Hiring in the Singapore marketing industry in 2023: Know the facts

For the sales and marketing industry, the difficulty in hiring talent is very high and will remain high in 2023. According to a recent Robert Walters Salary Survey 2023, this year saw a strong competition for high demand skill sets such as digital and eCommerce. However talent are cautious about moving, which has exacerbated the talent crunch. In 2023 there will be a focus on hiring local talent for most roles, and a bigger focus on diversity and inclusion in hiring. There will be a demand for professionals with skill sets in analytics, digital, eCommerce, CRM, performance marketing and omnichannel marketing, said the report. 

The top in-demand professions for 2023 are business development and sales/account management, eCommerce sales and marketing, digital and content creation marketing in the sales and marketing industry.

These skill sets that are in demand in permanent roles are media and consumer insight roles, eCommerce sales and marketing in FMCG. In retail, luxury and consumer technology, the roles in demand are digital marketers with performance and programmatic experience, eCommerce sales and marketing and customer insights and analytics. Whereas for contract roles, social media marketing, campaign analytics, digital marketing, eCommerce, programme marketing, public relations and communications will be in demand instead.

Top professions and skills in demand for 2023

Other industries that are in demand next year include banking and financial services, commerce finance, technology and transformation, human resources and supply chain and procurement. In 2023, professionals with tech skill sets will be in demand across a range of industries, in both commercial and business function roles. Tech companies will seek commercially-savvy talent who can project manage or sell products that support digital transformation for other businesses. In-demand skill sets include technical skill sets related to data science and engineering.

While in finance, marketing and advertising, talent who can use predictive data and analytical skill sets to help businesses make informed decisions is a requirement. Having soft skills such as resilience, adaptability, agility and an eagerness to learn will offer professionals a competitive advantage, in addition to their technical skill sets are added bonuses.

Professionals, especially those with niche skill sets in AI, data, software development, cyber security and eCommerce will remain in high demand. There is an increased demand for roles across sales and marketing, supply chain and procurement, finance and HR, as companies move their regional headquarters into Singapore.

Movement in the talent market 

Concerns over the rising cost of living and a looming recession will see professionals in Singapore more likely to request and expect their employers to consider, a pay increment for 2023.

As companies continue to face a shortage of talent, especially among the managerial and senior-level positions, they are likely to double up efforts in staff retention initiatives, while one in two have considered the option of building a fully remote workforce. Talent moving between jobs can expect a salary increase of 15 to 20%. Increments can exceed 30% in talent-short areas such as eCommerce account management. and go up as high as 40% for talent-short areas such as tech. Employees staying with their current companies will see their salaries pegged to market standards. Around 81% of businesses are giving pay rises, while 69% of professionals expect a pay rise. At the same time, 72% of professionals are looking for a new job, and 42% are confident about job opportunities in 2023.

Striking a balance between talent hiring challenges and employee retention 

According to the survey, there is a need to strike a balance between talent hiring challenges and employee retention. To finding the right talent remains the top concern for 92% of the employers polled. The skill/talent shortage is felt most acutely at the senior/team lead (50%) and the manager (24%) levels. Top challenges when sourcing for staff include salary and benefit expectations perceived to be too high (61%), lack of applications (53%) and lack of industry experience (46%).

To recruit and retain talent, employers should focus on excellent compensation and benefits, inspiring colleagues and culture and open and effective management.

In recent months, the term "quiet quitting" came under the spotlight and the issue of mental health and burnout has also become a topic of discussion. A Southeast Asia report by Robert Walters found that 86% of professionals in the region have rethought or relooked at their relationship to work in the past year. Mental and physical well-being were among the top factor that professionals reassessed.

While this term might be making headlines these days, Nigel Gan, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur's director of marketing communications, said during MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's recent PR Asia 2022 conference that it's not a new phenomenon. The evolution of social media tends to bring such trends into the spotlight, which is what's happening with quiet quitting now, Gan said.

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