There has been a lot of news recently about the lack of talent available to employers. The ManpowerGroup just published their 2016 Talent Shortgage Survey where, as a region, Asia Pacific reported the greatest degree of hiring difficulties, particularly in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. A new report has revealed that Asia’s emerging economies face severe skill shortages. In the near future, countries will encounter a shortage of skilled labour due to less-than-adequate skills-based education and changing workforce demographics.
The report ranked 12 economies in Asia on a scale of 1 to 7 to indicate the level of skills challenges they face. Malaysia ranks highest among the emerging economies, with a 5, while Singapore and Hong Kong top the overall list with a 6.2 and 5.6, respectively.
Although advanced economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong, South-Korea, and Japan score relatively high when it comes to education levels, they in turn will be impacted by a decrease in labour supply due to a decline in working age population, leaving them with a potential skill shortage as well.
/Passle/56686a093d94740bd0dda608/SearchServiceImages/2025-10-27-21-14-31-661-68ffe0b7d509f987f3ef2558.jpg)
/Passle/56686a093d94740bd0dda608/SearchServiceImages/2025-10-21-18-30-58-228-68f7d16294603fa3991328dd.jpg)
/Passle/56686a093d94740bd0dda608/MediaLibrary/Images/2025-10-27-19-31-25-657-68ffc88d186d67c4aefc4a0c.png)