The Leading Talent Ecosystem in Southeast Asia: Glints

Glints is a talent platform that helps young professionals discover opportunities and grow their careers. It was founded in 2013 by Oswald Yeo and his co-founders, Looi Qin En and Seah Ying Cong, to address the challenges young people faced in finding jobs and gaining relevant work experience. The company officially launched in 2015 in Singapore and has since empowered more than three million professionals and 50,000 organizations by connecting talent with internships, full-time positions, and skill-building programs. Today, Glints is a leading career development and talent recruitment platform in Southeast Asia, operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and providing a range of tools, community support, and resources that help both individuals and companies thrive in a competitive job market.

In May, Dylan Huang took over as CEO of Glints, succeeding Oswald Yeo.

Supporting a Complete Career Ecosystem

As the company matured, it became clear that the needs of young professionals extended beyond job placement. Recognizing this, Glints expanded its offerings to include skills training, career development resources, and a community platform for peer support.

“Professionals don’t just care about getting a job; they care about improving their skill set, gaining work experience, and taking that experience to find better future job prospects,” Oswald explains. “We realized that we weren’t just creating a job agency; we were building an ecosystem for any young professional to be equipped with the tools and resources they need to take charge of their careers.”

Today, Glints serves over 3 million professionals and 60,000 employers across Southeast Asia, offering a range of services that support individuals throughout their career journeys.

Finding the Right Model

The path to success was not without its challenges. In the early days, Glints faced difficulties in reaching the critical mass needed for the platform to be viable. “We had to do a lot of hustling, like going door to door to onboard employers, to kickstart things,” Oswald recalls. “Another problem was finding a repeatable business model that we could scale.”

It took several years of experimentation and iteration before Glints found the right model. “We combined the tech-based efficiency of online platforms with the effectiveness of offline agencies, essentially creating a full-stack recruitment solution,” Oswald explains. This approach allowed Glints to offer more than just job listings, providing a comprehensive service that met the needs of both employers and job seekers.

Adapting to the Future

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, Glints is embracing new technologies to enhance its platform. The rise of remote work and the increasing demand for tech talent have led to significant changes in the recruitment process.

“Remote working and remote hiring are the biggest trends we’re seeing right now,” Oswald notes. “COVID has certainly accelerated this trend. It really is sort of a new normal right now.”

In response, Glints has developed tools to support cross-border recruitment and remote onboarding, enabling companies to tap into a broader talent pool across Southeast Asia.

Oswald envisions Glints continuing to evolve to meet the changing needs of the workforce. “We want to be a company that's here to last,” he says. “Our mission is to help people reach their full potential, and we hope future generations will use Glints to build and grow their careers.”

Oswald Yeo, Co-Founder, Glints

We started with a simple idea to help young people find meaningful work. Today, we’re building a platform that supports their entire career journey.