Singapore-based Southeast Asian talent community and platform Glints announced on Tuesday record-high FY2022 revenue growth of 85 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), driven by increased employer demand for cross-border talent. Gross profits also soared by 110 percent y-o-y.

The company sees positive contribution margins across all business units, with key markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam achieving operational profitability. In FY2022, Glints invested in further expansion into Hong Kong, Japan, China, and R&D to support growth and cross-border efforts.

“Today, employers worldwide are increasingly adopting a borderless mindset to discover the best talent. Cost savings and efficiency will remain top of mind as companies navigate the downturn, particularly as macros remain uncertain outside of AI-led recovery. These shifts have enabled us to drive our sustainable growth further. We are confident in our clear path towards profitability,” said Oswald Yeo, cofounder and CEO of Glints.

Glints’ strong results were driven by a few macro trends:

• Hong Kong employers increasingly adopting cross-border hiring to save costs and combat brain drain – Glints’ cross-border business continues to double as employers shift to a more borderless mindset, and employers globally are increasingly hiring Southeast Asia talent, with a focus on revenue-generating roles such as business development and marketing and strong tech talent including data scientists, engineers, and product managers.
• China employers hiring local Southeast Asia talent to expand in the region or globally. Glints saw a 4 times increase in open roles from China-based employers for Southeast Asia talent in the first half (1H 2023).
• Rise of cross-border remote and hybrid work – As cross-border remote and hybrid work become more normalized, companies in banking and finance, e-commerce and retail, and IT & marketing services are increasingly building teams across borders. The top roles being hired on the Glints’ platform include software engineering, business development, sales, and marketing.
• Increase of revenue-generating hires – As companies shift focus to fundamentals and generating profits, revenue-generating roles have increased by 15 percent on the Glints’ platform within sales, BD, and marketing.
• Hiring for an AI era – Glints is also starting to see shifts in how employers hire in an AI and generative AI world. In 1H 2023, Glints saw an increase in AI roles on the platform, with the top three roles being hired being AI engineer, AI mentor or trainer, and data scientist and analyst. The demand for AI engineers increased by 15 percent from 1H 2022 to 1H 2023.

Glints plans to continue investing in R&D and product innovation with plans to launch new product offerings such as the Chat to Apply feature, allowing candidates and hiring managers to engage in real-time conversations.

Today, Glints’ employer base has grown to 60,000 employers. These clients range from startups to large MNCs across industries, including GetGo, KKday, AIA, Ikea, and Panasonic, the company added.

Glints announced in December last year it is reducing its team size and retrenching some of its staff.

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