The Global Talent War: The bright future ahead
Though the raging battle for talent has incurred an increasing amount of casualties over the years, the future isn’t as bleak as it may sound.
According to Hsu Ken Ooi, co-founder and managing partner of Singapore-based accelerator Iterative, Covid-19’s exacerbated effects on the global talent war could lead to a number of benefits for both workers and employers. However, with that also comes a working world that looks very different from the one of yesterday’s.

Iterative co-founder and managing partner Hsu Ken Ooi / Photo credit: Iterative
In this episode of The Global Talent War, Globalization Partners’ Charles Ferguson and Tech in Asia’s Nathaniel Fetalvero talk to Ooi about the recruitment trends that have emerged out of necessity during crises, whether work culture will ever be the same again, and what the future of work might look like.
Timecodes:
00:00 – Intro
00:37 – Introducing Hsu Ken Ooi, co-founder and managing partner of Iterative
00:52 – The impact of the war on talent demand and supply
04:55 – Will the effects of Covid-19 on the workplace bleed into the post-pandemic future?
03:30 – Work-from-home culture versus remote working
06:25 – The long-term, exciting effects on the tech ecosystem
07:30 – But companies will still face challenges in attracting talent
08:41 – The virtuous growth cycle of supply and demand
10:32 – The rise of the borderless company
12:43 – Does culture just look different in the future of work?
14:20 – The future of recruiting is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed
Download the full transcript here.
Hosts:
- Charles Ferguson, Singapore-based general manager for Globalization Partners’ Asia-Pacific operations
- Nathaniel Fetalvero, managing editor of Tech in Asia Studios and host of the Startup Snapshot podcast
Featured Interviewee:
- Hsu Ken Ooi, co-founder and managing partner of Iterative, a Y Combinator-style accelerator based in Singapore
The Global Talent War is a podcast by Tech in Asia, produced in partnership with Globalization Partners. Visit Globalization Partners’ website to learn more about how you can gain an edge in the ever-evolving global talent war.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
Recommended reads
Surge backs $5.1m round of first accelerator participant from Thailand
Singapore-based Glints lays off 18% of employees
Mass firing, less hiring: Can Indonesia see hope in a grim job market?
AI hiring heats up in Singapore
Alibaba-backed VC joins $14m round of Vietnam edtech firm
Init 6 is making an early bet on this Indonesian coding test firm
Binance to add 15%-30% staff despite market downturn
Crypto.com slashes 20% of global workforce
Nasdaq-listed autonomous trucking firm to cut 350 jobs
Indonesia’s Zenius lays off employees again, almost all divisions hit
Editing by Eileen C. Ang
(And yes, we’re serious about ethics and transparency. More information here.)

