Asia-Pacific job growth slated to slow this year: survey

A NEW survey by serviced-office provider Compass Offices showed that businesses in the Asia-Pacific are "mainly optimistic", with Australian companies being the most confident, but employment growth rate is slated to slow this year.

The so-called Compass Index measured business trends in nine Asia-Pacific countries. The respondents came from startups, small and medium businesses, and multinational companies.

Some 51 per cent of Australians feel strongly confident about their business growth this year, compared to 43 per cent in Singapore and 30 per cent in Hong Kong. Japan, at 15 per cent, posted the lowest score in the region.

Surveys were conducted between February and March this year with a total sample size of 4,800 in nine countries. Compass Offices said it had a more than 500-sample size in Singapore.

In Japan, less than 20 per cent of surveyed clients plan to hire this year. However, the index shows that 61 per cent, 56 per cent and 44 per cent of businesses in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong respectively plan to hire more personnel.

The findings from the survey reveal that sales, marketing and IT skills are the most in demand this year to support their business growth.