The 2020 Hays Asia Salary Guide has just been released which covers the latest evolving recruitment trends that employers should be aware to remain competitive in the recruitment market.

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Benefits package remains the number one priority to employees

Whilst job security is seemingly the single most important factor to employees during this economic downturn, Hays' research shows that in salary or benefit packages remain as the most important priority for employees, followed by career progression and training or development opportunities. Job security comes forth on the list. To attract the best talent, offering job security alone is not sufficient.

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In addition, it was found that 81% of employers would offer benefits in addition to salary and bonus, of which the majority (75%) would offer health/medical benefits, far more than other benefits such as life assurance and health and wellness programs.

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Flexible work culture is not a fad

While many companies are forced to adopt work-from-home arrangements under the coronavirus situation, research shows that perhaps it is a good opportunity for companies to start considering for the long run. 57% employees consider home or mobile working as the most important factor when considering a new role, followed by flexi-time (52%). The demand however is not currently addressed, only 37% of employers offer home or mobile working options, same for flexi-time working hours (37%). A surprising 29% do not offer any kinds of flexible working options. It is important to acknowledge that work-life balance is the number one reason why employees are happy with their current employers.

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Upskilling to meet business needs

Employers have a clearer understanding of how skill shortages would cause negative impact. 44% of employers believe skill shortages would affect innovation and creativity, along with productivity (62%) and business development (45%).

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Employers need to react by offering training and professional development. While 58% are actively addressing this issue to upskill their teams, 42% are yet to take this increasingly imperative step. Other measures being taken include hiring overseas workers (57%), increasing recruitment budgets, focusing on employer value proposition and recruiting from other industries (43%), and transferring employees between different functions (37%).

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Here are the top 5 soft skills that are most demanded by employers：

• 83% Problem Solving
• 75% Team Working
• 70% Verbal Communication
• 59% Critical Thinking
• 56% Interpersonal Skills

Here are the top 5 hard skills that are most demanded by employers：

• 58% Project Management
• 55% Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
• 38% Computer Skills
• 35% Foreign Language Fluency
• 27% A Degree (or other academic qualification)

Download the full Hay's Asia Salary Guide 2020 here.

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