Australian Talent Service Providers looks towards Asia?

Australia’s No 1 Job board SEEK makes further inroad into China’s fast growing employment classifieds market, by increasing its stake in local job board Zhaoping.com to 49.2.% . Marketing recruitment firm, Aquent, also moved into India’s burgeoning recruitment market, confirming its acquisition of  Professionele Consulting.

Given the enormous long-term potential offered by both China and India, it is surprising that Australian talent service providers (considering our close proximity to the region and existing good trading relationship in other sectors) are not swarming to the region.  Already, both China and India are top source of outbound talent, it is only a matter of time that the local employment market in the two growing countries will mimic the sophistication of those in the west. In India, for instance, returning expats (inbound talent), keen to capitalise on India’s growing economic prowess, are driving demand for recruitment services.

Do the math – If 1% of India’s estimated 500 million workforce change their employer in a calendar year ( a conservative number given attrition rate is as high as 15-20% in some sectors like call centre), there are around 5 million employment transactions (either job board activity or recruitment placement) taking place.

From here, it looks like SEEK and Aquent are making the right move.