also like to believe that this positive waves will continue for another quarter to allow us to propel through the rest of the year into the 1st quarter of 2010.

Almost every paper this morning carried news of survey results collated from some of the leading multinational recruitment firms. Everyone echoed similar sentiments; higher recruitment projection for the next quarter, substantial increased in hiring this quarter and the two sectors that showed most remarkable turnaround are IT and Banking Finance.

Q3 forecast as per Hudson's May survey shows - 32 percent of respondents in banking and finance expect to increase recruitment as compared to 19 percent in Q2.

While in IT & Technology due to the result of solid pipeline of revenue-generating projects built up in Q2 25 percent of respondents expects to grow headcount.

As an in-house recruiter in a mid size regional bank contrary to the negative hiring trend in the market outside in the past few quarters we've never slowed down on our recruitment pace.

However, lately and even more so this last 2 months I am getting to experience candidates that are willing to turn down or back out of offers while in the process of signing the contract or in one instance just days before reporting for work.

This to me, from past experience ( Y2K project and SAP boom days) is one sure sign that the job market is bullish and that candidates have in their hands multiple job offers.

Wishing all the recruiter folks out there happy hunting and good billings!

Singapore employment outlook brightens

Singapore, June 2009: Could this represent a "green shoot" for the Singapore economy? According to Manpower's quarterly employment outlook survey, more employers are expecting to return to the hiring table over the next three months.

Of the 697 employers considered for the third quarter update, 12% expected to see an increase in their headcounts. A further 7% predicted a decrease in staff while the remaining respondents expected there would be no change in the third quarter.

Philippe Capsie, country manager of Manpower Singapore, says this represents a significant turnaround on the group's second quarter survey. Then, more employers expected to reduce headcount, rather than increase it. "While there is no quick fix in this current economy downturn, employers' hiring confidence is improving," he said. "Most employers are saying they will retain present staff in the third quarter, indicating that the worst may be behind us."

The survey considered seven distinct industry sectors. Of these, four (including manufacturing, finance and construction) predicted negative employment growth overall. In contrast, modest growth was predicted for the transportation, utilities and retail trade sectors.

Standard Chartered to hire 100 bankers

Singapore - Over the next 12 months, Standard Chartered will hire 100 private bankers to support its wealth management in fast-growing markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

While the bank did not elaborate further on its hiring plans, a bank source said most of its new hires will take place mostly in Asia, with the remaining going to Europe and the Middle East.

Peter Flavel, global head of its private bank unit, says Standard Chartered is in good shape despite the global downturn. "'As we're seeing a continuing increase in client demand for our private banking services, we will continue to invest in attracting talent to further strengthen our proposition," says Flavel.

He adds that the bank is scouting for talented candidates with excellent track records and consistency in fulfilling client expectations.

"'We are here to meet clients' needs. To achieve this, we need a certain type of relationship manager - someone with exceptional people and advisory skills, a strong team player, commitment to building long-term partnerships with clients."

About 100 out of 350 relationship managers in Standard Chartered worldwide are based in Singapore, according to a report by The Straits Times.

Barclays set to hire in Singapore

BRITISH banking giant Barclays is sticking to its aggressive plan to hire up to 1,500 highly skilled staff by early 2011 in Singapore - despite the turmoil that has ravaged many financial institutions.

The bank wants project managers, applications development managers, and software and IT specialists for its Business Technology Centre at Changi Business Park Central launched last year.

Barclays has already hired 250 staff - mainly locals - and wants to increase this headcount to 650 by the end of this year.

The centre will allow Barclays to run its international cards and banking platforms out of Singapore.

The new staff are in addition to the 2,500 that Barclays already has for its investment banking and wealth management businesses in Singapore.

Singapore Recruiter roundtable debates – November’08

Recruiter Roundtable Debates is organised by eFinancialCareers.Sg and attended by senior internal recruiters from several of Singapore’s leading financial institutions.

