5 Trends in 2019 for the Supply Chain & Manufacturing Industry

This article is authored by Shuai Chen, Executive Search Consultant – Supply Chain & Manufacturing from The Edge Partnership.

As the year-end approaches, The Edge Partnership Singapore would like to share some insights on the region and hiring trends for this year.

Rise of Thailand and Vietnam – Global companies are setting up their regional hubs in Thailand, taking advantage of the government’s tax incentives and automation investment support. Vietnam, with economic growth, rivals China as the government introduced a series of economic and political reforms that is seen benefitting from the trade wars with companies setting up new manufacturing sites. Both countries are experiencing companies engaged in a war for English speaking local talents who have worked in regional or global roles across all industries.

Technology – Companies are embracing technology and process automation. This, in turn, translates to new job requirements for traditional roles. Briefs from clients requiring supply chain candidates with programming expertise or manufacturing engineers who had worked on process automation for plants are becoming more common.

Trade War – Companies have been relocating their manufacturing activities out of China since the trade war started and South East Asia is reaping the benefits from the trade spillover. However, a prolonged trade war will not be beneficial to the region in the long run for countries that are highly reliant on trade. Singapore has experienced its steepest decline for GDP since 2012. However, we see a rise in demand, outside of Singapore, for supply chain and manufacturing candidates for the region.

Candidate Mobility – As more manufacturing sites are being set up in the region, we see more candidates relocating from Singapore to countries such as Thailand or Vietnam, usually taking on regional or global roles. Demand for experienced supply chain and manufacturing candidates in leadership roles are high and candidates are willing to relocate as the roles are usually interesting with high growth potentials.

Hiring Trends – Despite the ongoing trade war, supply chain and manufacturing professionals continue to be in high demand for their expertise across the region. The hiring has remained strong in the first half of the year and we are seeing continued growth. Skills such as change management, business transformation, process and continuous improvements on a regional or global level are highly sought after.

If you would like to have a chat about supply chain and manufacturing roles across the region, connect with Shuai Chen on LinkedIn for posts on new job opportunities and market trends.

The Edge Partnership is a regional recruitment business with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India.