CAREERS MEDIA: Talent crunch in Asia-Pacific hits new crisis levels

<p>The Asia-Pacific talent crunch of experienced advertising personnel </p><p>has reached crisis proportions in some agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The dire situation has been caused by the upswing in the economy and the </p><p>rapid growth of the Internet industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Two agencies said that they had more than 10 top-level regional </p><p>vacancies to fill, while three others said that if they were to get any </p><p>more new accounts, they would be forced into a desperate scramble for </p><p>people. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In order to prevent their directorate level staff from leaving for the </p><p>client side or dotcoms, some agencies have had to give salary increases </p><p>in excess of 30 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And at Ogilvy & Mather, the search for experienced talent has been </p><p>widened to include Eastern Europe and Russia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency has already hired a Mexican to fill a vacancy in Indonesia </p><p>and a Colombian in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"When Asia was last growing in the mid-1990s, the US and UK - the major </p><p>source of expat labour - were not doing so well, but we cannot find the </p><p>quality of people from there anymore," O&M regional chairman Miles Young </p><p>told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Their economies have become supercharged because of the dotcoms and the </p><p>best talents have been taken up." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Grey regional CEO Jonathan Fox said the situation was exacerbated by the </p><p>fact that experienced Asian advertising professionals were hard to come </p><p>by. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But he stressed that this was not because the talent pool here was </p><p>small. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There are a lot of talented people in Asia. The problem is that they </p><p>are not in the advertising industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Many years ago, the industry was considered hot and sexy. Young, local </p><p>talent not courted by the leading companies would actively consider </p><p>advertising as a career. But not anymore, because compensation has hit </p><p>the wall," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A major part of the problem emanated from dotcoms poaching people from </p><p>agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, pressure is also being exerted by the client side as they </p><p>expand their advertising and communications functions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Agencies said that they could not compete against the salaries and stock </p><p>options offered by dotcoms. But they stated that they were fighting back </p><p>on qualitative aspects - seminars, training, career prospects and office </p><p>environment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Said Mr Fox, "The enticements outside the industry are enormous so </p><p>increasing people's salaries by 10 per cent or 50 per cent means </p><p>nothing. So we have to find other ways to attract and keep staff." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>