Advertising volumes for professional-level jobs across Asia rose 23 per cent in the third quarter of this year from a year ago, with accounting and finance roles driving the rise, particularly in Singapore.

Advertising volumes for professional-level jobs across Asia rose 23 per cent in the third quarter of this year from a year ago, with accounting and finance roles driving the rise, particularly in Singapore, with particular focus on compliance and risk control as regulatory measures intensify, new figures show.

Robert Walters, the recruitment consultants, issued its Asia Job Index that tracks advertising volumes for executive positions across job boards at national news outlets in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

There was a 34 per cent jump in the number of adverts for accounting and finance roles in Q3 from a year before, the report found.

The figures highlight how Singapore continues to consolidate its position as one of the major financial market hubs in the region - the data was taken largely before the outbreak of recent disturbances in Hong Kong. The surge in regulatory action and a number of notorious compliance breaches in financial services have seen a rise in the number of compliance-related roles around the world, and this is reflected in the figures. According to anecdotal evidence seen by WealthBriefingAsia, compliance-linked roles continue to expand, as do the salaries associated with them.

The Asian economy saw signs of recovery as figures across the surveyed countries and industries showed largely positive annual growth from Q1 2013. One of the key uptrend areas included legal, governance and compliance due to tightened regulations in financial services In addition, the entrance of shared services centres drove the demand for accounting and finance professionals while Asia’s rising status as a manufacturing epicentre created opportunities in the logistics, operations and supply chain spaces,” the report said.

In China, ad volumes rose 25 per cent; in Hong Kong, they rose by a more subdued 11 per cent; in Japan, the rise was just 5 per cent; in Malaysia, 27 per cent; in Singapore, the city-state saw ads surge by 38 per cent.

Toby Fowlston, managing director, Singapore, said seasonal factors helped drive some of the advertising surge, but also pointed to other factors.

“Job advertising numbers are on the rise this quarter as we typically see the largest number of vacancies in February and March during the post-bonus boom. As a result of Singapore’s heavily candidate-driven market, the overall year-on-year 38 per cent increase is caused by the strong demand for Singaporean talent. Hence, there is a big push for attracting overseas Singaporeans from both organisations and the government,” he said.

Legal and compliance job ads surged by 52 per cent in the city-state; accounting and finance roles rose by 43 per cent, the data showed.