Asia-Pacific – Asia Emerges from a Tough Year
The new citizenship law in India, the worst ever drought and fire in Australia, trade war between China and USA, residents of Hong Kong watching nervously as Hong Kong was wracked by young protesters plus the coronavirus outbreak in China. Asia indeed has had a tough year in 2019.
The signing of a “phase one” deal stabilized the U.S.-China trade war at least for the year 2020, while the tariffs and other agreements could be delayed to a much longer process due to the US elections.This remains a concern for both China and USA and the global economy in general.
In 2020 Asia’s GDP will overtake the GDP of the rest of the world combined. By 2030, Asia is expected to contribute roughly 60% of global growth. More interesting for business, Asia is responsible for the overwhelming majority (90%) of the 2.4 billion new members of the middle class entering the global economy. The past year 2019 also saw China for the first time reach an average GDP level per capita of USD 10,000. A very impressive milestone for a country with more than 1.4 billion people.
2019 has been a year of ups and downs in the job market – particularly in Asia, where the challenging economic climate and rapid digital transformation have had a major impact on both employers and employees.
While many jobs have been under threat, due to digital transformation as well as the impact of the China-USA trade war, there have been positive signs of a growing job market in the region. One of these is salary growth. Asian countries occupy the top five spots in global salary hikes for 2020, with India taking top spot and Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand coming in second to fifth respectively.
The consensus for 2020 is that Asia will continue to be one of the top discussion points in corporate headquarters. The key trends to watch are in which cities in Asia should the Asia headquarter be located. This could mean both as opportunities and challenges for engaging talent in key Asia cities.
With our 15 Cornerstone offices across Asia, and our strength in the acquisition and development of leaders – especially transformational talents – Cornerstone stands ready to provide clients with a powerful value proposition for the discovery and engagement of these experts in 2020 and beyond.
Contact simon-wan@cornerstone-group.com for additional discussions.
January 2020