Some of the key issues and findings emerging from this week’s discussion are –

• Both Employers and candidates becoming more cautious in the wake of the global financial crisis
• Job market remains in comparatively good shape and is still attracting foreign talent
• Hiring levels are found to be generally lower than last year but no savage job cuts like NY or London
• Growth sectors – risk, audit and compliance
• Strong demand for advisory and relationship manager roles in Private Banking
• In-house HR/recruitment teams are increasingly placing emphasis on internal recruitment strategies and reducing reliance on agencies.

***Happy hunting folks***

Wages for IT talent go up, up, up!

Singapore - With the banking and finance sector fuelling demand for talent, IT professionals can command a higher pay if they choose to job hop now.

Richard Talbot, GM of the IT recruitment firm, Sapphire Technologies, says with a low 2% unemployment rate and a shortage of skilled workers, there is a pressure on companies to increase the wages of IT workers.

Similarly, Watson Wyatt's quarterly HR Trends survey showed that IT sector had a 5.4% salary adjustment in 2008, cpmpared to 4.8% for general industries. This ranks the IT industry as one of the top 4 industries, payewise.

Singapore: Hiring slows down in second quarter

21/July/2008

HIRING by Singapore companies is slowing down as firms tighten their belts amid rising operating costs and margin pressure, say recruitment agencies.

This cautious approach is in stark contrast to the enthusiastic hiring seen a year ago and experts say the pullback is most evident in the finance and manufacturing sectors.

'Companies in general have become more conscious of their fixed costs,' said Robert Half International managing director Tim Hird.

'We have observed that our clients have become more selective and more cautious in their hiring, rather than imposing total freezes on hiring altogether,' he said.

The sector identified by recruiting firms as having suffered the biggest slide in hiring is investment banking.

But there are pockets of growth within the financial services sector - commodity houses, insurance firms, private equity firms and hedge funds - that are 'still hiring strongly', Mr Hird pointed out.

Another affected sector is information technology (IT), which has seen a 20 per cent fall in hiring.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

Stanchart goes on hiring spree | S'Pore

Bank swims against the tide; plans to recruit another 500 in S'pore and 10,000 worldwide

While banks in the US and Europe are making announcements - almost on a daily basis - about job cuts and writedowns, Standard Chartered stands quietly poised to grab any talent that may come its way.

As its peers downsize, Stanchart will hire aggressively, especially in Asia. The bank has decided to swim against the general tide of gloom and feels this is the time to grow.

The bank derives most of its profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East and has escaped relatively unscathed from the sub-prime fallout. It is well-positioned to expand, it said.

A Stanchart spokeswoman told BT yesterday that its Singapore operations will be expanding by nearly 11 per cent in 2008 alone. Some 500 people will be hired in Singapore across the consumer and wholesale banking and support functions, mainly in sales and risk management positions. The bank employs some 4,700 people in Singapore.

In all, the bank will be hiring 10,000 staff this year, across the world according to Richard Meddings, Stanchart's group finance director.

The biggest hiring spree will be in India where the bank plans to recruit another 3,000 people. Another 1,500 will be hired in China, 500 in Hong Kong, 400 in Pakistan, while the remaining 4,100 will be spread across different geographies. The bank's consumer banking business will see the biggest expansion staff-wise. More than half of the new hires - 6,000 people - will be recruited for this segment, while 1,000 will add to the wholesale banking staff. The remaining 3,000 hires will be slotted in support functions like risk, finance, operations, and technology.
'We are well-positioned for growth and are investing in people to leverage on the opportunities in the market,' said the Stanchart spokeswoman.

'We have been very successful in supporting this growth in Singapore due to our ability to attract, engage and develop talent across our markets,' she added. The bank on Wednesday said it had writedowns of US$97 million on its asset-backed securities portfolio for the first quarter. Another US$156 million charge was made to reflect losses arising from the change in the fair value of its available-for-sale reserves. The bank reported writedowns of US$300 million for 2007 on the value of of some of its its asset-backed securities.

All this, however, paled in comparison with the bank's profits before tax of US$4.04 billion for 2007.

This compares to other banks which have been beset with losses from their investments in collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). Swiss bank UBS AG, reported a net loss of 11.5 billion Swiss francs (S$15 billion) for its first quarter on the back of writedowns of US$19 billion. UBS is cutting 5,500 jobs globally, on top of 1,500 already earlier announced.

