News Story
CALL FOR FLEXIBILITY
Employers have started adapting to job vacancy growth in a skills-short market by becoming flexible in the level of experience required by candidates for their vacancies. This is one trend revealed by recruiter Hays in its April-June Hays Quarterly Forecast, out this week.
“In many cases, businesses will now employ candidates with the right attitude and softer skills rather than specifying a particular experience level that a candidate must attain before being considered for a vacancy,” says Emma Charnock, Regional Director of Hays in Hong Kong.
“This is a positive step because the war for talent will not be won by recruiting candidates with the exact requirements alone; there are simply not enough candidates for many skilled vacancies (see below hotspots list). Instead, employers can identify the qualities that make someone successful in their organisation, then recruit a candidate that possesses these attributes and train them in the technical aspects of each particular vacancy,” said Emma.
Another trend revealed in the latest Hays Quarterly Forecast is that candidates have begun moving in and out of the job market very quickly, often with limited commitment to their next employer. “Broadly speaking, an unhappy employee will leave immediately rather than working out the issue with their current employer,” says Emma. “The turnover of candidates leaving within their probation period has also increased as some jobseekers will leave if they find the role unsatisfactory in any way.
“Another major trend is the focus on attraction and retention in markets that hadn’t previously made them a priority, such as the engineering market. For example, the first quarter of 2008 has seen performance bonuses, employee incentives and flexible arrangements entering engineering salary packages. This is allowing engineering firms to attract and retain candidates based on more than just salary alone.”
Hotspots of skills in demand
In summary, the Hays Quarterly Forecast reveals the following hotspots of skills in most demand across Hong Kong:
Accountancy & Finance - commerce & industry
Within the financial services sector, financial reporting and investment accounting are the key hotspots of demand. How life products are invested has become a major focus in the Hong Kong market, and the global reporting standard changes require more financial reporting candidates. This demand has replaced the hotspot that existed last quarter for auditors, with the focus shifting substantially back to reporting. In other areas of the market, SOX and systems accountants are in demand however there is an ongoing shortage of these skills.
Finance Technology
Front office developers with VBA, C++, C#, Java skills and exposure to all products are in demand due to these business areas expanding in light of strong returns from emerging markets. The demand for development project managers and business analysts also remains strong, while infrastructure and development managers are required as many banks move their development and data centres from America and Europe to mainland China.
Legal
Corporate has become the major hotspot in the legal market. M&A and private equity, banking & finance and US securities requirements are all high, with mid to senior level lawyers with three and more years PQE, strong technical knowledge and Mandarin language skills in demand. This is due to the growth in investments and transactional work in China and the expansion of law firms in this growth area. The nature of work is international and US firms are establishing themselves in the market quite aggressively, ensuring US qualifications are highly regarded.
The Hays Quarterly Forecast can be viewed at www.hays.com.hk/forecast
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