Global Trend Report HR 2015: Economic Growth and Organisational Change Creating New Opportunities
By and large the market for human resources professionals has improved with the economic upturn of the past year. It is also an evolving market place.
In most of the seven regions we reviewed at the start of 2015, HR is becoming more specialised, with increased emphasis on professionals who can help organisations through change and restructuring, and those who can help attract and retain top talent.
In the Asia-Pacific markets of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan human resources has moved from a back-room administrative function to be more intimately involved in business operations. In these countries and there is strong demand for HR professionals with foreign language (particularly English) skills. If the economic upswing continues, we are likely to see further demand for compensation and benefits experts. Many organisations are outsourcing certain HR functions and implementing HR systems.
A RAPIDLY MATURING MARKET
The HR environment is changing rapidly in China, with more and more companies splitting the function into business partnering, centres of excellence and shared service centres. Consequently ambitious HR professionals are strongly advised to develop a specialisation. “At the moment, HR generalists are not hot candidates for multinational companies, nor even for some small and medium sized enterprises,” says Marlon Mai, Associate Director, Finance, HR & Strategy at Morgan McKinley China.
Over the next year we anticipate that candidates will become more active in seeking new roles. This is also a sign of the times: traditionally, HR candidates have been satisfied with a stable career path within one or two organisations. Today, there is greater incentive to move between roles. In many organisations, HR recruitment budgets have increased, despite the fears of an economic slowdown, often because they need to get to grips with organisational change and there is still strong competition to attract and retain the best talent.
Strategic HR planning, learning and career development and recruitment and talent acquisition are strong growth areas, especially at manager level. “While most candidates will need a university degree, HND or HNC to move into HR, on-the job experience counts for more than formal training, as HR teams tend to have a rather pragmatic orientation. Candidates with language skills are very much in demand,” comments Mai.
SALARIES & BENEFITS
HR professionals can expect salary increases of on average 8-10% in 2015, or 20-25% if moving to a new role.
Download the HR Global Trend Report 2015 here [PDF 1.61 MB] »