Citi reported a straight quarterly loss of US$5.11 billion , undone by more than US$15 billion in writedowns and increased reserves for credit losses. The US financial giant announced the slashing of 9,000 more jobs, in addition to the 4,200 job cuts already reported in January.

Source: Business Times

Jobs cuts plan by top finance firms!

Against the sub-prime crisis end of last year most finance firms were announcing and consolidating on their exposures during the 1st quarter of 2008 which eventually culminated to drastic measures which we are beggining to hear and see now - job cuts!

Here are some of the latest developments!

UBS: Swiss investment bank UBS axed 5,500 jobs.

Morgan Stanley : Morgan Stanley is planning another round of layoffs in the coming days - 1,500 jobs.

JPMorgan Chase: Plans to cut jobs to make space for incoming Bear Stearns employees.

RBS: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is set to cut hundreds of jobs as it pushes ahead with the integration of Dutch bank ABN AMRO's investment bank and slashes headcount in divisions hit by the credit crunch. Expected job cuts - 7000.

Citigroup: Plans to slash about 15,000 jobs.

Goldman Sachs: Plans to cut headcounts eventhough their exposures were light.

Merrill Lynch: ML intends to reduce headcounts by 4000 employees.

Here in Singapore, most managers including those at UBS are very confident that the affect will be minimal as most of the job cuts are in US and UK.

In most banks, it has been observed that the hiring plans are either on hold or delayed and even those that are hiring does requires layers of approvals before the offer could be finally released.

My advice to most candidates that are in touch with me -
if you think your job is safe, hold on to it. Don't bother to look out for greener pastures because there isn't much option at this time.
And for those who are out of job or on the verge of being retrenced, look for opportunities aggresively and take any offers that comes your way. Don't bother to look for some more options before you can decide which one to take because there isn't much option for you to weigh at this time.

***Happy hunting folks!***

Hay Group Global Study Finds 33% of Asian Companies Poised to Freeze Salaries in Preparation for the Slowing Economy

Singapore, April 2, 2008: The majority of companies in Asia have not fully felt the impact of the current economic events with only 8% of them not confident of hitting their business targets, compared to 16% globally. However, they are bracing themselves to be affected sometime in the near future, according to a new global study released today, which spanned 1,003 companies in 80 countries. According to Hay Group, the global consulting firm that conducted the study, more than 41% of companies in Asia are freezing or considering freezing base salaries.

“Even more alarming, 33% of Asian organizations (compared to 15% globally) reported that they were freezing salaries for all employees,” said Charlotte Park, Managing Director of Reward Information Services, Asia, Hay Group. “Short of layoffs or salary cuts, this is as serious as you can get in terms of sending out distress signals.”

In addition, the study found that 81% of organizations will be freezing or decreasing staffing levels in the near future. That said, when companies were asked about their primary concerns regarding engaging and retaining key employees during challenging economic periods, they identified retaining and motivating their key contributors as their number one concern – 48% of companies indicated that they have either made changes or are making changes to their retention programs for high-performers.

“An analysis of the forecast for next quarter, coupled with the impact of this report, could be the catalyst for much more serious economic measures,” said Park.

Other notable findings include:
 Employer-provided benefits are being put under the microscope, especially when it comes to healthcare – 27% report they have either made changes or are making changes to healthcare benefits.
 21% of respondents indicated that they either have changes implemented or planned for retirement/pension benefits
 44% of respondents indicated that they have changes implemented or planned for training and development programs

How Asian employers stack up globally

In general, employers in Asia are taking a more cautious approach than their global counterparts in preparing for an anticipated economic slowdown: (Table 1).

	Asia	Global
Not confident of meeting business targets for 2008	8%	16%
Considering freezing or are freezing salaries for 2008	33%	15%
Freezing or decreasing headcount in 2008	81%	20%
Making or planning changes to healthcare benefits	27%	34%
Making or planning changes for retirement and pension plans	21%	18%
Making or planning changes for training and development programs	44%	38%

Rosy outlook for Singapore job market in 2008

Against the backdrop of the US credit crunch and its ripple effect through out most of the financial capitals of the world the outlook of most companies here in Singapore viz-a-viz hiring remains very positive.

