Voluntary turnovers rates in tech up to 14.7% in Q2

Local turnover rates are higher than in Australia, China and Hong Kong.

Voluntary employee turnover rates at tech companies in Singapore rose to 14.7% in Q2 from 13.1% in the previous quarter, a survey from Radford Global Technology revealed, indicating the growing mobility of in-demand tech employees across the region.

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Singapore has one of the highest voluntary employee turnover rates in Asia, trailing only behind Malaysia’s 15.3%. The city state ranks ahead of Australia (13.8%); China (14.2%); Hong Kong (13.9%); Japan (10.9%); Philippines (14.3%); South Korea (11.8%) and also pulls ahead of India (13.4%) and Taiwan (9.1%), the only two markets where turnover rates fell in Q2.

With the rise in employee turnover so do the number of tech firms reporting aggressive hiring plans to plug their thinning workforce. In Singapore, the percentage of technology companies that plan to hire aggressively increased from 5.5% to 6.0%. Across the region, India has the highest percentage of companies actively growing its talent pool in Q2 at 18.4% from 12.9% in the previous quarter.

Most tech firms across the region are actively recruiting including Australia (8.5%), Hong Kong (3.6%), Japan (7.3%), Philippines (4.3%). On the other hand, the proportion of tech firms reporting aggressive hiring plans fell in China (7%), Malaysia (1.4%), South Korea (2.6%) and Taiwan (2.5%).

"As companies reassess their retention strategies, they must work harder to optimise their rewards to align them with their employee preferences. In addition, businesses with a voluntary turnover of more than 10% should evaluate their employer brand and human capital practices carefully,” Alexander Krasavin, partner and chief commercial officer of Emerging Markets in the Rewards Solutions practice at Aon, said in a statement.