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Companies are looking into offering contract positions, with 86% of the positions in 2024 being at least six months in duration, as a way to better manage costs.
A survey of more than 300 professionals and companies in Singapore in September 2024 to get feedback on their main expectations or concerns for the year threw up interesting findings with regards to salaries, career changes or staff retention.
Here are six of the most relevant findings for the manpower landscape in 2025 for HR leaders to take note of:
1. Salary and bonus are the most essential benefits, but flexibility isn't far behind
While monetary compensation and benefits remain important, talent will value flexible working arrangements (especially having flexible working hours), a positive work culture, and job security as well in an ideal employer.
When asked what benefits talent would consider 'essential', apart from salary, professionals cited having a bonus scheme (76%) and flexible working hours (70%). Other benefits that mattered to them include remote work arrangements, extended health insurance, and training & development courses.
When asked on the benefits currently offered to employees, the top initiatives were:
- Giving a bonus scheme (83%),
- Training & development courses (66%),
- Flexible working hours (63%), and
- Family/personal leave benefits (63%).
2. HR business partners are among the most in-demand roles in HR function
Overall, 2024 has been widely considered a challenging year for HR. Roles have expanded, but this was not always matched with an increase in budget and resources. There has been a growing influence of AI and HR technology. Turnover rates have declined as professionals prioritise job security, amid shaky market conditions and offshoring of HR teams to lower-cost regions.
The most in-demand HR roles in 2025 are:
- Total rewards specialists and managers. Those with skills in rewards, compensation and benefits.
- Experts who can drive talent management, especially in senior leadership.
- HR business partners with hands-on experience.
- Talent skilled in managing distributed offshore teams and employee engagement in remote settings.
3. Modest increments expected for job movers and job stayers alike
Talent moving between jobs can expect increments of 12%-15%, or up to 20% for sectors such as AI or data.
Employees staying with their current companies will likely see their salaries increase by 2-5% to align with inflation. Such employees who intend to stay on in their current jobs are keeping expectations realistic, with one in two (53%) unsure or pessimistic about getting a salary increment.
Meanwhile, companies state salary expectations as among a key hiring challenge, the top three of which are:
- Salary and benefit expectations perceived to be too high (58%),
- Lack of industry experience (56%), and
- Lack of applications/candidate supply (33%).
4. Talent with tech & transformation skills continues to be in demand
This year, companies faced difficulties in attracting and retaining talent for permanent positions in tech & transformation roles, due to the need for skills that are more niche in nature, as well as rising costs of living which increased operational costs and salary expectations. Demand for talent with skillsets including AI and other emerging technologies, cyber security, software engineering and digital transformation remained robust.
Come 2025, D&I and skills in AI will remain the hiring focus. Cost pressures will also remain, as companies find ways to lower costs, increase revenue and yet meet talent needs. Companies are looking to steer hiring efforts to bring on talent that can leverage data well to improve processes and enhance customer experience, such as those with AI and machine learning (ML) skillsets.
Tech contracts will be a popular alternative for building a flexible workforce that supports permanent operations. Talent soft skills that are in demand include stakeholder management, and openness around learning new tech stacks.
Top in-demand roles in this space would include:
- Data scientist / data analyst,
- Cybersecurity specialist, and
- Software engineer
5. Skills-based hiring may pick up some momentum
The year 2025 may see some movement from a more traditional credential-based hiring model to a skills-first approach. In an additional report, called the Global Talent Trends E-guide, 79% of HR professionals shared that they would value skills assessments over traditional hiring processes. More than a third (36%) of would progress a candidate if they possessed the skills but not the years of experience required.
Soft skills will be a focus for companies looking to hire talent. This salary survey found that employers especially valued talent with:
- Problem-solving and critical thinking skills (66%),
- Having a positive attitude and resilience (47%),
- Initiative and self-motivation (45%).
6. Singapore will continue to steer demand for talent in fintech and financial services
There is expected to be a general shift among asset management firms, where investment/research and distribution teams are focusing on the alternatives space across private equity, hedge funds, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and other private asset classes.
Correspondingly, the following talent trends are expected to emerge:
- Skill-based hiring approach: Professionals are considered for the skills the bring to the table instead of traditional qualifications.
- Motivations for contract professionals have evolved, with flexibility being a top reason to opt for contact work. Other reasons include skills development, compensation and networking.
- Sought-after professionals:
- Those with deal-making (traditional investment banking or private equity) experience to raise funds, and deploy capital into up-and-coming sectors.
- Roles to handle complex market conditions and regulatory frameworks.
The data above has been adapted from the Robert Walters Salary Survey.
Lead image / 123RF
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