Brothers James W. Packard and William D. Packard founded the Packard Motor Car Company in 1899. Henry Ford began his company in 1903. Introduced in 1904, the Ford Model ‘C’ sold for $850 and was known as the “Doctor’s Car.”
By contrast, Packard’s “Gray Wolf,” also released in 1904, sold for over $2,000. Packard was the dominant luxury car manufacturer for decades. Around the same time, the company adopted an advertising slogan that lasted until its demise in 1958. This was, “Ask the man who owns one.” Since then, this phrase has in the advertising world come to embody the power of “personal testimony” to sell goods and services. But on another level it has come to illustrate a person or company that has a vested interest in a project or idea.
The PageGroup was founded in 1976 in the UK, first placing accountants in permanent jobs. It is a recruitment agency that was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1988 and now has annual revenues of over $2 billion. The reason we mention this company’s credentials is that it opened its first “Michael Page” office in the Philippines last August 2020.
When it comes to investing in the Philippines, perhaps someone should, “Ask the man who owns one.”
This week the company released its “Talent Trends 2021” report with a general overview of the Asia-Pacific region and specifically the Philippines. In the foreward, the Managing Director for the Indonesia and the Philippines, Olly Riches, writes: “We are seeing positivity increase across the board.”
“We’ve seen a noticeable shift with some of the top talent working overseas being attracted back to the Philippines during the past nine months—invariably linked to job security concerns. Interestingly, we’ve had success with businesses where we’ve sourced and recruited an increasing number of senior level Filipino returnees from Japan, Europe and Singapore.”
The company has its own recruitment program for Filipino professionals working abroad called “Bayanihan: Tulay sa Tagumpay.” The purpose is to “connect overseas or returnee Filipinos with the Philippines’ largest companies and brands.”
Mr. Riches also writes, “On the whole, the market sentiment for the Philippines is positive. Confidence is undoubtedly present with an expectation that the economy will bounce back in 2021. I remain cautiously optimistic, as we continue to see hiring activities steadily increase across the board.”
If you are actually in the “jobs business”—unlike the local “experts”—then you need to know and understand the genuine situation. The first takeaway from “Talent Trends 2021” is this: According to a survey conducted by Michael Page Philippines, 80 percent of the companies surveyed intend to maintain or increase their employee headcount in 2021.
The breakdown is that 35 percent are looking to increase their number of employees and 45 percent are planning to maintain the status quo in 2021. Even 33 percent of Industrial & Manufacturing companies in the Philippines expect headcount to increase by 15 percent on average in 2021. This is all excellent news and we certainly hope it holds true.
Obviously adjusting to current conditions, the sector with the highest hiring activity will be E-commerce. This is followed by Financial Services, Healthcare, Tech and Telecoms, and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods.
Another question in the survey that stood out was: “Does your company anticipate having an annual salary increase for your employees in 2021?” Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said “Yes” with only 14 percent answering “No.”
Life is not easy in the Age of the Pandemic. But maybe we are beginning to see a glimmer of positive light at the end of the tunnel.