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Let’s talk sentiments: So how was 2012 for you? And how optimistic are you for 2013?

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A year can pass very quickly for an expat in Singapore – in fact 2012 has been more of a blur, which has been quite tricky to navigate and not the easiest to rationalize looking back. The fact is, coming out of the end and heading into 2013, I have 2 over-riding sentiments:

2012 was still fairly bouyant for the IT job market in Singapore – at least significantly more so than other primary sectors.

There is also quite a bit of optimism heading into 2013 – in fact, if general sentiment holds strong, we can expect it realistically to be better than 2012.

At no point when I write these blogs do I wish to sound like I have the business insight of an economist or the technical appreciation of an actual IT professional, but one thing us recruiters do know about is ‘sentiment’. Often I get the impression our clients recognize the quid pro quo of meeting with us is that  they will be able to obtain such market insights from us.

Whilst there are obviously many macro-economic factors that can and will have a significant impact on job prospects for Singapore such as trading conditions in China, the European debt crisis or the US fiscal cliff, these are conditions that are out of our control. However, sentiment (another phrase for this  could be “general confidence in the market”) is something that is very real and present in our day to day working lives and something we can pick up on and control (and actually understand!)

Looking back at 2012, the sentiment factor was extremely variable across the year. Talking to businesses and stakeholders as candidates and clients alike across banking, telecoms and niche sectors such as software vendors and on-line businesses, there was evidence of  general concern around the future. The net result of course was that recruitment only occurred on a needs must basis.

My feeling in Singapore is that most businesses want to grow – they see South East Asia as a big opportunity and they will need to invest to secure the returns. So there are underlying momentum fuelling opportunities in the job market, but there are macro economic factors that nobody really understands that is putting the brakes on things. If it weren’t for this, the Singapore job market (especially for Technology) would be super buoyant. So many of the stakeholders we are dealing with are talking of having to run operations without the full compliment of staff they need and if they had the budget they would push headcount by 10% or so. So these teams are busy, which means they have workflow, which means their customer are placing demands on them, which they are presumably invoicing for …am I right?!

In spite of all the uncertainty, a lot of people were recruited into new technology roles in 2012. It was actually still a pretty strong year and if you were a top draw IT professional with a core skill set like Java, SAP or cloud infrastructure or had great Project Management skills with a PMP, and were on the job market, you would have had rich pickings. As a business, we can safely say we had a reasonable year in relation to placing such candidates. Another market that I have to say saw steady growth, seemingly unphased by what was going on in the world was the on-line sector. Ultimately, the combined effect of changing consumer habits on a global, macro scale and the extent to which Singapore is increasingly perceived as the best place to position an Asia on-line development hub drove some fantastic opportunities to recruit.

Where things fell flat was at the real senior end, which highlights the extent to which all the action was at the needs must end, i.e. if a business needs a Java developer, it probably means they will fail unless they get that person on board. Our hope is that  in 2013, the senior, strategic end of the market will open up again as the fog begins to fade around the economic uncertainties that pervaded 2012.

So to summarize, 2012 was a year Singapore braved pretty well if we are to assess through job market opportunity. It got through despite everything and was fuelled on a needs must basis. I am definitely seeing a lift in sentiment across different industries right now as we assess hiring plans for 2013 and whether this is because corporations feel we are out of the woods or now have a better understanding of the macroeconomic factors I have alluded to; I really don’t know. My belief though is that companies are really keen now to execute their strategy for Asia and not hold back any longer as this is bad for business. Plus furthermore we expect (and hope) that we will see the portfolio opening up for the senior professional as companies look beyond their immediate plans and start planning ahead more for future growth to 2015.

 

 


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