S’pore lags in sourcing talent with technology

Asian countries needed to catch up to the US, where companies are using mobile recruitment phone apps such as Poachable, Poacht and Switch, a director at Randstad Sourceright US says.

“Companies in Singapore need to change their recruitment strategies to tap into this rapidly growing platform to combat the talent shortage," recruitment strategies and support director Jim Stroud said.

Economic development, increasing talent mobility and an increasingly diverse multi-generational workforce were key drivers in Singapore’s employment space, he said.

“This perfect storm is creating an incredibly challenging labour market for employers, who need to be more innovative in their talent sourcing efforts than ever before.

“By being strategic and agile, employers who are able to play the role of data analyst, social marketer and brand ambassador will be in prime position to source the best talent in today’s employees’ market.”

Data analytics will also play a key role of talent sourcing in the future – another area where Singapore is lagging behind, Stroud said.

Technology research company Gartner estimated that the global market for big data and analytics will generate US$3.7 trillion in products and services by 2015.

Yet according to Randstad Sourceright’s 2015 Talent Trends Report, two thirds of Singapore companies are not fully utilising talent analytics, which offered a good platform to identifdy and engage with passive talent, Stroud said.

Passive talent is defined as those not actively looking for new employment opportunities, and makes up a massive 70 per cent of Singapore’s labour market.

“Data analytics enable a company to build a competitive intelligence database on its rivals, and help employers to personalise every approach for better candidate engagement,”