Four markets, researched separately
Each hub carries the market overview, the six services and that market’s published research.
Japan
Japan is the hardest major market in the world to research from a database and the easiest to get wrong from the outside. Titles are internal rank markers rather than job descriptions, pay is split across base, allowances and a bonus that is reported as a separate statistical series, and the public record is written in a script where one set of kanji can carry several legitimate readings of the same person’s name.
Singapore
Singapore is the only market we cover where the first research question is not “who is here” but “what does here mean”. A large share of the senior population sits in regional roles covering eight to twelve countries from a single office, so a population defined by location and a population defined by responsibility are two different lists with two different price tags.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a deep, narrow market in the middle of a much larger one, and the defining research problem is that its talent pool is no longer bounded by its border. A material share of the people who matter arrived from the mainland in the last three years, work across the Greater Bay Area, or hold a role that is really a Greater China role with a Hong Kong desk attached.
China
Mainland China is the market where the research design has to be settled before the research starts, because the question of how a dataset containing personal information may lawfully leave the mainland is not a delivery detail — it determines what can be collected, what can be reported and in what form.
Twenty market reports
Five services across four markets, each dated and sourced.
| Market | Talent research | Talent intelligence | Talent sourcing | Executive search | Recruitment support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report |
| Singapore | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report |
| Hong Kong | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report |
| China | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report | 2026 report |
Twelve guides
Three per market: the mapping method, the pay structure, and the sector where the research is hardest.
- Talent mapping in Japan: a complete guide
- Japan compensation benchmarking guide
- Japan manufacturing & engineering talent mapping
- Talent mapping in Singapore: a complete guide
- Singapore compensation benchmarking guide
- Singapore financial services talent mapping
- Talent mapping in Hong Kong: a complete guide
- Hong Kong compensation benchmarking guide
- Hong Kong financial services talent mapping
- Talent mapping in mainland China: a complete guide
- China compensation benchmarking guide
- China manufacturing, EV & engineering mapping
Six services across four markets
Twenty-four pages. Each is scoped and priced separately, and none of them is placement.
| Service | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talent Mapping | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
| Talent Sourcing | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
| Talent Intelligence | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
| Talent Research | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
| Executive Search Research | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
| Recruitment Support | Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | China |
What changes at each border
The five things that most often break a regional research brief.
| Japan | Singapore | Hong Kong | Mainland China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement licensing | Employment Security Act; MHLW licence; criminal penalties for unlicensed operation | Employment Agencies Act; MOM licence; executive search a licensable category | Employment Ordinance; licence or Certificate of Exemption; no carve-out for headhunting | Interim Regulation on the Human Resources Market; licence for intermediary activity |
| Data protection | Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI); PPC | Personal Data Protection Act; PDPC; Do Not Call registers | Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance; PCPD; Part VIA direct marketing, criminal liability | Personal Information Protection Law; CAC cross-border transfer regime |
| Research language | Japanese | English, plus the languages of the covered markets | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | Simplified Chinese |
| Principal pay source | Basic Survey on Wage Structure (MHLW) | Occupational wage tables (MOM) | Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics (C&SD) | Annual wage release (National Bureau of Statistics) |
| The variable that breaks benchmarks | Bonus and allowances reported separately from base | Regional scope, which no series measures | Unvested deferred compensation, in no series | Ownership type: non-private vs private vs foreign-invested |
This table is a navigation aid, not legal advice. Licence conditions, thresholds and transfer rules change, and the market pages cite the primary source for each. Where a decision turns on one, confirm it against that source with your own counsel.
Asia-Pacific research — FAQs
Why are these four markets grouped together?
Operationally rather than culturally. They are the four Asia-Pacific markets Audentia researches to the same standard as its eight established markets, and the research in each is run by analysts working in that market’s own language.
They are not a single market and we never report them as one. Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China have four different legal systems, four different licensing regimes and four different data protection frameworks.
Is Hong Kong researched as part of China?
No. Hong Kong has its own legal system, data protection ordinance, financial regulators, licensing regime for employment agencies, currency and written script.
Where a project spans both, we research them as two markets, handle the mainland portion under mainland rules including the cross-border transfer position, and say where the two genuinely connect.
Can one project cover several of these markets?
Yes, and it is the commonest shape of a regional engagement. The hard part is holding one population definition constant across markets whose official occupational categories are drawn differently.
We publish the reconciliation alongside the analysis, so you can see where categories were forced to align rather than taking it on trust.
Do you place candidates anywhere in Asia-Pacific?
No. All four markets license placement in some form, and we deliver research in all four. We do not introduce candidates for a placement fee and charge nothing contingent on a hire.
That is stated in the engagement letter rather than only on a website.
Is this research free to read?
Yes. Every report and guide listed here is published in full with no form in front of it, with its sources named and the date each figure was checked.
Where a number could not be established from a primary source it is absent and the page says what is missing and why.