The 2026 picture
After two cautious years, international firms in Asia are hiring again, but not the way they did in the last cycle. The across-the-board class hiring of 2021 has been replaced by something more surgical: specific practices, specific languages, specific seniority bands. Firms know exactly what they want, and they are willing to wait for it.
That precision cuts both ways for candidates. If you fit a live mandate, processes move faster than they have in years — we've seen offers land inside three weeks. If you don't, cold applications go nowhere, because almost none of these roles are publicly posted. The market is running on relationships and timing.
The second structural shift: the center of gravity keeps moving. Hong Kong remains the region's anchor for capital markets and funds, but Singapore has consolidated its position as the regional headquarters market, and Seoul and Tokyo are the two most undersupplied markets we cover relative to demand.
"Firms know exactly what they want, and they are willing to wait for it. If you fit, processes move in weeks. If you don't, cold applications go nowhere."
Where the demand is
Practice by practice, here is what we're seeing across live mandates this quarter:
The standout. Korea-facing ECM/DCM work is the hottest seat in the region — business-fluent Korean plus a top-tier US practice is close to a guaranteed process. Tokyo follows closely on the back of a sustained IPO pipeline.
USD fund formation in Hong Kong and Singapore continues to absorb every qualified associate we can find. Private credit mandates, nearly nonexistent in Asia five years ago, now show up monthly.
Selective but real. Sponsor-side work in Singapore and Japan-inbound M&A in Tokyo are the two reliable veins. Generalist corporate candidates face a harder road than specialists.
Regional counsel roles at multinationals and sovereign investors keep growing, particularly in Singapore. Comp gaps versus firm life have narrowed enough that the question is genuinely open.
The relocation calculus
Most candidates we advise are not currently in Asia — they're in New York, London, or the Bay Area, weighing whether the move makes sense. The honest answer depends on three variables: practice fit, language, and timing.
Practice fit matters more than pedigree. A mid-tier-firm associate in a hot practice will out-place a top-tier generalist in this market. Language is the multiplier — Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin each unlock entire market segments, though plenty of English-only seats exist in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Timing is the variable people misjudge. The window for an international move is widest between years three and six of practice — senior enough to be immediately useful, junior enough to retrain on local market conventions. Partners move on a different logic entirely: book portability and platform strategy.
What it means for you
If you're in a demand practice with relevant language skills, this is the strongest candidate's market Asia has offered since 2021, but it rewards preparation, not haste. The firms hiring surgically also interview surgically: they expect you to know why this market, why this platform, why now.
And if you're not sure you fit? That's precisely the conversation to have early. Half of the placements we make start a year or more before the move — repositioning a practice, timing a review cycle, or simply watching the market together until the right seat opens.