Leading recruitment and staffing firm in Asia.

Headquartered in Singapore where it was founded in 1992, HRnetGroup started off as a 4-person team. Today, with over 900 consultants spread across 13 Asian cities, we are definitively; the leading recruitment and staffing firm in Asia.

Human interactions, consciously engineered.

For us, what we do is a conscious engineering of human interactions. A nuanced approach that allows us to see the picture even before the puzzle pieces are in place and thereby ensuring a perfect fit.

That's just who we are. And what makes the difference.

We're in the business of making connections.

Deep meaningful ones. That's the moment we work for. It's what our consultants strive towards and how our success is measured. To fully live up to the magic of making great connections and changing lives – that's how we set the bar.

Purpose and Passion, the basis of our success.

Our success is attributed to what we put into our work - an equal mix of Purpose and Passion. It forms the basis, of how we operate, ensuring that we are providing only the best solutions possible. From taking a mini boat in the midst of a flood to secure a candidate or wooing one for more than a year because we knew he was The One for our client – we've done it all.

Leading recruitment and staffing firm in Asia.

Human interactions, consciously engineered.

That's just who we are. And what makes the difference.

We're in the business of making connections.

Purpose and Passion, the basis of our success.

12 Brands.

30 Business Units.

13 Asian Cities.

1 HRnetGroup.

At a Glance

Focus on Asian growth cities

Currently operating in 13 Asian growth cities, our focus is on growing cities in Asia with high level of commercial activities and job opportunities, a large and growing population with a large labour force and young population demographics.
Leading productivity and profitability through our entrepreneurial co-ownership business model and lean structure

We have leading productivity and profitability as compared to our global and regional competitors. Many of our leaders and business pioneers have personally invested in the share capital of our subsidiaries.
Strong growth and profitability since inception

Our resilience has been proven by our strong financial performance since inception, demonstrated through overall top-line and bottom-line growth over more than 26 years of operations, as well as achieved through our strong relationship with customers, diversified business model and strategic expansion across Asian growth cities.
Growth powered by twin engines of complementary businesses

Our synergistic and balanced business model is supported by two complementary businesses, with flexible staffing business providing a relatively stable and steady revenue stream in economic downturn, while the professional recruitment business generally performs well during periods of economic growth. The provision of both services allows us to offer comprehensive recruitment solutions to our customers.

Milestones.

Year

Board of Directors.

Peter Sim

Founding Chairman

Peter Sim is our Founding Chairman. He was appointed to our Board on 21 September 2016 and has close to 40 years of experience in social work, HR functions and the recruitment industry.

Peter Sim began his career in 1978 with the Housing Development Board as an assistant personnel officer. In 1979, he joined McDermott South East Asia Pte Ltd, where his last held position was senior personnel administrator. In 1981, Peter Sim joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore as its senior officer (personnel) before joining Singapore Aerospace Pte Ltd as its personnel manager in 1982. In 1984, he became the personnel manager of Metal Box Singapore Ltd. He joined Thomson Consumer Electronics Pte Ltd as compensation and benefits manager in 1987, and subsequently assumed the role of regional employee relations manager. In 1991, he joined Honeywell SEA Pte Ltd as its regional human resource director. In 1992, he founded HRnetOne which is the first entity of our Group. Together with the team, he built the various businesses and brands of our Group and has been directing, controlling and overseeing our Group business development, management and operations since its establishment.

Peter Sim graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Singapore in 1976. He is also an associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, UK.
JS Sim

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Recruit Express Group of Companies

If you were to look up the personality traits of those born in the year of the Rooster, you’ll find that diligence, resourcefulness, courage, talent, and confidence are some of the common descriptions used. Not surprisingly, JS embodies these very characteristics. He is the personification of what happens when humility and practicality combines with intelligence and determination.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Recruit Express, Recruit Express Services and SearchAsia, JS leads over 300 people across Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Every single candidate who aspires to join the Recruit Express, Recruit Express Services and SearchAsia teams have to be interviewed by him, and it is the stuff of legend that leaders are super pumped when he approves a candidate for hire. Thereafter, JS personally conducts the sales training for this elite squad, and tracks them in the monthly missive he sends to his leaders.

