Digital norms have changed the primary processes of many industries in the past. The prevalence of ride-hailing apps such as Uber or Grab that summon a vehicle to your doorstep mean that majority of people probably won't remember the last time, they waited for a taxi at the roadside.
The job market and hiring process was also getting positively affected by tech and digitalisation throughout the last decade. However, it wasn't until the end of 2019 that human resource departments across organisations also started fully embracing digital trends.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started to take hold in late 2019, industries have been greatly negatively affected and looked for alternative ways to conduct in-office activities. Hiring processes were also affected as in-office meetings and interviews were not viable anymore.
The job market is changing
Even before COVID-19, the number of expected jobs in Asia for tech talent was continuously increasing at a rapid rate. These jobs primarily revolved around digital skills like software development, cybersecurity, data science, content marketing, and user experience designing. Aside from tech companies that require such skills for their operations, companies in non-tech sectors such as manufacturing, and financial services industries also require these digital skills to stay competitive in the modern business world.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, companies now require an additional set of skills from their employees. For instance, today, many organizations look for people who are comfortable with remote working environments. Candidates who are not perform at their peak performance when not working in an office space may not be prioritised.
This change in the hiring process has bumped up the concentration of technology and digitalisation in the Asian markets. According to a recent study from Burning Glass Technologies, the demand for digital skills is a global phenomenon, with digital jobs dominating job advertisements in five Asia-Pacific regions.
The shift to remote working
The rise of working from home has opened doorways to new possibilities of flexible workplaces. Before COVID-19, companies never faced circumstances where they would need to fully embrace remote working. Hence, remote work was never considered a viable option.
However, as more companies shift their business activities online, remote work is a growing trend. According to a report by Great Place to Work, 30 % of executives believe that employees were more productive while working from home. This could be attributed to higher productivity levels for longer periods due to the sense of freedom.
Realising this, many companies have announced their plans to keep embracing remote work environments even beyond the pandemic. According to the McKinsey survey of corporate executives around the world across all sectors, they expect employees to work remotely three or more days and they anticipate a hybrid model of operating to take place.
The surge in the popularity of remote work has given new meaning to the term "globalisation". Today, companies feel comfortable with hiring and working with talent all across the globe. In my opinion, it's a win-win for both parties: the companies and the employees.
The boost in collaboration and social responsibility
Soft skills have been high in demand in American and European markets for the last several years. However, one of Deloitte's recent statistics is that 78 percent of Southeast Asian businesses consider soft skill development to be critical. Despite this, only 23% believe it is necessary to solve it.
Today, with collaboration and communication of utmost importance to conducting business activities digitally, Asian markets are also fully aware of the value of having soft skills in the workplace. These include skills in communication, leadership, teamwork, and agility.
As the world struggles to get back to normal, social responsibility is also more important than ever. Candidates are looking forward to working with companies that are willing to do something good for society. Moreover, taking social responsibility seriously is a crucial modern tactic for a company to differentiate itself from the competition. Companies such as Credit Suisse in Singapore, have launched SymAsia Foundation (SymAsia) as a platform for philanthropic giving.
Hiring ethical auditors makes it easier for companies to keep track of their social responsibilities. These auditors perform ethical sourcing audits which can make sure a company is respecting the current policies and standards.
Reduced operational costs
With the majority of the workforce now operating from home, companies do not have to bear the expenses of arranging office spaces for their employees. This reduces operational and management costs and lets companies offer higher payrolls to attract better talent.
On the other hand, the expenses of employees have also reduced as they do not have to travel to and from their offices daily.
Both employers and the employees reap the benefits of this market change. Companies can hire cost-effective, ideal talent from around the globe, while candidates can work with global companies that offer them the best benefits.
Innovations in Asian industries
The centralised customer approach is most prevalent in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, where the government provides requests for all digital projects. It has an impact on the efficiency with which GovTech solutions are integrated. For example, China has implemented a digital government programme to create a "social credit system" to form social ratings and help to monitor citizens. At the first stage of the program's implementation, each participant receives a starting number of points, increasing or decreasing depending on violations or merit.
Singapore is leading in terms of effective and convenient digital government: since 2010, under the Smart Nation programme, the state has allocated about $2 billion annually for transformation. Contractors commissioned projects with digitisation to the least promising industries, such as the electric power industry: a smart city sensor network, for example, was developed as part of one such order. It gathers information on energy use as well as the state of the environment (weather, lighting) in various metro regions. Singapore has been developing electronic government services since 2011.
In general, the digital development of Asia, although it began later than in the West, has rapidly gained impressive momentum, especially in the augmented reality, virtual reality, and cybersecurity sectors. Singapore and Hong Kong, according to Harvard Business Review, are the most digitally-connected cities in the world: the ecosystem is maximised, Internet accessibility is ensured, the state does not interfere with this process, and the population is actively involved in it. Taiwan and South Korea are also among the leaders, and while China shows good promise so far, Japan's dynamics have slightly decreased.
In the area of digitalisation in general, Asia is a leader, which is illustrated through the example of Singapore, where almost all services even those offered by the government are available online. For example, at the onset of the pandemic, Singapore implemented contact tracing measures by using a mobile app, TraceTogether, to monitor the spread of the coronavirus. The app tracked users' locations using Bluetooth, and if the app indicated a user had possibly come into contact with an active case, the app was able to alert users as well as the authorities for their follow up.
Digital norms and modern market trends have been rising in Asia for the last couple of years. Companies, as well as candidates, find it easier to harness the power of digitalisation to conduct their business activities.
(Photo: Anna Shvets)