Asia is facing a shortage of workers who can fill technical roles: Seek Asia
- Asia’s workforce has a shortage of people who have the skills to fill technical roles in companies, Peter Bithos, CEO of job portal operator Seek Asia, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
- Despite layoffs at tech companies, nearly “every sector of the economy outside of tech” is hiring for tech workers, Bithos explained.
Tech jobs in Asia are “robust” despite tech sector layoffs, Peter Bithos said.
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Asia may be struggling with a post-pandemic labor shortage, but Peter Bithos, CEO of job portal operator Seek Asia, said it is not the same as North America’s “Great Resignation.”
Instead, Asia’s workforce has a shortage of people who have the skills to fill technical roles in companies, Bithos told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“What we’ve seen is a major reconfiguration of the types of talent needed” in the workforce, he said. This is reflected in the increase in tech role listings on Seek’s platforms, which are up 66% year-on-year, according to Bithos.
Despite layoffs at tech companies, nearly “every sector of the economy outside of tech” is hiring for tech workers, Bithos explained. Tech jobs across Asia remain robust and are “very much in demand,” he added.
A search of job portals JobsDB and JobStreet, operated by Seek Asia, showed 57,902 job vacancies under the information technology category in six Asian economies: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Applicants for these tech roles are up 14%, which Bithos said could be driven by layoffs in the tech sector, as well as people feeling “confident” enough to apply for jobs once the pandemic ends.
Laid-off workers still have plenty of jobs available to them, even if those roles may not be at a “pure tech company,” Bithos said.
Tech jobs account for almost half of the fastest-growing job titles in Singapore over the past five years, LinkedIn said in its “Jobs on the Rise” list for 2023. These include jobs such as cybersecurity engineer, backend developer and artificial intelligence engineer.
