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Workers in Indonesia and India are the most optimistic in Asia Pacific about their career opportunities, according to a study from LinkedIn.

The study, the LinkedIn Opportunity Index, is a composite measure that seeks to understand how people perceive opportunity and the barriers that may prevent them from getting to those opportunities. The research surveyed over 11,000 respondents in nine markets in the Asia Pacific region – Australia, Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Workers in Indonesia and India took the top two spots. This ranking was driven by the people’s confidence in their economic growth potential, as well as their faith in gaining access to and pursuing opportunities they identified as important. On the other hand, the more developed markets such as Japan, Hong Kong and Australia trailed in the Index as people in these markets expressed concerns over the economic outlook, and generally felt more cautious about their chances of accessing and achieving success with opportunities that are relevant to them.

Across APAC, there is a strong desire to get ahead in life through advancing one’s career, building one’s own business and acquiring new skills. These are the top three opportunity areas for APAC, with each cited by about 15% of respondents.

On the other hand, the top barriers people felt they needed to overcome in order to access and realise opportunities are one’s financial status (30%), followed by lack of a strong network and connections (22%). Other roadblocks include a difficult job market (19%), lack of required professional skills (18%) and lack of direction and guidance (18%).

While 90% of APAC respondents believe in working hard to get ahead in life, an almost equal number feel that knowing the right people or having the right connections (85%) and having equal access to opportunities (83%) are as important.

The Index also found that more than 35% of the respondents also want to able to use their skills. Nearly a third, or 30%, cite “learning a new skill”, and 23% cite “learning a new technology” as their aspiration.

“In an environment where the prospect of being displaced from one’s job due to the impact of AI/automation and other shifts in the labour ecosystem, respondents also recognise that with jobs rapidly evolving, they need to upskill to stay relevant,” the Index stated.

Approximately a third (31%) of people in South Korea aged 65 or older held low-wage jobs, such as cleaners or security guards for flats, last year after their retirement, reports the Korea Herald, citing data from the Korea Development Bank. The data showed a rising poverty rate among older adults in fast-ageing South Korea, already highest among members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Senior men who held low-wage jobs after their retirement quit at an average age of 72.9, while senior women quit their jobs at an average age of 73.1, which were also the highest among OECD members. South Korea has a high elderly employment rate as many seniors work to help cover their living costs. OECD data for workers aged 65 or older, found that the employment rate for this age group reached 30.6%, according to the latest available data from 2015. This was second among OECD members after Iceland’s 38.7%. The OECD average stood at 13.8%. South Korea’s poverty rate for the elderly is also high as many seniors land low-paying jobs. The rate came to 63.3% in 2015, the highest among OECD nations.

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LabourStart headline – Source: IHRM

LabourStart headline – Source: ITUC

General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra plans to visit Capitol Hill next week to discuss its plans to halt production at five plants in North America next year and cut up to 15,000 jobs, two congressional aides said on Friday.