Australia – Job vacancies up 11.6% in November, but reports quarterly slip

The number of job vacancies in Australia stood at approximately 444,000 in November 2022, up 11.6% from November 2021, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

On a quarterly basis, vacancies recorded a decline of 4.9% or about 23,000 from August 2022.

Bjorn Jarvis,...

Australia – Contract Watch: AD1 Holdings signs new deal with US Department of Labour

Job search site AD1 Holdings (AD1:AU) announced that its Art of Mentoring (AoM) division has signed up with a US Federal Government Panel and signed a new contract with the US Department of Labour.

Under the US Federal Government panel, Art of Mentoring will be added to an approved list of suppliers and...

Asia Pacific – India to lead Asia Pacific in average 2023 pay hike (The Economic Times)

Employees in India are expected to get the highest average salary increments in the Asia Pacific region this year, reports The Economic Times, citing a report from Korn Ferry. India’s formal jobs sector is likely to see an average pay raise of 9.8% in 2023, compared with 9.4% last year. In Asia-Pacific,...

Asia Pacific – Pacific Islands fear ‘brain drain’ from Australia's seasonal job programmes (Al Jazeera)

As Pacific Island countries strive to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia and New Zealand’s seasonal job programmes are helping families regain incomes and pay for the needs of their communities, however, the schemes are also blamed for draining skills and labour from the small, isolated...

New Zealand – Job ads slide 10% in December with ICT and Engineering ads falling

Job ads on job board Seek New Zealand were down 10% in December 2022 when compared to December 2021, according to the job board’s seasonally adjusted data.

When compared to November 2022, job ads fell by 6%. Applications per job ad rose by 14% in December 2022.

Seek’s data also found that by region,...

Hong Kong – Minimum wage set to rise after four-year freeze

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive-in-Council last week adopted the Minimum Wage Commission’s (MWC) recommendation to raise the statutory minimum wage from HKD 37.50 (USD 4.80) per hour to HKD 40.00 (USD 5.12).

According to the South China Morning Post, this means that nearly 90,000 of Hong Kong’s lowest-paid...

Australia – Plutus Payroll trial approaches end in New South Wales court (PerthNow)

The New South Wales Supreme Court in Australia is reportedly summing up one of Australia’s largest ever alleged tax frauds involving payroll provider Plutus Payroll, according to PerthNow. Plutus Payroll had allegedly been funneling wage payments through several sub-contracted ‘second-tier’ companies....

Malaysia – Entry of 500,000 foreign workers will not affect job opportunities for Malaysians, HR Minister says (Malay Mail)

The expected entry of 500,000 foreign workers into Malaysia this year will not affect job opportunities for Malaysians, says Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar. According to The Malay Mail, Sivakumar said the workers would be brought in from 15 source countries in Asia to be placed in sectors of no...

India – Infosys revenue rises 13.7% in Q3

India-based IT services giant Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: NFY) yesterday reported revenue rose 13.7% on a constant currency basis in its fiscal third quarter ended 31 December 2022.

“Our revenue growth was strong in the quarter, with both digital business and core services growing,” CEO and Managing Director...

Japan – Pasona Group H1 revenue up 0.8%, but HR Solutions reports slight decline and profits take a dive

Japanese staffing firm Pasona Group (2168: JP), reported revenue for the six months ended 30 November 2022 of JPY 183.97 billion (USD 1.43 billion), up 0.8% compared with last year.

The group said demand for BPO services and outsourcing ‘remained strong’ in the company. In addition, the regional development...