Asian online recruitment retains veil of secrecy

A recent report on trends within the Asian online gambling recruitment space has highlighted the volatility of wages within a market where experts suggest the best talent keeps a low profile. The BettingJobs.com salary survey released in late November showed a greater variation in the pay for the tops jobs in the region than is evident elsewhere in the world. According to the data, chief executives at Asian-based companies draw in salaries of between $400,000 and $900,000 while chief marketing officers can expect to attract anywhere between $125,000 and $170,000. A head of sportsbook trading, meanwhile, can command between $95,000 and $140,000 while a head of operation can expect a salary anywhere between $125,000 and $170,000. “There is a huge disparity between the local salaries and the expats that can skew the data wildly,” says Chris Miller, managing director at BettingJobs.com who points out also that the organisational structures of Asian-based companies will often differ from that of their western counterparts. “Expat salaries are much easier to qualify due to language barrier and because they are largely working for the Western players in Asia,” Miller adds. “Data has been obtained from local operators, but mainly from the larger players who do hire expats, but Asian expats.” But the expat data is perhaps less than half the story. As Miller admits, it means there is a big hole where the information on executive level recruitment data from the local operators should be, partly because of the private nature of the businesses and also due to many executives at the firms in question also being shareholders. Keith McDonnell, consultant with KMI Gaming, also points out that the Asian online market has developed distinct characteristics in recruitment that differ substantially from how the sector has developed in Europe and elsewhere. “Online gambling is just not as open and public in Asia as it is elsewhere,” he says. “People don’t use professional networks like LinkedIn as much and often, when attending industry shows, people don’t always like to display their real name. In many ways, it’s just not that easy for recruiters to find the cream of the crop.” As one headhunter with knowledge of the global gambling industry put it, this often makes the Asian online market “feel like a closed shop” and certainly there would appear to be a premium placed on being in situ when it comes to placement, both as a recruiter and as a candidate. “We mainly look (for candidates) who are already based in the Southeast Asia region as the first place to search, as they are the experts in each market plus the fact that the employers expect a high tempo in the recruitment process,” says Jonas Chrigström, chief executive and recruitment specialist at SmartConsulting.net.  “You need to be present locally in order to know the local markets, then you can meet the employer’s requirements,” he adds. “Doing just Skype interviews is just not enough; it’s humans we recruit so face-to-face to both employers and candidates is key.” To be a success in the Asian market, specialist knowledge is a must and, as ever, those that have the knowledge come at a premium. “There are fundamental product and operational differences where knowledge and networks are critical to success,” says McDonnell. “Of course, ‘outsiders’ can build the knowledge and experience needed but business in Asia is such that this takes time.” The major hub for online talent, whether indigenous to Asia or from Europe and further afield, is Manila, where according to recent reports the authorities are looking at a permit crackdown that could curb the intake of employees from abroad. Such a move would certainly affect the online industry based in the city, particularly given their dependence at the management level on either European or Chinese nationals. Alongside other political and economic uncertainties, this might see some operators reconsider their domicile suggests McDonnell. “Given some of the recent challenges in Manila around regulatory and tax uncertainties, many operators are looking at other territories in the region, and outside, as alternatives should the uncertainties continue,” he says. “But it’s a big step so the prudent are creating multi-location infrastructures to provide plan B and C if needed.” One of those plans might one day include a more ‘open’ market with the potential of liberalisation and regulation alongside a more open recruitment market. But this would seem a distant prospect and the recruitment of talent within the Asian online sector will remain as opaque as ever. As the headhunter signed off, “a lot of our searches are hard but (Asian recruitment searches) go in the ‘too-hard’ box.”