Recruiters in Asia can’t wait to hire you for these two jobs
Which candidates are particularly sought after by recruiters in Singapore and Hong Kong as we enter the second half of 2022? And are any jobs falling in demand compared with earlier this year?
To find out, eFinancialCareers spoke to six senior recruiters in the two Asian financial hubs during a recent online round table. Here’s what they had to say about their most – and least – in-demand roles.
China-desk relationship managers are in demand, even in Singapore
Nearly all banks are hiring relationship managers – from retail banking to the ultra-high-net-worth segment – but Mandarin-speaking RMs with strong mainland client networks are particularly sought after, and not just in Hong Kong. Recruiters have seen a surge in demand for China-desk RMs in Singapore thanks to an influx of Chinese wealth, including family offices, into the city state. “A market head in private banking in Singapore just told me that he’s interested in hiring RMs from Hong Kong to come to Singapore and serve mainland clients,” said a front-office headhunter, who like his round table counterparts asked not to be named in this article.
Recruiters are searching across industries to find data specialists
Several recruiters at the round table highlighted serious talent shortages in data analytics and other data-related roles. “Data is a big driver in the job market but it's tough to find people,” said a tech-focused recruiter at the round table. “We advise our financial services clients to be more open minded and to look at data candidates who have experience dealing with large data sets in sectors outside of financial services, like telecommunications or even retail.”
Crypto hiring has crashed in Asia
It’s not just the US and Europe that suffered from job losses and hiring freezes in the crypto sector in Q2. “It’s been horrible in Hong Kong too, with quite large redundancies from some of the leading crypto firms,” said one round table delegate. “The sentiment is definitely similar here in Singapore – hiring is far more cautious now in crypto,” added another panellist.
But recruiters expect a bounce-back
“Most top managers in crypto have a strong belief in the sector, and we’ll be waiting to service their hiring needs after the bear market. This could be by the end of the year, but nobody knows for sure,” a recruiter told the round table. “It’s not all doom and gloom – some of the crypto market makers stand to gain from the volatility and a few firms, like Binance, are still hiring,” said another delegate.
Photo by Adrien Delforge on Unsplash
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