Philippines – Government orders recruitment firms to help overseas workers affected by air traffic outage (PhilStar Global)

The Department of Migrant Workers in the Philippines has formally ordered all private recruitment agencies and licensed manning agencies to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were unable to leave the country due to the New Year’s Day air traffic system outage, reports PhilStarGlobal.

In an...

India – Quess Corp and Allsec agree to withdraw from planned merger

Indian staffing firm Quess Corp announced that it will not be moving ahead with its planned merger with subsidiary Allsec Technologies.

The company had first announced its planned merger in June 2022. Allsec Technologies was set to merge fully into Quess in an all stock deal. Quess Corp acquired a majority...

India – December jobless rate reaches highest level in 2022

India’s unemployment rate climbed to 8.3% in December, the highest in 2022, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

The 8.3% rate was higher than the 8.0% unemployment rate seen in November, while in September it was the lowest at 6.43%. In August, the rate stood at 8.28%,...

India – Slowdown in tech sector could hit TeamLease H2 results (LiveMint)

Hiring freezes and layoffs at India's tech and startup companies are beginning to hurt related sectors as well, with TeamLease Services struggling to add headcount and expand margins, reports LiveMint, citing the staffing firm and analysts. "Yes. We are facing strong headwinds in IT and startups,...

Vietnam – Recruitment demand slumps 25% from pre-pandemic levels (Vietnam News)

Recruitment demand in Vietnam during the last quarter of 2022 dropped 25% on average from the pre-pandemic level, reports Vietnam News, citing research from Vietnamese recruitment firm Navigos Group. For the month of December 2022, hiring demand fell by 42% compared to the pre-pandemic level, with Navigos...

Japan – Average hourly wage for temporary workers in major metro areas rises to record high

The average hourly wage for temporary workers across three major metropolitan areas in Japan for November 2022 stood at a record high JPY 1,555 (USD 11.79), up JPY 60 (USD 0.45) from the previous year, and up JPY 9 (USD 0.068) from the previous month, according to staffing firm and job board Dip Corp....

China – Government to ramp up development of HR services providers

China announced it will support the growth of market entities in the human resources services sector during the 2023-2025 period, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The country aims to cultivate approximately 50 leading enterprises and approximately 100 smaller firms that...

South Korea – President stresses need for labour reforms (Reuters)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Wednesday, 21 December 2022, reforming practices in the labour market should be a top priority for his government's drive to improve the way the country works. "We should significantly change labour market practices in step with the fast-changing industrial...

India – Unemployment rate hits highest level since pandemic (Indian Express)

India’s unemployment rate has risen steadily since September and crossed 9% on a 30-day moving average basis on 19 December, reports The Indian Express, citing data published by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). This is the highest level of joblessness in the country since the pandemic....

India – Majority of services and manufacturing sector employers keen to recruit in the new year

Most, or 68%, of employers in India are keen to increase their resource pool in the services and manufacturing sector in the period of January-March 2023, according to a report from staffing firm TeamLease Services.

The report also showed that at the same time, approximately 77%, of services sector employers...