Overall Summary

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Although there seem to be some green shoots around the corner, tech recruitment has remained lacklustre during Q3. The worries over the uncertain economy have meant that companies have not been prioritising hiring. 
 

Whenever permanent hiring experiences a slowdown, contracting generally goes up. This is what we have observed as well. Contract hiring saw some growth over the last quarter. Outsourcing to low-cost centres in Malaysia, the Philippines, and India was also common.

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Banking and Buy Side 
 

While activity on the sell side has been rather slow and limited to replacement headcounts, there was hiring activity on the buy side. The bigger brands like Jane Street and Citadel have been posting record profits.  
 

HKMA has announced two sandbox programs for stablecoin issuers and Gen A.I. It is expected to accelerate the adoption of DTL technology and AI in Hong Kong banking sectors.

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Data and AI-related roles
 

With the advent and increasing usage of AI-related technologies, companies have created roles such as Chief AI Officer (CAIO). Insurance companies are at the forefront of this.
 

Corporations are actively developing use cases utilising Generative AI (GenAI), while new roles such as Data Ethics Officers and AI Model Auditors are expected to emerge within the next 3 to 6 months.

 

Others

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In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has told Employment Agencies that augmenting a client’s workforce by sponsoring work passes is prohibited. This means that agencies cannot deploy non-PRs or citizens to their clients unless they are in the construction or process sector. This could mean that these contracting gigs (some highly paid) could move to places like Hong Kong, which is already seeing an influx of talent.
 

It’s interesting to note how Malaysia regulates job hopping and significant salary increases within companies overseen by Bank Negara Malaysia (the country’s central bank). A candidate who has worked at a Bank Negara-regulated bank in the past six months can only transition to another Bank Negara-regulated bank if a payment equivalent to six months of their new monthly salary is made to the regulator. Typically, the employing institution signs a bond with the candidate to recover this amount if they leave within a set period, usually two years.
 

We dove into the mind of Pradeep Hegde, CIO of CLSA, and asked him about the challenges of being a CIO of a large brokerage firm. 

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​​We trust this insight will be of value to you. 

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Best Regards,

Vince Natteri, Managing Director

(on behalf of the Pinpoint Asia Recruitment Team)

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