Deel’s recent State of Global Hiring Report found that Singapore is leading the early adoption of AI trainers across APAC, with strong salary growth in senior product and commercial roles, and sustained demand for software developers. Globally, over 70,000 AI trainers now work across 600 organisations, with India and the Philippines accounting for significant shares.
The report, which examines major labour market shifts based on over one million contracts from 37,000+ companies in 150 countries, identifies four key trends: the rise of AI training as a profession, startups prioritising specialised expertise when hiring internationally, remote workers returning to cities, and increased use of US dollars and stablecoins by contractors in unstable economies.
Software developers remain the top cross-border hire, especially in APAC markets. Seven of the 10 leading cross-border roles globally are in sales, marketing, or customer-facing functions, indicating continued value in local market expertise despite AI advancements.
iTNews Asia spoke to Lauren Thomas, economist, Deel, for a deeper dive into APAC and Singapore job markets.
iTNews Asia: Why are the APAC economies providing the most AI trainers (India and the Philippines) also the most exposed to AI displacement? Does the report account for this tension?
Thomas: The Deel Global Hiring Report reflects the specific roles and compensation trends active on our platform, offering a snapshot of how global hiring is evolving. Our data shows a significant rise in AI trainer roles as a new, distinct profession. These positions often involve cross-border work that values specialised skills and digital fluency. While broader economic discussions often focus on how automation might change traditional service roles in the APAC region, our data specifically highlights the growth of these new, specialised categories of work. This suggests that the labour market is not simply shifting in one direction, but is instead becoming more diversified.
In markets like India and the Philippines, we are seeing a multi-layered transition. On one hand, there is a global conversation about how technology changes routine tasks; on the other, our platform shows these same markets emerging as vital hubs for the human expertise needed to build and refine AI.
Rather than a contradiction, this represents a natural progression in the global talent landscape. It indicates that these economies, long known for their service sectors, large talent pool, and strong English proficiency, are now supplying the specialised skills required for the next generation of technology.
Historically, regions with strong English proficiency have served as primary support centres for global markets. As such, these regions continue to see sustained engagement for related service roles. This shift highlights a broader trend where talent is increasingly defined by specialised expertise in a digital-first economy.
iTNews Asia: Singapore's retrenchments are concentrated in exactly the sectors Deel praises. What does that signal?
Thomas: The best way to look at this is by comparing two different lenses on the same market. The Deel Global Hiring Report tracks specific cross border hiring and pay trends happening on our platform, while data from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower provides a broad, nationwide view of the entire workforce, which includes workers hired by local legal entities. This means that the cross-border workforce is only a subset of the overall economy.
It is common for these data sets to show different signals. While some companies may be restructuring or consolidating certain departments, our platform shows that there is still a steady demand for specialised roles like software developers from companies hiring from abroad.
iTNews Asia: Singapore's 'job-hugging’ phenomenon (reported by the local media) directly contradicts the report's optimism. Which picture is more accurate?
Thomas: Think of it as two different perspectives on the same market. One shows that workers are being cautious, while the other shows that companies are still hiring for specific needs. When people talk about "job-hugging," they are describing how many employees are staying put and avoiding the risk of switching jobs during uncertain times. This is a natural reaction to the current economy, where people value stability over making a jump and where hiring is down substantially in advanced market economies worldwide.
At the same time, our data shows that companies are still willing to pay well for people with specialised skills, especially in tech and AI. So, while the average person might be staying in their current role for longer, businesses are still actively looking for experts to help them grow. This shows that while the overall job market has slowed down for many, the competition for specific, high-skilled talent is still very much alive.
iTNews Asia: If APAC leads the world in AI agent adoption, why is the report so quiet about what that means for the roles it celebrates?
Thomas: The report provides a retrospective look at actual hiring and compensation trends over the past year, focusing on where companies are currently investing. By design, our report is a map of what has already happened in the market rather than setting predictions.
While many APAC businesses are adopting AI agents, our data shows that they are still hiring heavily for roles that require human judgement, such as software developers and managers. These positions remain in high demand because, even as AI improves, businesses still rely on people to handle complex decisions and apply local market knowledge.
- Lauren Thomas, economist, Deel
The rise of AI trainers is a good example of this trend. These roles have emerged because AI systems still need human expertise to learn and be effective. By highlighting these figures, we are showing where new types of work are appearing and where the demand for human skills is actually growing. It suggests that, for now, the technology is creating a need for new kinds of specialists alongside the traditional roles we track, though we remain focused on reporting current data rather than forecasting long-term shifts.
iTNews Asia: Singapore's 70 percent compensation growth for product managers looks extraordinary. Is it masking a much smaller, more exclusive talent pool? What was the sample size Deel surveyed?
Thomas: Our report tracks the median compensation growth for professionals employed specifically through Deel’s platform between 2024 and 2025. While the 70 percent figure for product managers in Singapore is based on our data, it represents a specific group of professionals, many of which are hired by international tech companies, rather than every product manager in the country. Our report is based on a sample of over 15,000 workers in Singapore, and we maintain minimum thresholds for each job category to ensure the data is meaningful.
This trend suggests that within the roles we manage, there is a strong appetite for high-level product talent. Rather than a market-wide average for the entire nation, we view this as a signal that certain global employers are placing a high value on roles that bridge the gap between engineering and business growth. It reflects Singapore's position as a regional hub where specific, high-impact skills are currently being prioritised by international firms.
iTNews Asia: What happened to the roles that AI trainers replaced in APAC, and are you counting them?
Thomas: Our report tracks hiring that is happening on our platform, rather than every job changed or phased out in the wider market. While we saw an almost three-fold increase in cross-border AI trainer roles last year and a nearly 11x jump in overall worldwide AI trainer roles (including locally hired ones), our data shows a shift in what companies need rather than a direct "replacement" of old jobs.
As some tasks are automated, new roles requiring human oversight and expertise are emerging to take their place. These roles aren’t necessarily replacing human roles 1:1; rather they are an entirely new category of jobs.
We aren't counting jobs lost, but we are mapping where demand is growing. While some traditional roles are changing, companies are simultaneously facing a shortage of specialised AI talent. This suggests that the market is redesigning roles to focus on new skills.
Our goal is to show where these new opportunities are so workers and employers can see which skills are becoming most valuable.
