Jakarta, April 14, 2021 - Professional recruitment services Michael Page Indonesia launched the Talent Trends 2021 Report, with a keen eye on the Indonesian job market. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn has had a significant impact across the Asia Pacific, and Indonesia was not spared. With that said, optimism is already starting to show, with about 41% of companies in Indonesia looking to increase their headcount and 34% maintaining status quo in 2021. Olly Riches, Managing Director of Michael Page Indonesia & Philippines says, “Indonesia had a strong business pipeline well before the pandemic hit. Its e-commerce sector has also seen continued strong growth over the last three to four years, particularly as unicorns dominate the talent landscape in Indonesia. This provides momentum for digital and technology businesses.” According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic also created a high demand in the technology space, many of the roles are for e-commerce platforms, start-ups or divisions about to become digital – either traditional sectors looking to ramp up their technology or businesses transitioning further into digital areas. We’ve seen a strong demand for high potential talent with a technology background, and had success bringing Indonesians from overseas back home primarily for tech-related roles. According to the report, 57% of technology companies in Indonesia expect an 14% increase in headcount on average in 2021. 63% of employed technology professionals anticipate looking for new opportunities in 2021 while another 30% is passively open to new ones, suggesting increased employment activity. Considering the competition for high-potential tech professionals, Olly Riches advises, “Technology companies must identify their value-added advantages when recruiting technology talents in Indonesia. Though the supply of technology talents has improved over the years (especially in software engineering functions), it is still one of the most candidate-driven markets. A gap in supply and demand requires companies to evaluate their compensation & benefits schemes as well as overall recruitment and employee experience.” As a viable option to bridge skill gaps arising from their move to business recovery in 2021, 52% of companies in Indonesia cited their continued investment in employees by providing training to upskill the workforce while 41% turned to the use of automation for basic processes. In addition to recruitment insights and industry analysis on the Indonesian job market, the report also shares new insights across the Asia Pacific market on related topics such as digital readiness, organisational structure, flexible working, leadership, performance management, and diversity and inclusion. Across the Asia Pacific region, the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a major blow to the global economy across all sectors and markets in 2020. Job vacancies dropped by 8% to 35% depending on the location. Several businesses reported a conservative approach to their hiring strategy, choosing instead to freeze or even reduce their headcount in order to reduce costs. However the reduced rate of hiring was not an indication that businesses shut out all qualified talent altogether. We saw very positive trends upward from Q2 to Q3, and Q4 versus Q3 2020. Optimism exists in 2021, as 42% of businesses in Asia Pacific said that they are already looking to increase headcount in the year. While the boundaries of work-life balance were debated in 2020, 4 in 5 employees were found to feel equally or more productive working from home, only 5% of them prefer to work completely remotely. This indicates a need for frequent social interaction with co-workers. With this, 51% of organisations evolved their performance evaluations. To reflect the times of crisis, management teams started reassessing individuals with greater importance placed on positive behaviours, 64% of companies rated team collaboration as the most valued employees attribute during times of crisis. #END# Editor’s note: The Michael Page Indonesia Talent Trends 2021 Report features insights and market sentiment in Asia Pacific on prominent recruitment and talent-related topics including digital readiness, organisational design, flexible work, leadership, performance management and diversity and inclusion. The results draw from a survey of 12 Asia Pacific markets, with over 5,500 businesses and 21,000 employees, of which 3,500-plus are directors or CXOs. For more hiring insights and salary trends in 2021, Michael Page spokespeople are available for media interviews in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. Media Contact: Germaine Lim via germainelim@michaelpage.com.sg or +65 9710 1760
