This year’s Hays Asia Salary Guide, which highlights salary and recruitment trends based on survey responses from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, found that 65% of employers who participated in the study said hard skills are more desirable than soft skills in prospective employees.
Overall, three in five or 60% of employers are more inclined to hire candidates with hard skills over those with soft skills. The most sought after of these are statistical analysis and data mining (55%), project management (52%) and computer skills (44%).
In terms of soft skills, employees with problem-solving skills (87%), good teamwork (80%) and verbal communication (78%) are the most desirable.
The report also found that businesses in Malaysia are generally least interested in hiring people with foreign language skills (8%), web architecture and development framework skills (10%) and user experience or user interface design skills (10%).
The areas of psychological and emotional competency at the bottom of employers’ priority lists are negotiation abilities, resilience and flexibility.
Hays Malaysia managing director Tom Osborne advised candidates to stay on top of industry developments by constantly up-skilling or re-skilling, in order to maintain a competitive edge.
“As for employers, soft skills should continue to be a relevant and important aspect when considering a new hire, as these skills are surely needed to complement even the deepest of knowledge and widest breadths of experience in order for both individuals and businesses to succeed,” he said.