South-east Asia's small businesses face talent crunch
Singapore
SMALL and local businesses in South-east Asia, and companies in traditional sectors, could lose out on talent in the future, as young people in the region spurn such jobs.
Instead, a sizeable share want to be their own boss or work in a startup. Multinational corporations were also popular employers, according to a poll of 56,000 South-east Asians, aged between 15 and 35, from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The study by the World Economic Forum found that, while 42.8 per cent of respondents now work for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), family businesses or big local companies, just 28.3 per cent want to actually work in such firms.
Lower chances of on-the-job training at small businesses may fuel the lack of interest, the study suggested.
Only 13.2 per cent of respondents now working at SMEs, and 8.8 per cent at family businesses, have been able to formally learn at work. That stacked up against 16 per cent of multinationals' employees and 18.1 per cent at bigger local firms.
Indeed, 18.8 per cent of those polled hope to join a multinational firm - against the 8.6 per cent who actually work at one - and another 33.1 per cent aspire to be entrepreneurs or work for a startup. The rest are eyeing jobs in the public sector, or charitable and social enterprises.
Still, the entrepreneurial streak runs hotter in some markets than others: 35.6 per cent of Indonesians want to strike it out on their own, while just 16.9 per cent of Singaporeans do.
"This may be because Indonesia has a rich recent tradition of building tech unicorns that is inspiring young people," said the survey report.
The technology sector was considered the coolest industry in town, with 16 per cent of all respondents hoping to work in a tech firm, even as only 7 per cent now do so.
But the report warned that "certain more traditional parts of the economy may struggle to recruit young workers in the future", such as manufacturing, construction and teaching, which are losing their lustre.
The researchers added that young people might harbour aspirations to be small-time traders, with the help of e-commerce platforms, online payment systems and social media.
"Being an entrepreneur does not have to mean developing new apps, where (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills would be important," the report remarked.
"Instead, it can equally mean being a basket-weaver from rural Kalimantan and using technology to sell regionally and even globally. Soft skills, coupled with a working knowledge of today's digital platforms, could serve these aspirations well."
