siliconindia | | April 20189Employees Drawn to Development Opportunities in StartupsData scientists will continue to be in high demand in 2018, as companies seek to manage and mine insights from big data in order to predict customer trends and demand cycles to in-crease their profits. These specialists are equipped with the technical skills and in-depth knowledge in high-level data analytics, artificial intelligence as well as machine learning (or microservices) in order to predict and extract insights to formulate better business strategies. However, startups are not only competing among themselves, but also against large corporations for this limited pool of professionals who pos-sess both niche technical skills and strong business acumen. As a result, smaller startups may find it a challenge to attract talent, as they lack the financial clout to compete on remuneration packages. In order to stay competitive, our 2017's Randstad Employee Brand Research showed that startups should consider offering intrinsic benefits that are valued by job seekers such as career development opportuni-ties (64.5 percent), independent working environment (51.5 percent) and flexibility to be creative (50.5 percent).We have seen an increasing number of talent making the move to startups due to the exciting exposure they can get as well as the opportunity to gain knowledge, experience and satisfaction from working in an environment powered by in-novation. However, the move may set them back about 15-20 percent in salary due to the uncertainty of the business' success and sustainability. Startups tend to be volatile job providers, stemming from the high risk environment they operate in. For example, an unapproved patent of a product or technology may mean that employees will have to invest more time & resources to improve the prototype or shut down completely.That said, the dynamic learning process - from both successes and failures - tend to appeal strongly to highly motivated individuals, and we are seeing more of such job seekers in Singapore diving into the startup industry. We an-ticipate an upward trend in hiring numbers, as the industry is poised for further growth in Singapore due to the nation's promising gross domestic product forecast and boost in con-sumer confidence.For startups, their ability to attract the right talent can be done through a transparent and well-documented com-munication process detailing all the potential opportunities and risks that come with the role. These involve discussing in thorough detail the company's equity, clarity on the fund-ing process, key milestones & goals, and sales & revenue projections, as well as the responsibilities, roles and career development opportunities of the employees in the business.Growth in Blockchain TechnologyThe growth potential around the blockchain technology trend will see more specialised startups emerge in Singa-pore as well as major corporations integrating it into their business. This exponential growth means that there will be intense competition for experienced talent who have a deep knowledge of the successful integration and implementation of block chain technology such as smart contract developers as well as java or golang developers.The Monetary Authority of Singapore is working with a number of global partners and Singapore financial institu-tions on Project Ubin - a collaborative proposal to develop interbank payments through blockchain technology, while ensuring consumer data privacy. Through this project, the local government looks to keep an `open mind' on regulating blockchain technology and is evaluating the security & vi-ability to scale and bring it to the masses. This will ultimately result in improved efficiency and productivity, as companies can develop simple-to-use alternatives to replace today's on-erous systems.Emerging Healthcare HotspotsThe healthtech sector recorded a growth of 14 percent, at-tracting $2.6 billion in investment value across Asia in 2017. Considered as one of the world's leading healthcare innova-tion hotspot, Singapore provides healthtech startups with ac-cess to world-class technology in research and development, as well as market scale within the region. The collaborative ecosystems between public and the private sector as well as pharmaceuticals and medical technology companies provide the startups with the right environment and network to inno-vate and improve quality of care across the region. Similarly, we noted a growth in healthcare startups establishing their operations in India and China, and we expect this trend to continue into 2018 as these markets are able to provide them with the size and scale needed to profit and achieve unicorn status more quickly. The collaborative ecosystems between public and the private sector provide the startups with the right environment and network to innovate & improve quality of care across the region
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