NES Fircroft began working with the client in June 2024 when they approached us for insights into the local talent landscape to establish a new office. We provided them with comprehensive data on the talent pool, local labour regulations, and suitable locations. Subsequently, they requested further support through an RPO proposal to support business processes that would otherwise be handled internally.
The Client’s Challenge
The client plans to open a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by early 2025, creating over 200 new roles in engineering and corporate support. While their office in Singapore will manage the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) projects for floating offshore solutions, the new KL office aims to build a diverse and inclusive workforce that meets business and client needs.
Unfortunately, with no local presence in Malaysia and little knowledge of the local talent landscape, filling 200 office positions posed a significant challenge. Our client had no established network, mapped-out local talent pool, or an implemented career portal or recruitment system. Additionally, the client had no structured local talent acquisition team despite needing to hire 190 people in under 6 months. Given these circumstances, they required the support of a local partner with established talent networks.
Our Solution
Our recruitment specialists provided data on the local talent landscape and labour regulations and facilitated introductions to key government agencies to assist the client in deciding the location.
In 2024, our Managed Solutions sub-brand, NES Advantage, was awarded the exclusive contract to establish a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solution to support the hiring of over 200 personnel in Malaysia.
Our support included:
- Provision of a dedicated off-site team based at the sourcing hub in the Philippines, overseeing all recruitment activities, as the client had yet to establish a physical office.
- Development of a recruitment process flow that integrates seamlessly with the client’s internal processes and ATS system. We deployed 4 dedicated recruiters and one coordinator, supported by the Philippines sourcing hub, which included 4 additional.
- Comprehensive market mapping of the talent landscape for over 160 roles, covering key engineering disciplines such as Mechanical, Offshore Structure, Electrical, Piping, Instrumentation, Process, and more. Additionally, non-technical roles were covered in areas like Contracts, Procurement, Digital & Analytics, Finance, and HR.
- Managing the entire recruitment lifecycle, including online marketing, recruitment processes, and onboarding. LinkedIn ads and posts were created to direct candidates to the client’s internal ATS system, which we had access to. This also supported local employer branding efforts.
- Coordinating visas, work permits, medical check-ups, insurance, and travel logistics.
- Holding weekly progress meetings to update the client on the project status.
All hired individuals were successfully onboarded, with the assignment support team managing the entire process.
The Outcome
As part of our remit, we successfully recruited a significant number of staff for our client, and our effective handling of this challenge has led to continued collaboration on additional projects.
Over six months, our recruitment team issued over 130 offers, with the 43 most critical hires tackled first and onboarded in full compliance. We now support them across various service lines and will continue supporting the project’s hiring needs.