Digital skills and social media activeness amongst top talent trends for 2019

Rising emphasis on flexi hours and artificial adoption can help employers attract and retain talent.

Candidates fluent in digital languages and social media will be in hot demand as Singapore leads the way as a digital nation across Southeast Asia with its tech-savvy and mobile-first population, according to a report by Hays.

In line with the government’s efforts to transform the country into a smart nation, firms are keeping pace with the latest digital technologies in hopes that such expertise will penetrate every aspect of their organisations. As a result, digital competence is cited as one of the top prerequisites for employers when hiring talent.

“Candidates with digital know-how and display a willingness to learn emerging technologies in this ever-changing landscape will continue to be highly coveted by businesses in 2019 and beyond,” Hays said in its report.

Likewise, candidates who understand how to use and maximise social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook will be in demand as firms enhance their branding and presence on such sites. The report also noted how applicants are also leveraging social media to get creative in the way they market themselves through the use of multimedia to set them apart from other candidates and catch the eye of prospective employers.

In addition, talent acquisition and recruitment teams will continue to ramp up their efforts in creating mobile-friendly job portals to enable jobseekers to easily apply for employment on the go to keep up with changing user behaviour. According to Hays, Singapore will see a rise in such functionalities in 2019.

“Singaporeans are becoming digitally-savvy in every aspect of their lives and demand nothing less than instantaneity in the same regard,” Grant Torrens, business director at Hays Singapore, said. “To compete in the battle for talent in 2019, employers will need to ensure that they are providing mobile-friendly touch points for candidates in the entire recruitment process.”

Meanwhile, companies are progressively conscious of the importance employees place on flexi hours as a key benefit. As a result, firms are taking full advantage of flexi hours or work-from-home opportunities to attract and retain workers.

“44% of organisations in Singapore actively promote flexible and agile working as the default position of their business cultures and support it overtly, as opposed to the 33% of respondents that said otherwise,” Hays noted.

Alongside flexi hours, the report found that job seekers are increasingly concerned about the learning and development opportunities organisations offer. Consequently, top-notch talents in the market can expect to be supported in their continuous development in 2019 as employers are urged to include worker development as a critical portion of talent strategies.

Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in HR departments will allow recruitment teams to screen massive amounts of applications in order to quickly find the right talent, according to Hays.

“There are also emerging technologies adopted by employers in Singapore that enable them to suss out highly suitable but passive candidates according to the latter’s online behaviours,” the report stated. “With such functionalities at their disposal, HR teams have been improving efficiencies with the help of AI in securing the best talents in a candidate short market.”