The above observation is based on the surveys conducted by various agencies for the 1st quarter of 2008.

As per the Hudson Report Q1 2008, 51% Singapore companies planned to increase their workforce.

The report also goes to say that despite the current credit crunch, the impact is low on recruitment plans across all markets surveyed, including Banking and Finance.

I am sure most of us, at some point or the other was worried about the possibility of US recession having a drastic effect on the market here in Asia. Honestly, I still fear that the US will go into recession and all of us including Singapore will be eventually effected. But after reading what MM Lee has to say on this subject, my fears upto a degree is gone.

Speaking to some 1,200 people at the Tanjong Pagar Lunar New Year dinner on Monday night, Mr Lee said Singapore is at the centre of the world's highest growth region, and is in a period of steady growth. "This is quite remarkable, for it will be the first time that when the American economy slows down and reduce imports from Asia, Asia will not go into recession."

What was remarkable about this great man and his insights was soon evident when he continued to point out that the US recession help the Singapore booming real estate market to cool down and this inturn did not result in Asia going through another financial crisis like the one in 1997.

Most of the banks did not stop hiring in Q4 of 2007 and the hiring trend seems to continue at the same pace in Q1 of 2008 and I am confident that this trend will continue for most part of this year.

This is the year of the rat - a time for renewal, hard work and a fresh start.

Hopefully, all the subprime mortgage crisis and the write downs can all be put behind and everyone will start a fresh and rebuild all that was lost.

This might just be a wishful thinking but I choose to remain positive and think only of good things for the year ahead.

And here's wishing happy hunting and clean closures to all my fellow recruiters in Singapore and across the world!

:: Is the banking recruitment machine losing its steam?

Singapore – Private banks in Singapore are easing up on recruitment, in light of the volatile sub-prime market in the US, says the Business Times.

Manager of search firm Robert Walters’ front office banking practice, Gary Lai says, “The banks won't admit this but they are probably not as aggressive as before.”

Having done well in Singapore over the past two years, assets of private banking have increased to an estimation of US$500 (S$725) billion this year, resulting in a shortage of staff.

Another recruitment firm, Kelly Services, said that hiring wouldn’t stop entirely, but “will slow down to some extent over the short to mid term”.

While the sub-prime crisis is one reason for the ease in , with others being steep competition and high costs, say Kelly Services.

A financial advisor has said that for example, UBS have slowed hiring for its trainee programme. It “used to aggressively look for people, asking bankers to see if they knew people interested in it. But that has stopped',” said the source.

And at Citi, “they have even cut things like staff social programmes for gatherings or drinks,” reported an investment strategist.

Mostly in the US and UK where investment banking centres are based, banks have made clear their intentions of downsizing their staff. However, “I would find it unusual if Singapore was not affected”, reported the strategist.

“At banks that will or have cut jobs, if a unit is seen to be aggressively hiring it sends the wrong signal to the rest,” said Robert Walters' Gary Lai.

Joshua Yim, chief executive of JCG Search International said that, banking sectors in Asia are “isolated to a certain degree, but at a big corporate, depending on which bank we're talking about, you can have across-the-board reductions.”

Banks are less aggressive than when they were five months ago, and those affected by the sub-prime crisis are cutting back, he said.

On the other hand, banks and insiders have reported that the hiring slowdown rumours are unfounded, and Citi Private Bank have said that it would continue to grow in double digit percentage terms in the short to medium run. And come 2008, it “will continue to recruit the appropriate talent in order to match our business expansion and growth needs”.

:: Good time for job seekers in S'Pore

Singapore employers continue to see positive hiring demands in the last quarter of 2007. According to Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey, net employment outlook of +43% showed that employers in Singapore will continue to hire at a vigorous pace.

The survey revealed that 51% out of 759 employers polled expected to hire more [eople during the fourth quarter of 2007. 31% projected no change in hiring intention while 2% expected a decrease in staffing levels.

The finance, insurance and real estate industries reported the strongest hiring activity with a net employment outlook of +70%.