With hands-on insights for hirers in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines.
Didn’t you just finish the first quarter hiring rush? And now you find yourself suddenly in the middle of the third quarter?
Singapore's weather might not have distinct seasons, but recruitment follows a predictable cycle. It is important to keep on track for hiring managers, HR and job seekers alike.
There are many factors influencing the recruitment cycle but with the exceptions of seasonal work, most employers plan hiring on a quarterly basis and follow a distinct cycle of planning and hiring.
1st quarter: January – March
For Southeast Asia, the first and strongest hiring season is the first quarter. While studies for the US indicate January and February as the peak with new budgets starting, Southeast Asia’s recruiting is strongest in March. This is likely caused by regional holidays (Chinese New Year) and closely linked to bonus payouts.
7 job market trends in Southeast Asia every recruiter must know
Once all decision makers are back from the holidays, hiring is a set priority. For this most competitive time of the year, hiring managers need to start planning latest in the 3rd quarter of the previous year.
2nd quarter: April – June
Hiring activities slow down with another peak right before the summer break. This might also be influenced by the influx of new graduates during this time.
3rd quarter: July – September
While the hiring activity is slowing down even more, the third quarter is the time to work on your recruitment plan for the next year.
Soon enough budget and financial manoeuvring of bonus payouts will take over the majority of your time. You will need to be first to the market, especially if you are looking for candidates with these in-demand skill sets which will most likely remain similar for the first half of 2019.
7 job market trends in Southeast Asia every recruiter must know
4th quarter: October - December
This is the slowest time for recruiting with the holidays coming up soon. Focus lies on performance reviews, budget allocation and planning for the next first quarter peak hiring time.
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Hands-on insights for hirers
While planning for the reminder of the 2018 and for 2019, follow these helpful hands-on insights for hirers which I gathered from the Job Outlook Report 2018:
About Timeo-Performance
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Through recruitment, training and consulting, Timeo-Performance provides solutions for increased performance of companies, teams, and individuals. As our clients are in the center of global business and often serve the APAC region, our solutions need to be sustainable in a multicultural and remote context.
Our joint venture with Akteos, the European leader in intercultural training, and partnership with digital learning solutions provider CrossKnowledge have therefore been organic and logical additions to our service. Timeo-Performance has been helping companies in APAC increase business performance since 2008 with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
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