SINGAPORE — The job market has rapidly transformed along with accelerated digitalization in recent years. More digital roles have emerged, and the use of technology has been more paramount than ever. And with Covid-19, work setups are more flexible as companies provide remote or hybrid work – at least in some countries.
Hire Digital, a platform that provides marketing and digital teams with in-housing and staffing solutions, conducted a study that observed job opportunities across APAC. It discovered the differences between hybrid and remote opportunities across jobs in product and project management, marketing, software engineering, and design.
Furthermore, it uncovered which digital field has the most opportunities for director and executive roles and entry to mid-level roles across all job types.
Fewer remote/hybrid opportunities for digital roles in four major APAC countries
Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia are adapting the most to the hybrid/remote setup. In Australia, only 56% of the job openings are on-site, while 44% are remote or hybrid.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has the most remote work opportunities – nearly a fourth of the job openings recorded across three job sites (LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed) are remote.
On the other hand, almost a fourth of Thailand’s job openings may be hybrid, but only one in 20 are remote. Similarly, South Korea offers more hybrid jobs (20%) over remote jobs (7%) as well.
It is interesting to note that three of these countries – Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia – are considering providing digital nomad visas to ex-pats. Thus, they potentially view remote/hybrid work as becoming an inevitable part of the job market.
However, not all countries have adapted to these setups. According to data, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong do not offer as many remote or hybrid jobs.
88% of the job opportunities in Japan are on-site, leaving only 12% for remote/hybrid work. Additionally, 81%, 80%, and 78% of jobs in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong respectively are on-site.
This data is backed up by a recent Kisi report, which revealed that major cities Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Hong Kong do have lower access to remote jobs.
Entry and mid-level job opportunities in APAC remain resilient
Although there have been a staggering number of layoffs across Asian startups, it seems that entry and mid-level opportunities for digital roles across organizations remain resilient.
Over a third of digital vacancies observed in the region were related to software engineering, and 46% of the job opportunities in this field are entry-level roles. In fact, over eight in 10 roles are for entry, associate, and senior-level professionals.
Moreover, software engineering-related jobs are mostly full-time roles while part-time offers only account for less than 1% of the vacancies.
A high percentage of digital creatives/design opportunities are entry-level positions as well, accounting for 37% of the job opportunities.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the job opportunities in both marketing and product/project management are for mid-level professionals.
As for the high-level roles, product and project management offer the most opportunities for executives and directors (18%), while marketing and digital creatives/design’s high-level vacancies are 15% and 12% respectively.
Although this study may only be indicative and not conclusive, it revealed that entry-levels in APAC have abundant opportunities in software engineering and digital creatives/design, while marketing and product/project management offer more opportunities for mid-level and high-level professionals.
View the full study here.
