Salt’s Singapore Country Director Erin Loh shares why remote talent is the way forward.
What is a remote employee? A remote employee is someone who is employed by a company but works outside of a traditional office environment. This can be from home, at a coffee shop or in a city across the world!

The COVID-19 crisis has forced billions around the world to work from home, upending the belief that people have to work from a particular location or office. COVID-19 is probably the greatest change agent that businesses have experienced in the past decade — forcing them to revamp their current business model, accelerate their digital transformation, and also re-examine their traditional HR and recruitment processes.

With travel restrictions still in place, we have seen an increase in appetite for remote talent from companies which are unable to get them locally in spite of their best efforts to do so. These are typically in areas of niche and in-demand digital and technology skill sets.

A case in point is one of Salt’s clients which is a global player in the gaming industry (pun intended). They have always faced the challenge of hiring skilled Creative talent in 2D/3D Design, Motion Graphics, etc. who are able to meet their high-quality standards and be available to work at short notice. Their foresight in hiring has now enabled them to tap remote talent working for them on a freelance basis in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and even further afield in Sweden and the United States of America. They are able to tap the best and brightest from around the world, as and when the need arises.

Another client of ours is a cryptocurrency exchange company which has always struggled to find good software engineers and mobile developers in Singapore. They are now open to considering hiring such talent remotely, with an option to relocate them to Singapore if the need ever arises in the future.

A recent global study “Beyond COVID-19: The Future of Work and Hiring” conducted by Salt revealed some interesting findings for Singapore:

  • 100% of all respondents in Singapore agreed that their business hiring plans were affected due to the pandemic. However, 83% agreed that they will start rehiring once their business returns to some form of normalcy.
  • 50% of businesses said they will introduce more flexible working hours and remote working policies.
  • Google Hangouts (67%), Microsoft Teams (50%) and Zoom (50%) were the top three tools used by businesses in Singapore for connecting and collaborating with their remote teams.
  • Businesses still predict a rise in demand across these functions:
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*Results show multiple choice responses

With 5G technology expanding remote working possibilities even more, competition for jobs will become increasingly globalised, blurring the divide between local and foreign workers. Businesses will slowly return to normalcy post-COVID and intense competition to find talent with in-demand skills will start heating up again. Could adopting a new approach to hiring give your HR and talent teams a competitive edge when employing candidates with skills in short supply? Is remote hiring the solution and the way forward?

We welcome your thoughts!

Written by Erin Loh, Singapore Country Director, Salt

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