JS started his career in 1982 with Aurora Products Pte Ltd and was Head of Personnel before joining General Electric Intersil Pte Ltd in 1983. Prior to joining Recruit Express, he was the Regional Human Resource Director of Motorola Electrics Pte Ltd. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the National University of Singapore in 1982 and received a Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from the Singapore Institute of Management in 1984.
Adeline Sim

Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer

Adeline Sim is our Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer. She leads strategic and tactical initiatives, and is a member of the Investment Committee identifying and executing investments and acquisitions. She also oversees the technology, digital marketing, investor relations and communication functions of the Group. In her role as Chief Legal Officer, Adeline provides counsel and guidance on legal matters across the 30 business units we have in 13 cities.

On any given day, Adeline can be found doing business reviews with our people, driving a Leaders’ Breakfast Club event with clients, cutting a deal or meeting with investors. Adeline’s love for life and people definitely helps fuel a very demanding and varied schedule, which sees her reaching across time zones and forging relationships with stakeholders and targets alike.

Adeline began her career as a lawyer with Drew & Napier LLC in 2004 where she was engaged in dispute resolution and subsequently, capital markets work. She left the firm in 2008 to join our Group. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore in 2003, was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 2004, and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Adeline is also a Director of the Singapore International Mediation Centre, as well as a member of the Finance Committee of Saint Joseph’s Institution International.
Sin Boon Ann

Lead Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of Nominating Committee

Boon Ann is very much the legal eagle and has been with Drew & Napier LLC since 1992. Following his retirement as Deputy Managing Director of the Corporate Finance Department and Co-Head of the Capital Markets practice in March 2018, Boon Ann remains a consultant with the firm. Boon Ann is presently the Independent NonExecutive Chairman of Healthway Medical Corporation Limited and is also the Independent Director of CSE Global Limited, OUE Limited, Rex International Holding Limited and TIH Limited - testimony to his acute commercial sensibilities.

Somehow, in the midst of doing all that and raising 3 highly accomplished children with his beautiful wife, Boon Ann was also the Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC from 1996 to 2011.

The force is strong with this one, and Boon Ann was conferred the Singapore National Day Award - “The Public Service Star (Bintang Bakti Masyarakat)” in 2018 and “The Public Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Masyarakat)” in 2013 by the President of Singapore. He was also conferred the May Day Award - “Friend of Labour” in 2003 and “Meritorious Service” in 2013 for his contributions and commitment to the labour movement in Singapore. In 2018, Boon Ann was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the National Trade Union Congress.

Boon Ann received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore in 1982 and 1986 respectively, and a Master of Laws from the University of London in 1988. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1987.
Heng Su-Ling Mae

Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of Audit Committee

Mae is the beauty in our boardroom who was appointed as our Independent Non-Executive Director on 16 May 2017. Mae spent over 17 years at Ernst & Young Singapore, leaving her skilled at keeping us on the straight and narrow. It is the confluence of amazing people skills and strict attention to rules and details which make her truly exceptional.

Mae is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Apex Healthcare Berhad, Chuan Hup Holdings Limited, Grand Venture Technology Limited and Ossia International Limited. Her extensive experience with companies operating in the region gives Mae a broad and rich lens when approaching business situations.

Mae graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University in 1992 and is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.
Tan Ngiap Siew

Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of Remuneration Committee

Tan Ngiap Siew (NS) is our implacable, wise sage who can be counted on to be the voice of reason. That, and his vast experience, coupled with knowledge through reading and travelling very widely gives him fabulous credentials to be our Independent Non-Executive Director.

With 31 years of experience logged in the human resource sector, NS is an expert HR practitioner and was at one point a client using our services across the region when he was the Regional Asia Pacific Director of Rohm and Haas and the Regional HR Director for Eastman Chemical Company.

NS graduated with a Diploma in Management Studies from the Singapore Institute of Management in 1982, and a Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from the Singapore Institute of Management / Singapore Institute of Personnel Management in 1983.

Executive Officers.

Jennifer Kang

Chief Financial Officer

Jennifer Kang is our CFO. As our CFO, she is responsible for our Group’s finance, tax, treasury and risk management functions. Jennifer Kang has more than 27 years of experience in auditing, accounting, taxation and financial management.

