Report Shows Rapid Growth in Demand for IT Talents in Southeast Asia | Digital Asia

Tech talents are currently highly sought after in Southeast Asia, according to recent employment index compiled by job portal Monster.com. Companies in the region are showing a spike in the hiring of talents to fill IT positions, with Singapore leading the growth rates ahead of Malaysia and the Philippines in July this year.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) released on Wednesday (Sept 19) comprises data of overall hiring activity in each country, as well as specific data in the IT and BPO sector, Asian Correspondent reports.

In a statement, the CEO of Monster.com for APAC and Middle East region, Abhijeet Mukherjee said, “Competition to hire professionals with technical expertise and digital skills intensifies in the region as global demand for niche skill sets in areas such as e-commerce, cloud technology, cyber security, web development, mobile and more continues unabated.”

Recruitment in the tech sector remained strong for Singapore, recording as much as 14 percent hiring growth year-on-year. In July, Singapore bounced back in its availability of tech jobs with annual growth of 1 percent, indicating an increase from six percent decline in June.

Malaysian firms are also actively bringing in more tech workers to the team. Monster.com noted that the IT, Telecommunications and Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Business process outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industries charted the most notable year-on-year growth among sectors monitored by the index as it reached 11 percent growth rates.

See: ASEAN Youth Optimistic About the Impact of Technology on Job and Salary

Additionally, Malaysia also witnessed an uptrend in annual online demand for several tech professionals in Software, Hardware and Telecom expertise for the first team since March 2018, showing a 2 percent increase from July.

Meanwhile, the online hiring for tech roles in the Philippines also bounced back in July after six months of decline in hiring. The index noted a two percent positive hiring growth in the sector. The Philippines continues to register double-digit year-on-year growth for software and telecommunications jobs since December 2017, with figures further rising in July at 25 percent, the index added.

“We are also increasingly seeing organisations recognising the importance of upskilling,recruiting and growing talent in-house, as the MEI reports the majority of jobs posted online are seeking for full-time employees,” Mr Abhijeet said.

“In this supply-constrained market for tech talent, hiring managers from both start-ups and established companies needs to rethink and strategise their recruitment processes and offerings, even working on their employer brand, to attract top talent who may be considering multiple job opportunities at the same time.”

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