We are hearing that companies that had moved their Asia headquarters to China are now moving to Singapore. Senior managers that are attracted by Singapore’s cleaner air and convenience as an Asia travel hub, among other benefits, may want to consider a few of the challenges of building a workforce there. These include new hiring regulations, cost of living and skills constraints.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Singapore’s Strong Job Market Faces Challenges
The following was inspired by a recent conversation I had with Andie Rees, Managing Director, and Angela
Dunbar, Senior Associate, in Odgers Berndtson’s Singapore office.
Singapore was just
voted the Easiest Place to Do Business for the ninth year in a row by the World
Bank. With high ratings for attractions like starting a business, low taxes and
ease of trading across borders, Singapore draws multinationals and employees. After a slump following the Global Financial
Crisis, employment has been growing again especially for finance, insurance,
real estate, and IT roles.
We are hearing that companies that had moved their Asia headquarters to China are now moving to Singapore. Senior managers that are attracted by Singapore’s cleaner air and convenience as an Asia travel hub, among other benefits, may want to consider a few of the challenges of building a workforce there. These include new hiring regulations, cost of living and skills constraints.
We are hearing that companies that had moved their Asia headquarters to China are now moving to Singapore. Senior managers that are attracted by Singapore’s cleaner air and convenience as an Asia travel hub, among other benefits, may want to consider a few of the challenges of building a workforce there. These include new hiring regulations, cost of living and skills constraints.
Fair Consideration
Framework: Singapore’s GDP growth of 3.9% last year is solid but slower
than earlier years. Andie Rees said, “Singapore has good talent pool. People
who come here want to stay so expat packages have gone away for the most part
and the high-end compensation packages are down. Over the last ten years, more
people want to stay and want to get permanent residence."
One result is that Singaporeans citizens are almost a minority
in their own country. The population of Singapore is 5.4 million.
Singaporean citizens number 3.3 million. The balance is made up of “non-resident”
residents who may hold work visas. A lot of these are low
or semi-skilled workers and their families, domestic workers, and students.
Corporate executives comprise about 12%.
The influx of foreign workers along with the slowing job
market has driven the Singapore government to make it a priority to hire
locally before bringing in a foreigner or “non-resident.” This month the
government announced new rules that require employers to consider Singaporeans
first before hiring work visa holders. Firms with discriminatory hiring
practices will be subject to additional scrutiny and may have their work visa
privileges curtailed.
The new regulation puts Singapore on a par with other South East
Asia countries that have taken steps to give an advantage to the local
population by closing job categories to foreigners (Indonesia) or tightening work visa
qualifications (Vietnam).
Cost of Living:
Another factor in play for employers in Singapore is living costs, said Angela Dunbar. While taxes are low, the cost of
housing, car ownership and education are high. As the costs go up, more
headquarters and operations may go elsewhere. Companies and employees can
operate at half the cost in countries like Philippines and Malaysia.
Skills Constraints:
In addition, the employee market, while generally considered robust with lots
of people to hire, has constraints in
some sectors. Sales, Professional Services, Customer Support, Marketing, and
Human Resources are top priorities for Singapore employers. Multinationals
seeking individuals with broad strategic outlook and experience may need to
search carefully to fill regional and Asia leadership roles.
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1 comment:
This is really true that Singapore's strong job market is facing lot of challenges but day by day it's recovering nicely. Though need time to recover everything properly but I am sure that it will be very soon and still people are searching to get singapore visa
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