Singapore's top 10 talent trends for 2014 revealed

With Singapore’s current economic landscape looking more positive and the outlook for global growth a lot firmer, we expect to see an increase in vacancy activity and the continued hiring of skilled foreigners to overcome skills gaps in 2014.

Working out which Big Data skills are actually needed and better understanding of social media as a channel are two other top talent trends that will shape Singapore’s recruitment landscape in 2014.

To help you get a clearer picture of what lies ahead, here are our top ten talent trends:

The desire to process huge amounts of data in near real-time will drive innovation for how Big Data can be harnessed to inform business and marketing opportunities.

Therefore in 2014 we will see increased demand for IT Project Managers and Business Analysts who are involved in data manipulation projects. ‘Data Scientists’ will also be in increasing demand to recognise patterns in data and then make predictions.

The increased usage of tablet-based applications and the associated user experience is driving demand for mobile app development skills.

A skills shortage in this area will become a more pressing concern in 2014 that could even cause general delays and interruptions in the evolution of the mobile app market.

At number three on our list is technology’s integration– technology will no longer sit in the domain of the CTO or CIO, but will instead integrate with both marketing and finance.

This integration of both technology with marketing, and technology with finance, will see staff in these departments become jointly responsible for outcomes and create a need for people with multilevel hybrid knowledge.

Such hybrid skills are perhaps most obvious in the digital marketing space, where marketing professionals need to engage technology to inform their decisions.

As unemploymentis very low and employers struggle to attract highly skilled and experienced professionals a skills shortage catch-22 will continue.

It appears the foreign workforce is here to stay. The Fair Consideration Framework, set to come into effect from 1^st August 2014, will place the hiring focus on ‘fair’ hiring practices and considering local candidates first where possible, but when domestic skills shortages exist foreigners will still be needed to fill the gaps.

Next on the list is the evolution of contract jobs. Thisis a response to both permanent candidate shortages and the recognition of the value of this method of engagement.

Coming in at number seven is the ability to harness the whole notion of digital and social media effectively. The expectation is that a presence and activity on social media, such as posting a job, is enough. But the commitment and resources that are really needed to build effective relationships is vastly underestimated by most.

As employees become more confident and start to explore their options in the jobs market, employers will really need to turn their focus back to staff retention.

The world is changing rapidly and it will be smarter to recruit candidates who have an aptitude and desire to learn new skills, rather than candidates who may only be fit for today. This is in addition to meeting the required technical and soft skills for a role.

The final trend making the top ten list is the borderless global economy. In order to achieve career development people are willing to change countries more readily. With this in mind, speaking another language is a hugely important business skill, and it will only become more so in future.