What I didn't expect when moving to Asia...

Observations from Consulting in South East Asia

It's been a year since I moved from Switzerland to Singapore. Ashley and I got to talking about how we have immersed ourselves in the culture, have read books on 'Doing Business' in Asia, and yet Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, still surprises us!

•  We knew that SEA has a large and growing population … with 2.6% of global land area, it is home to 8.3% of the world’s population and has a faster population growth than the United States, China and the United Kingdom.
• We knew the population is young and diverse, and that SEA does not have the aging population challenge that other countries face ... Among the combined 650 million population - more than one third are under 20, with only 15% over 55 and just 7% older than 65*. And if we talk gender diversity, the female labour force participation rate is at 56%, which is above the OECD average.
• And, we knew that this is a place of contrast ... harmoniously connecting the old and the new; the emerging and developed; the traditional and the progressive. With Indonesia one of the fastest growing emerging market economies sitting beside to Singapore, a globally recognized archetype for a forward thinking advanced economy.

What our time here has made us marvel at is the potential for SEA to become a connected, hyper-charged, catalyst for change in how we look at talent, cooperation and alternative workforce models. A model unconstrained by some of the 'heritage', and existing structure, that exists in the western world.

1. There is much more to see in 'the gig economy' …

Globalization and advancing technology has meant the world is no stranger to the rise of the gig economy – powered by digital platforms, communication and a collaborative economy. In its early stages, the rise of SEA's gig economy was globally aligned and predominantly labor driven, with the rise of Deliveroo, Grab and Go Jek mirroring Silicon Valley counterparts. But with such a large population, high unemployment rates, lower wages, and culturally different expectations than the west (such as a greater willingness to experiment) - the gig economy in SEA is growing at a rapid pace, expanding with more highly skilled giggers and greater empowerment of the individual.

The gig economy steers away from traditional forms of employment, offering greater flexibility, agility and empowerment to workers. To date there has been take-up only in pockets disproportionate to the population size, willingness and variety of skills in an under-utilized workforce ... or even a match to the true end-to-end work requirements. With the SEA gig-economy focusing on either labor (e.g. delivery services) or eSkills (e.g. freelance web-designers) – this does not show the full spectrum of what is possible. Has SEA skipped the 'Task-Rabbit' style of outsourcing, and is it now set up for a gig-approach to core business functions … or is this an untapped opportunity we're about to see change?

In our opinion, this is because of a lack of industrialization in the gig ecosystem. Giggers, conventional intermediary players (e.g. recruitment agencies) and organizations in SEA are scattered with piece meal connection points. The fragmentation of these key players act as barriers to accessing SEA's untapped workforce. Just as Grab and Deliveroo have revolutionized the food and transportation industries - the existing, or future, players in the labor market (e.g. LinkedIn or Indeed) are yet to truly transform, centralise and unlock the potential of this crowdsourced workforce.

2. Government is playing their role in enabling this shift … and might just be 'beating' the private sector!

As we've seen in our work in consulting - the kind of change SEA Government and Public Sector is making is more advanced and progressive than we've seen in other markets. Singapore and Malaysia for example are doing as many citizen-centric projects as say Estonia, or even Qatar and the UAE. At EY we've proudly played a role in supporting this - from Skills Future to digital post offices. #BetterWorkingWorld

This type of work is not just equipping the workforce to be self-sufficient as this next wave of workforce empowerment shifts gear…but also focuses on under-employment (not just on un-employment). An element that has historically been unaddressed by the private sector.

3. The real question is 'can businesses effectively channel this disparate and disjointed capability and capacity?'

Collaboration on this scale means organizations can access valuable skills with fluidity and flex...but where do they start? And what is their role in an organization powered by fluid and adaptable collaboration?

Could the main role of the future organizations be to (1) champion culture; and (2) capture, channel and optimize this disparate and disjointed capability and capacity? In this world, workforce planning becomes a core capability of a business - with 'Build', 'Buy' or 'Bounce' decisions becoming one the most critical business functions.

Could SEA create a world where 'workforce' becomes an equation of fluid capability and capacity? And is your organization set up to succeed in this?