The Pulse, a new study produced by VMA GROUP Asia, was designed to go beyond the average salary survey, delving more deeply into market trends and predictions and, where possible, sharing recommendations for both hiring managers and candidates. It gives us a holistic view of the corporate communications market in Asia right now, how each discipline is evolving in its own right, and relative levels of maturity compared to other more developed communications markets in which VMA GROUP operates. Each section reveals fascinating insights into the priorities for different disciplines, relationships with leaders, sought-after skills and changes on the horizon. Based on this data, we have summarised some of the most noteworthy trends and developments we believe will influence Corporate Communications in Asia over the next few years:

The Asian power base is shifting
A recent report from McKinsey on the shifting global business landscape, predicts that by 2025, almost 230 Fortune Global 500 companies will be based in the emerging world’s cities, up from 24 in 2000. We are already seeing the impact of this shift, with 24% of The Pulse respondents predicting team expansion in Indonesia, 21% in Malaysia and 19% in Thailand. It was in response to this shift that we launched VMA Direct, to enable our consultants to focus more specifically on South East Asia (with the exception of Singapore, which is covered by our Singapore office). Many organisations still consider Hong Kong and Singapore tough markets in which to find experienced communications professionals, and in emerging markets such as Indonesia, it’s fair to say the pressure is much greater, with an even smaller pool of talent available.

Singapore competes with Hong Kong
With the majority of global financial institutions managing Asian hubs from Hong Kong, the city has reigned supreme in the region for some time. But as McKinsey’s research points out, “thanks to the highly effective efforts of the Singapore economic-board, that country is far and away the location of choice for Western multinationals setting up operations in Asia’s emerging economies.” We are definitely seeing this shift, with an increased number of senior appointments that would have traditionally have been located in Hong Kong, now located in Singapore instead. At the moment, the FMCG and Technology industries tend to dominate in Singapore, while Hong Kong still has the largest market share of financial organisations. But gone are the days of lower sala