Asia’s tech jobs are “solid” despite layoffs within the tech sector, said Peter Bithos.
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Asia could also be facing labor shortages after the pandemic, but Peter Bithos, CEO of job portal operator Seek Asia, said it isn’t similar to North America’s “Great Resignation”.
As a substitute, Asia’s workforce has a shortage of individuals who have the talents to fill technical roles in corporations, Bithos told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia.
“What we have seen is a large reconfiguration of the kinds of talent needed” within the workforce, he said. This is reflected in the rise within the number of technical positions on Seek platforms, which, according to Bithos, increased by 66% year-on-year.
Bithos explained that despite layoffs at tech corporations, almost “every sector of the economy outside of tech” is employing tech workers. He added that tech jobs across Asia remain solid and are “highly in demand.”
A search on job portals JobsDB and JobStreet, that are operated by Seek Asia, showed 57,902 jobs available in the data technology category in six Asian economies: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
The number of applicants for these technical positions has increased by 14%, which Bithos says could also be due to layoffs within the tech sector, in addition to individuals who feel “confident” enough to search for a job once the pandemic is over.
The redundant workers still have plenty of jobs available to them, although those roles will not be in a “cleantech” company, Bithos said.
Technology jobs account for nearly half of Singapore’s fastest-growing jobs within the last five years, LinkedIn he said on his list of “Jobs on the Rise” for 2023. These include positions akin to Cyber Security Engineer, Backend Developer, and Artificial Intelligence Engineer.