The quarterly rise in property management roles in mainland China where job advertisements in the sector increased by 46 per cent, comes in spite of government action to curb property inflation.

The volume of job advertisements in Asia soared
48 per cent in the 12 months since the second quarter of 2010, according to a recruiter, coming in stark
contrast to the mass culling and hiring freezes across the developed market regions.

In the second quarter of 2011 alone, jobs
offered on online recruitment boards and national newspapers in China, Hong Kong,
Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, increased by a fifth, according to the
quarterly Robert Walters Asia Job Index compiled by global recruiter, Robert Walters. 

The index tracks advertisement volumes for
professional positions including jobs in sales, property management, law, IT, journalism, accounting and finance. 

The regions which registered the most
growth were Malaysia and Singapore, where jobs soared 27 per cent and 24 per
cent respectively, compared with the first quarter of 2011. In both of these regions,
growth was driven by international companies setting up operations in order to
take advantage of the growth potential, said the report. 

Meanwhile Mainland China and Korea saw jobs
advertisement growth of 22 per cent 18 per cent respectively. In Hong Kong
recruitment activity was flatter after a strong first quarter, and job adverts
grew by 11 per cent. Only in Japan, where the effects of the earthquake were still
being felt, was job growth negative. Here job advertisements fell by 7 per cent
for the quarter.

“The
effects of the Japanese earthquake coupled with the weaker than expected
economic figures from the US and Europe may have a negative impact on advertising
activity levels in the later part of the year, as companies assess the effects
of wage inflation and productivity of existing staff. Job churn is likely to
continue however as candidates feel more positive about moving roles, incentivized
by attractive financial packages,” said Mark
Ellwood, managing director, Robert Walters Asia (ex. Japan & Korea).

He
added that in terms of sector, the biggest growth was registered in business
development and property management. “Increased recruitment advertising
activities were seen across all sectors particularly within industries such as
retail services and property management which directly benefit from rising
consumer confidence and spending,” said Ellwood.

The
rise in property management roles across all regions, particularly in mainland
China where
job advertisements in the sector increased by 46 per cent, comes in spite of government
action to curb property inflation, said the report. 

The news comes against a backdrop of heavy cuts by financial firms, predominantly in the West. An estimated 60,000 jobs are expected to be shed in the latest round of redundancies from the top 50 financial firms. Banks including ABN Amro, Bank of America, UBS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs have announced thousands of cuts, but most of these will take place in the developed markets where recovery has been slower than the emerging markets, say headhunters, and mainly in sales and investment banking roles.