When a colleague’s heart stops, who steps forward?
As Singapore introduces a certification for cardiac-ready workplaces, a survivor and a cardiologist share what it takes for colleagues to act when a cardiac emergency strikes.
Fractional HR is being built one practitioner at a time
Senior HR leadership has long meant a full-time, in-house executive. In the first two pieces, Gwen Lockington, Founder and Principal of Lockington People and Advisory, looks at where the fractional model fits, when a business needs senior HR leadership, and what the shift asks of the leaders who make it.
SK Telecom moves to scale employee-built AI agents across the organisation
After thousands of employees built their own AI agents, South Korea’s largest mobile carrier is redesigning workflows, data systems and support structures to turn individual gains into organisation-wide results.
Employees in Australia back corporate climate action but few trust their employer’s progress
Nearly all employees in Australia expect employers to act on climate change, but a new Curtin University study finds few believe their own company is delivering, and most will only trust climate claims that are independently verified.
Pay rise of 6% to 8% recommend for lower-wage workers in Singapore
Lower-wage workers earning up to S$2,800 a month should receive a 6% to 8% increase or at least S$120, with the guidelines also calling on employers to invest in AI-related skills.
Building the ESG framework was the easy part. Changing the culture was not
Speaking at AsiaHRM’s latest LinkedIn Live session, ACEN’s Irene Maranan explained how the renewable energy company moved ESG from reporting into everyday business decisions, and why getting people on board took more work than writing the policies.
Why return-to-work for women starts before she resigns
Career breaks are often the end point of months of unmet requests, new research by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) finds. Its CEO, Koh Yan Ping, on what employers miss while a woman is still in the job.
Experiment first, strategy later: How AI is entering the workplace
Three waves of University of Konstanz research show AI use at work rising slowly and often arriving without the employer’s involvement. Study head Florian Kunze explains why the divides are widening as it spreads.
CHRO Singapore 2026: Time saved, skills at risk, trust on the line
From productivity gains to disappearing entry-level work and the gap between what leaders and employees sees, the conversation at CHRO Series Singapore 2026 kept returning to what AI changes for people.
Malaysia’s Budget 2027 lifts minimum wage to RM2,000, sets RM2,500 floor for graduates
Budget 2027 also raises the pay floor for semi-skilled workers and graduates, introduces new tax rules on wage payments, and allocates RM8 billion to vocational and technical training.
A new way to measure digital wellbeing, and a warning about measuring it alone
New research shifts the digital wellbeing question from how much technology employees use to how they use it – while cautioning that training alone leaves the demands untouched.
Mental health at work: When well-meaning caution narrows a career
Employers have expanded mental wellness provisions considerably. Andrea Chan of TOUCH Community Services explains why the harder test comes after an employee speaks up.
Most employees in Singapore now use AI at work, but fewer than four in 10 have been trained in it
AI is now part of the working week for most employees in Singapore, but employers say nearly half of their workforce is still using it only for general tasks.
Why redesigning a job takes more than the equipment that prompted it
With Singapore’s workforce no longer growing and a larger foreign workforce off the table, facilities management is reshaping its frontline roles. ICFM’s Lynn Lim on multi-skilled teams, an ageing workforce, and why a robot on its own changes nothing.
Taiwan’s minimum wage to cross NT$30,000 as AI boom lifts growth
Labour and employer representatives agreed on a 4.745% increase after differing on how the gains of AI-led growth should be shared.
Hong Kong’s manpower gap narrows, but AI squeezes entry-level and clerical roles
A government update credits talent and labour admission schemes with easing the city’s shortage, even as key industries stay tight and entry-level vacancies fall sharply.
Singapore to require certified HR professionals at firms with more than 200 staff from 2028
A new certification requirement aims to double Singapore’s pool of certified HR professionals to around 18,000 by 2030.
Own data, not benchmarks: What holds up in a board conversation on wellbeing
Employers overwhelmingly say workplace wellbeing matters. AIA Singapore’s Kenneth Tan tells HRM Asia why that agreement rarely survives contact with a board, and what evidence does.
Australia’s AI job impact still hard to find, Treasury report finds
Australia’s 40-year economic outlook finds AI adoption inside businesses still shallow, with no broad effects on jobs yet, but it expects many roles to be redesigned.
AI is creating capacity. Where it goes decides the value
Ahead of CHRO Series Indonesia 2026, Novo Indonesia’s Adhika Widya Sena on the move from implementing HR technology to shaping the human operating model around it.
Indonesia sets out four principles for human-centred AI adoption at work
Workflow redesign and upskilling, not AI tools alone, drive the biggest productivity gains, according to Indonesia’s Manpower Minister, as the ministry prepares a workplace guide and pilot projects.
The Philippines to reskill 1.3 million IT-BPM employees under US$34.4 billion AI infrastructure plan
The national masterplan projects more than 500,000 AI-related jobs by 2033, alongside a 30-fold expansion in the country’s AI data centre capacity.
Singapore to share enhanced childcare leave details in early 2027
The government is studying ways to help employers cover employees on leave and is considering an accreditation mark for work-life-friendly workplaces, as Minister Indranee Rajah says caregiving leave should become part of normal HR policy.
Where do senior cyber professionals come from when the junior jobs disappear?
AI is absorbing the junior work that senior cybersecurity professionals once learned on. Fortinet’s Jess Ng on what that means for the talent pipeline and for retention.
Indonesia targets up to 3.5 million jobs in 2027, but businesses warn of hurdles
Indonesia’s ambitious 2027 jobs target faces hurdles as businesses call for investment, industrial growth and reforms to create quality employment.
What raising a child taught a CEO about leading
Being physically present with his newborn son did not make Dr Xander Ong a more confident father—taking sole responsibility did. The Centre for Fathering CEO on why that shift from helping to owning shapes stronger leaders, and why parental leave belongs in the conversation about talent.
Employers in Singapore take more selective approach to hiring in Q4 2026
Singapore’s hiring outlook remains subdued as employers take a more selective approach to headcount while grappling with persistent skills gaps.
More employers in Singapore set to hold wages flat in 2027
Business prospects look steadier for 2027, but rising manpower costs are keeping employers cautious on pay – and the improvement is not reaching every sector.
Japan eases overtime guidance amid labour shortages, sparking work-life balance concerns
Japan’s latest workplace reform is placing economic growth against employee wellbeing in a renewed debate over working hours.
Can making tea be a career? CHAGEE and ITE build the ladder
A new CHAGEE-ITE qualification folds tea-beverage skills into a national vocational course and the chain’s own shop-floor training – a bid to turn a high-churn frontline job into a certified profession, and one whose skills, CHAGEE says, a worker keeps wherever they go next.