Due to its heavy reliance on domestic consumption as the driver of economic growth, Indonesia largely weathered the uncertainty prompted by worsening market sentiment in 2011. Increasing investment by both local and foreign businesses and various economic advances under the administration of President Yudhoyono (including tax and customs reforms, treasury bills and capital market development and supervision) also had a positive impact on the economy and led the country to ultimately deliver strong quarter-on-quarter growth.
We saw strong hiring demand across the banking and financial services industry throughout 2011 within both front office and support functions. In the second half of the year, commercial businesses also hired in greater volumes – in particular, we saw increased demand for infrastructure specialists to support revenue-generating functions. As firms continue to concentrate on profitability, we expect this to remain the case in 2012.
We saw notable demand for middle and senior management roles as organisations sought professionals with the ability to add value to their organisations, gain market share or differentiate their businesses from competitors. A number of internal promotions also created additional vacancies within this middle management space. Candidates with experience at this level were highly sought- after and were therefore more confident about the jobs market and open to new opportunities.
With increasing investment by both local and foreign companies in Indonesia, there are a number of new industrial, consumer andwholesale companies setting up in the country. This is likely to drive demand for sales andmarketing professionals as businesses look to hire candidates who will allow them to expand quickly and develop a competitive advantage.