Dyson to hire over 2,000 people in Southeast Asia after moving HQ to Singapore

British household appliance maker Dyson is looking to hire upwards of 2,000 people across Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, Dyson global head of talent acquisition Jon-Paul Pritchard told Bloomberg.

The Dyson V8 vacuum / Photo credit: Soon Koon

The development follows the company’s decision to move its headquarters from the UK to Singapore, which was announced earlier this year.

“We’re investing in local populations as much as possible,” Pritchard said today during a panel session at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. “We’re going to spend a lot of effort in retraining.”

The exec said that the company will be mainly looking for engineers and employees working in production, design, and operations. Currently, the company employs about 6,000 engineers and scientists across Asia and the UK.

In a previous statement, Dyson said that its Singapore Technology Center will be doubling in size. “An increasing majority of Dyson’s customers and all of our manufacturing operations are now in Asia; this shift has been occurring for some time and will quicken as Dyson brings its electric vehicle to market.”

It was reported late last year that Dyson is building its first manufacturing plant in Singapore, noting the city-state’s skilled workforce and extensive supply chain links. Construction on the new plant began in December last year and is due for completion in 2020.

The company first announced its decision to move into the electric vehicle space back in 2017, with founder James Dyson saying that the company aims to create something “radically different” compared to currently available EV options.