In Singapore, 61% of businesses plan to hire more personnel this year. This puts Singapore on top of other countries region-wide, according to the latest
Compass Index.
With results based on a survey of Compass Offices’ global clients, the Index found that 56% of Australian businesses, 44% of Hong Kong businesses and 20% of Japanese businesses planned on hiring additional employees in 2016.
The report also found that sales, marketing and IT skills were in greatest demand in 2016 – a trend which Compass said would support overall business growth.
Singapore came out on top in terms of employment growth primarily due to the slowdown in the Chinese economy, Andrew Chung, CEO of Compass Offices, told
HRD, as this meant that Singapore was increasingly preferred by major financial and IT firms.
“Singapore serves a better access to emerging markets like ASEAN and India,” Chung said. “With the proliferation of mobile adoption and middle income markets, this offers massive opportunities for businesses.”
Rising employment prospects were also spurred by local government initiatives such as special tax schemes for newly incorporated companies and initiatives such as SG-Innovate which aims to promote Singapore as a financial technology hub.
All of this, plus the upcoming ASEAN integration and formation of the ASEAN Economic Community, will further propel business growth and encourage firms to hire more personnel in the future, Chung said.
“The growth of ASEAN countries is expected to be higher than the global average, with a projected annual growth rate of 5.2 per cent per annum over 2016-2020,” he added. “Singapore, as the hub of ASEAN, will continue to benefit from rising intra-region trade.”
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