More than four in every five (83%) Asia Pacific organisations are expecting an expansion of their workforce in the coming 12 months, according to the 2019 APAC Employment Screening Benchmark Report by HireRight.
The annual report polled more than 4,000 Human Resources professionals worldwide, including over 600 in the APAC region.
Over a third of APAC respondents (34%) deemed finding, developing and retaining talent as one of their top 3 business challenges of 2019, ahead of maintaining a competitive edge (21%) and growing revenues (19%).
The pressure to fill the talent pipeline is leading to changes in screening processes across the region. Three quarters (76%) of organisations in Asia Pacific conduct checks on all job candidates, with a massive 72% of respondents reporting that screening helps them assure better quality candidates and half (48%) grateful for the more consistent safety and security it affords.
Compared to last year, there has been a 13% increase in education checks (78%). Other common checks include employment (86%) and criminal (59%) – a trend consistent with previous years as awareness around background screening grows in the region.
However, the report also identified big drops in professional license (-29%) and credit (-31%) checks – potentially exposing organisations to significant risks.
The number of criminal (35%) and identity checks (27%) conducted in the region for international candidates was significantly lower than the global numbers of 56% and 34% respectively.
In addition, candidate discrepancies continue to cause headaches in HR, with over three in five (61%) of respondents revealing that they had uncovered issues through screening candidates that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
“By leveraging a robust and consistent background screening process, organisations can be assured of their quality of hires, improve company reputation, and ensure all candidates are treated fairly in the recruitment process,” said Ko Hui Yen, general manager of APAC at HireRight.