Jennifer Kang began her career in 1989 as an auditor with Coopers & Lybrand’s statutory audit team. Her responsibilities included statutory audit, information technology audit and internal control review. In 1993, she joined the corporate auditing department of AT&T Singapore Pte Ltd as a senior internal auditor for the Asia Pacific region. She joined Ossia International Limited in 1994 as a senior internal auditor. She was subsequently involved in the preparation for the initial public offering of the company and was promoted to financial controller (regional) and executive assistant in 1996, the same year that the company which was listed on the SGX-ST. Her portfolio evolved into the role of business development manager in 1998 as she assumed responsibilities in corporate finance work involving mergers and acquisitions for the listed company. In 2001, she joined BIL International Ltd as manager, merger & acquisitions and was responsible for evaluating and executing public and private equity investment opportunities. In 2002, she joined Abacus International Pte Ltd as an associate director of the corporate operations, planning and mergers & acquisition department. She joined our Group as finance director in 2003 and in 2007 moved on to assume the role of country manager of PeopleFirst and concurrently strategic operations director of HRnetOne. In 2008, she co-pioneered the business operations of Beijing for HRnetOne and held the position until 2011. She is also the statutory auditor of HRnetOne K.K. and supervisor of HRnetOne (Shanghai) and HRnetOne (Beijing). She was appointed as the chief financial officer of HRnetOne in 2012 and assumed responsibility for the finance, tax, treasury and risk management functions of HRnetOne and Recruit Express and their respective subsidiaries with effect from 1 January 2016.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from National University of Singapore in 1989. She also received a Master of Business in Information Technology degree from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia in 1998.
Daisy Tan

Chief People Officer (CPO)

Daisy Tan is our in-house yogi and CPO who joined us back in 1992. Somehow she managed to shimmy her way juggling 3 children and a truly exceptional career over the course of 27 years in HRnetGroup - handling the accounts at one stage, being a senior regional consultant and business services manager at another, even at some point being part of the core team setting up the Recruit Express brand - truly mastering the art of people in the course of these experiences.

Daisy is without a doubt the best-placed person to be our CPO, a role she has played since 2012, known for being able to read the energies in a room at a glance, wielding her gift in wondrous ways to get people to do her biding. Which invariably involves doing a better job than they even thought possible. Daisy’s laser focus on building culture and values is also well known. It is by no coincidence that ethics and beliefs feature strongly in our half-yearly performance appraisals. As a professional services firm, it is the intangibles which set us apart.

Back when she must have been a child, Daisy obtained a Diploma in Human Resource Management from the Singapore Institute of Human Resource Management in 1995.
Lorencz Tay

Group Business Leader and Managing Director of PeopleSearch Group of Companies

Lorencz Tay began his career in 1993 as a recruitment and account officer with HRnetOne and rapidly made his mark. Lorencz was appointed Managing Director in 2005, and in 2007, Lorencz took on the role of Group Business Leader and Managing Director of the PeopleSearch Group of Companies

A little bit Peter Pan, a little bit Lewis Hamilton and a whole lot of passion and determination – that basically sums up who Lorencz is. An industry veteran with more than 2 decades of experience, Lorencz leads a team of 200 consultants across Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Oh and why Peter Pan you ask? At 52 years of age, Lorencz looks not a day older than when he first stepped through the doors of HRnetOne! Lorencz graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Singapore in 1993.
Madeline Wan

Group Business Leader and Senior General Manager of the Greater China and Japan businesses for HRnetOne

Madeline Wan joined HRnetOne in Singapore as a consultant in 1996. In 1999, she brought the brand into Taipei, and 4 years later took over the running of HRnetOne Hong Kong. By 2007, HRnetOne Tokyo also came under her charge. Together with her stalwart leaders, she was responsible for the HRnetOne businesses successfully taking root in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Madeline also guides the REForce team, our first acquisition in China.

Much like the complexities of a full bodied red wine, Madeline’s presence in the organisation has been nothing short of multifaceted. She is on the plane every week, with luggage, mettle and ardour in tow. Known to have meetings wherever and whenever - from sales updates with her team over a Japanese breakfast in Kyoto to cocktails and sliders with a client at Manhattan bar - many (if not all!) of her best light bulb moments were conceived over a glass of wine or two.

Our Talent Mapping approach to executive search work can also be credited to Madeline. She has been preaching this technique since 2005 and has truly honed it to perfection. Madeline’s understanding of market trends, leadership practices, the needs of candidates and the wants of companies is world-class.

Singapore Polytechnic should be so proud of this alumnus who graduated with a Diploma in Chemical Process Technology in 1992.

Corporate Information.