Cielo in APAC: A year in review 2021

SINGAPORE – In the face of continued uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, and the definition of ‘new normal’ changing a few times, 2021 was a year where resolve and resilience were really tested. Thanks to the dedication of our teams and the trust of our clients, Cielo Asia Pacific stepped up to deliver award-winning outcomes once again. Our technology-enabled talent acquisition solutions ensured that we stayed proactive and provided innovative solutions to support our clients’ evolving needs in the region.

Cielo provided expert guidance to help organizations with best practice and suggestions to navigate the pandemic, especially on remote working, virtual hiring and onboarding. These timely insights were based on input from leaders across industries and compiled to help businesses stay empowered and successful.

Key highlights in 2021

• Retained 100% of our client partnerships, with many clients requesting new services throughout the year
• Grew our client portfolio by 40% across industries including technology, life sciences, automotive, professional services, manufacturing and retail
• Expanded our regional footprint further in Japan, Australia and India
• Further developed our Cielo Executive Search offering, delivering C-level and strategic search assignments across China, Singapore, Japan, India and Malaysia to name just a few
• Grew our APAC employee base by over 110% and welcomed new team members across 12 countries
• Strengthened our technology infrastructure with the rollout of Cielo TalentCloud, a fully integrated AI based TA platform, delivering superior, experience led results
• Celebrated Manila delivery center's fourth anniversary, growing to 800 recruiting professionals providing ‘24 by 5’ flex and scale support to our regional and global customers

Awards and recognition  

HR Outsourcing Association named Cielo as the #1 Global RPO provider in the 2021 HRO Today Bakers Dozen list for the second year in a row. Winning this prestigious award in 2020 was great, but to retain the #1 position and be recognized for our quality of services during such a challenging time is truly incredible and a tribute to our leaders, clients, colleagues, candidates and partners. We also retained the #1 Rank for Healthcare RPO for a record 8th year in a row. These ratings are exclusively based on customer satisfaction ratings. 

Awarded the No. 1 Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing Partner in the HR Vendors of the Year (VOTY) Awards 2021, Singapore. These awards celebrate the exceptional contribution that HR solution providers, across the region, have provided to enhancing the HR and TA functions, and innovating business performances. Furthermore, it also recognizes the region’s best providers of HR solutions in the areas of recruitment, employee benefits, training and development, outsourcing, and HR tech. 

Cielo, the world’s leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner, has once again been named a Leader on Everest Group’s 2021 Global Recruitment Process Outsourcing PEAK Matrix® report. This is the ninth consecutive year that Cielo has been in the top quadrant of providers in the RPO industry, recognizing the strategic relationships we continue to build with our client partners. Cielo increased its ranking on the market impact portion of the assessment, which measures growth through market adoption, diversity of portfolio mix, and value delivered to our clients based on customer feedback. 

Driving new innovation and ideas to our customers 

We hosted several topical webinars, including "Utilizing TA Technology to Drive Impact in APAC", "Using Talent Market Insights to Increase TA Effectiveness in China", "Employer Branding for Challenging, Changing Times in APAC" and published thought leadership articles such as "Top 10 Tips for attracting and Retaining Talent in Singapore", "How to Develop a Successful DEI&B Strategy", "Demystifying Total Talent in APAC" and many more. To access further resources from Cielo, please view our resources section. 

2021 has been a tremendous year for both Cielo and our clients and we look forward to our continuing and future client partnerships for 2022 and beyond. We also look forward to continuing to provide a long-term and sustainable career platform for the best talent in the recruitment industry. 

If you would like to find out more about how Cielo APAC can support you with your talent acquisition and recruitment goals, then please do not hesitate to contact Kumar Bhaya, VP, Client Solutions - APAC. To find out more on our career opportunities, please visit our careers page.