Jobs on the Rise in 2021: Southeast Asia Report

COVID-19 brought significant disruption to the global economy, and with it came permanent changes to the jobs landscape. Across Southeast Asia, many businesses and workers continue to navigate the ongoing economic consequences of the global pandemic. As a result, the region has recorded a significant uptick in digital services adoption, including the emergence of two new fields, HealthTech and EdTech, which has driven an evolution in jobs and opportunities¹.

As we move forward into 2021, workers and organisations want to know: What trends have we seen emerge in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand during 2020, what jobs are on the rise, and what skills are needed to succeed in these roles?

LinkedIn’s unique dataset offers insights into these questions, and we have compiled them into a special edition of LinkedIn’s yearly Emerging Jobs Report, titled Jobs on the Rise. The report takes a close look at the rapidly-changing world we’re living in, as a result of COVID-19. In previous years, we have looked at changes in the jobs landscape over the past 5 years, but this year, our special Jobs on the Rise report compares the roles experiencing the highest growth between April and October 2020 against the same period in the year before. We also map out the skills that are on the rise for workers, and organisations.

One common and overarching trend we have noticed amongst almost all the roles on our list is that almost all may be conducted remotely. As a result, workers who are equipped with digital skills, even at a basic level, will have an edge in finding employment opportunities within these fields. Read on to discover three of the most pertinent trends that have emerged as a result of the events in 2020.

Learn more about key trends from Southeast Asia's Jobs on the Rise.

Consumers in Southeast Asia have gone increasingly digital

COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of digital platforms in the region. Technology has allowed people to work, stay connected to their loved ones and fulfil their daily needs like groceries, from the comfort of their own home. In fact, 1 in 3 of digital service consumers in Southeast Asia were new to the service². And more importantly, 94% of these new digital users are likely to stick with the service moving forward³. As a result, we expect that the demand for workers with tech skills will remain, from specialised engineers, to cyber security talent and data analysts.

In 2020, while online travel and transport services suffered, e-commerce, online media and food delivery services surged.⁵ The roles created by this boom do not require traditional educational degrees, or advanced technological skills. The rise of e-commerce, for example, is fuelling more demand in logistics for warehouse skilled talent. And it is these roles that may be filled by professionals of varying skills and experience. In fact, globally the majority of people who fill these roles often come from non-emerging jobs. ⁶

Traditional roles have evolved, as a result of COVID-19

‘Jobs on the Rise’ is a special edition of the LinkedIn Emerging Jobs report that more closely represents the rapidly-changing world we’re living in, as a result of COVID-19. Instead of looking at how the jobs landscape has changed over the past 5 years (as we have done in the past), this year, we looked at the roles experiencing the highest growth between April and October 2019 with the same period in 2020. Our report spans sectors, skill sets and geography.

While ongoing disruption and uncertainty is likely to continue in the new year, we hope this report shows there are still various opportunities for talent with a range of experience and skills. Towards this end, we have distilled the key trends in the last 12 months, hoping to provide an inkling to what we can expect from the job market in future.

More importantly, a lifelong learning mindset is crucial for professionals looking to develop themselves and adapt to the workforce of the future. We know that professionals who have basic or advanced digital skills will have an edge when it comes to seeking employment. From digital marketing, project management to software development and data analysis, there are a range of free LinkedIn Learning courses that professionals can take up to venture into these skill sets.

There are also other tools and resources that professionals looking for employment, or to pivot in their careers, can tap on:
LinkedIn’s Career Explorer tool, to help job seekers gain a new perspective on the skills they currently have and explore different or new career paths
Free learning paths released last year for in-demand jobs
Free courses on securing a job (‘Expert Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions’, ‘How to Rock an Interview’, ‘Resume Makeover’, etc.)

For talent professionals, we hope these trends provide valuable insights in informing your workforce strategies for 2021. Whether you're recruiting for new roles, upskilling your workforce or helping your organisation pivot to meet the demands of today’s changing talent landscape, LinkedIn can partner with you to turn these trends into successful strategies. To find out more, download our one-pager here.

"Jobs on the Rise" are defined as the career categories that have seen the highest year-over-year growth rates in hiring (as reflected in the April 2020 to October 2020 timeframe).

LinkedIn Economic Graph data scientists have looked at over 15,000 job titles to uncover the jobs that have grown the most, compared to 2019 levels.

Those titles were then grouped into overarching career trends that capture as many as 25 job titles within each category. Each trend summary calls out the largest job titles within that trend. Career trends are ranked using a combination of year-over-year growth rate combined with the raw size of the job demand.