Singapore – Majority of employers penalised for discriminatory hiring showed nationality bias (Channel News Asia)

Over the past three years, about 50 employers a year in Singapore have had their work pass privileges suspended for discriminatory hiring practices. About 60% of these cases each year involved nationality-based discrimination, reports Channel News Asia, citing data from Minister of State for Manpower...

Singapore – HRnetGroup full year revenue rises 2.4% due to strong flexible staffing, but profits slip

Singapore-based recruitment firm, HRnetGroup (HRNET:SP), reported revenue on Friday after markets closed, for the full year ended 31 December 2020 of SGD 433.0 million (USD 325.5 million), an increase of 9.3% compared to the same period in the previous year.

India – HR leaders keen on hiring fresh talent in 2021 rather than rehiring laid off staff

More HR leaders in India are planning to hire fresh talent in 2021 versus hiring from within or rehiring laid off staff, according to a survey from TimesJobs.

The TimesJobs survey asked the HR leaders if they will hire fresh talent or re-hire those laid off last year or promote/hire people within the...

Singapore – January’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate sees slight monthly decline

Singapore’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.2% in January 2021, down 0.1% from December 2020, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s monthly employment report.

For residents (Singapore citizens and permanent residents), the unemployment rate fell from 4.4% to 4.3%. The rate was unchanged...

Australia – App-based jobs grow 15% since before pandemic (Australian Financial Review)

Jobs in Australia’s app economy have grown by 15% since before the pandemic, reports The Australian Financial Review citing a report from the Progressive Policy Institute. There were 156,000 jobs in Australia’s app economy as of January 2021, up from 136,000 in January 2019. This figure mostly includes...

Singapore – Advancer Global full year revenue hit by pandemic

Advancer Global (43Q:SES), an integrated services provider offering workforce solutions and services in Singapore reported revenue yesterday after markets closed, for the full year ending 31 December 2020 of SGD 56.4 million (USD 42.3 million), a decrease of 20.5% compared to the same period last...

India – Quess Corp appoints former Teamlease CFO as its new CFO, separates chairman and managing director roles

Indian staffing firm Quess Corp announced a number of leadership changes yesterday.

Quess Corp announced that it has appointed N Ravi Vishwanath as CFO of the company effective 1 April 2021.

Vishwanath was previously CFO of Indian staffing firm TeamLease and Finance Director at Sun Microsystems.

Subramanian...

Japan – Number of non-regular employees down 4.2% in January, unemployment rate up over the year

The number of non-regular employees in Japan, which includes temporary workers, dispatch workers, contractors, part-time workers and others, stood at 20.58 million, down 4.2% over the year  according to data from Statistics Japan.

The number of ‘dispatched workers from temporary labour agencies’...

India – SMEs in western countries turn to Indian staffing firms for virtual recruitment (LiveMint)

Small and medium sized enterprises from western countries are taking advantage of remote working solutions to ramp up offshore hiring from India, reports LiveMint. According to industry experts and stakeholders, companies are approaching staffing firms in India to hire individuals who can work...

Asia Pacific – Over a third of companies plan to increase staffing levels in 2021, Hays finds

In the next 12 months, over a third, or 36% of companies across Asia expect permanent staff levels to increase, according to Hays.

This an improvement on the previous year, when 29% of companies increased staffing levels and 30% saw cutbacks.

In China, 50% of companies plan to increase staff levels. Meanwhile,...