Having become more open to adopting new operation models and remote work since Covid-19, companies are increasingly turning to offshore recruitment strategies to boost agility and put their operations on the right track.  

As many as 84% of employers across Asia Pacific favour offshoring recruitment strategies, reveals a report by Singapore-headquartered HR solutions company PERSOLKELLY.

Markets with the highest adoption rate are Vietnam (46%), South Korea (43%), Thailand (39%), India  (36%) and New Zealand (36%), says the report titled “Hiring and Managing Talent Beyond Geographical Boundaries” which highlights the effectiveness and the growing trend of employers across the region in adopting offshore  recruitment strategies for their hiring needs.

Given the unprecedented economic headwinds, businesses find this solution can be cost-effective. It also opens opportunities to reach new markets, gives access to a bigger pool of talent with specific skill sets, provides resources to quickly fill gaps in their workforce, and enables the diversification of business  operations.

Companies within the IT industry have the highest adoption rate (56%), followed by hi-tech engineering (41%), manufacturing (34%) and finance (33%).

As per the report, the top four benefits voted by companies across the Asia Pacific as the reasons for pursuing an offshore recruitment strategy include:

• Getting access to a bigger pool of talent (59%): Most markets voted this as the top reason, except Australia, India, and South Korea.
• Improving labour and operational costs (50%): A bigger pool of talent from many different markets provides a larger supply of labour.
• Viable and cost-effective business strategy as hiring and managing offshore  talent reduces the reliance on physical offices with the aid of advanced  technology (49%)  : Almost half of the total respondents voted for this as the third reason.
• Creating new market opportunities (47%): Hiring offshore talent helps organisations penetrate new target markets through the  talent’s network and expertise. Organisations within these markets are in favour of  offshore recruitment strategies due to this reason: China (58%), Singapore (57%), India  (55%), Vietnam (52%) and Taiwan (50%).

Further, the report said that the top three supports required when considering implementing the offshore recruitment strategy include advisory on labour law and compliance (69%), payroll and tax submission (61%), as well as recruiting and onboarding new offshore talent (50%).

“Globalisation and technology have made it possible for employers to hire and manage talent beyond  geographical boundaries. As the markets become more competitive, companies need to differentiate  themselves to create more value for their customers to either preserve or introduce new competitive  advantages. This can only be done through hiring the right talent with the right skill set to achieve the business  objective,” said Foo See Yang, managing director & country head, PERSOLKELLY Singapore.

“That is why offshore recruitment strategy is gaining popularity. The goal for this strategy is to seamlessly integrate the hiring of offshore talent as part of the organisation’s global setup and to improve the business operations as one team together. The metrics are picking the right people, the right recruitment agency and the right partners,” said Zen Loh, regional business director, PERSOLKELLY.

“With these things in place an offshore team isn’t just a sustainable alternative to local hiring but a secret weapon in the jostle for business success.”

The business survey was conducted among 1,326 decision-makers who are responsible for hiring within their organisation.