In 2023, the discourse around hiring among Sales & Marketing professionals has revolved around the rising costs of living in the Philippines. Alejandro Perez-Higuero, Director at Robert Walters Philippines, reveals that it is a major source of concern for candidates when they think through what opportunities or companies to take on next.
In addition, companies that offered flexibility – in the form of remote or hybrid work models, or providing transportation allowance and benefits – were at an advantage when it came to talent attraction and retention in the past year.
Read on to find out more about Alejandro’s expectations of the labour market and hiring trends for Sales & Marketing professionals in the Philippines in 2024.
Competition for talent expected to heat up
Over the past year, more multinational corporations (MNCs) have enacted cost-cutting measures due to a shaky economic outlook. Alejandro has noticed that this push for more efficiency has meant that new roles they have been hiring for often come with expanded job scopes that cover bigger categories or business sizes.
Therefore, candidates who can execute their specialisations or roles well, and who have been accrued broad, strategic experience will be extremely valuable on the market.
Overall, more brands are also entering the market directly or through distributors, driving up demand for sales and marketing talent. Companies will likely need to double down on efforts to retain employees as there are more businesses competing for talent.
Demand for candidates with breadth and depth
With the pandemic behind them, more consumers are heading outside and so foot traffic has returned to stable levels in retail spaces. As such, there will be a healthy demand for trade marketing roles in the FMCG, consumer healthcare and retail sectors.
Alejandro also notes that more companies are strengthening their capabilities around insights and strategy, creating specialised teams to manage data and formulate business strategy.
Against this backdrop, the most in-demand technical skillsets in the year ahead are consumer and shopper insights, integrated marketing and distributor management. The top soft skills that companies are looking for are adaptability, stakeholder management and communication. Candidates who can augment their existing skillsets with these in-demand skillsets will be well equipped to show that they can add value to the business.
The most sought after roles in 2024 will be marketing managers, category development managers, market intelligence managers and consumer insights managers.
Offer flexibility and communicate clearly to attract and retain talent
The market has become more competitive as candidates are now more open to different opportunities, says Alejandro. He notes that many candidates from multinational corporations or established companies are willing to join smaller businesses or newer brands entering the market, as the opportunities there often cone with higher salaries or more flexibility.
Therefore, Alejandro highlights that is important when hiring to offer flexibility to talents that companies are keen to welcome onboard.
If flexible work arrangements are not possible, then companies can look into other options to help make up for the lack of flexibility.
To retain talent, companies should consider expanding benefits to address the changing needs of their employees depending on their stage of life. Alejandro also notes that strong candidates also tend to respond positively to clear directives and plans, so companies have a better shot at retaining them by communicating any changes in functions, company direction and job scopes.
Significant rise in salaries for job movers
Salaries are expected to increase by between 25 – 30% as the companies continue to compete for talent. The increments could even be higher for talent with specialised skillsets or expanded job scopes.
Find out more
Request access to our 2024 Salary Survey to benchmark salaries and to find out more about key hiring trends across the Sales & Marketing industry in the Philippines.
