Are Singapore businesses ready for the loss of talent?

Are Singapore businesses ready for the loss of talent?

With the completed layoffs and continuous streamlining of headcount, more local and foreign talent will be displaced across all industries, most notably those where profitability and sustainability are in doubt.

With high salaries, high costs of living and essentially, the high expectations people have living in Singapore, something has got to give.

SG CEOs say they still want talent, but it will be at a cost of potentially losing more than they can possibly acquire. Personally I have witnessed shifts particularly in the technology market over the years which are interesting to share:

Technology talent were initially flocking to the US, London, Singapore, Germany, Luxembourg, China, Indonesia and Thailand( Smaller proportion) but due to may socio-economic circumstances such as the Trump Administration blocking restricting Visas in the USA, EU taxes being unattractive, Chinese government controls... Singapore became a choice for many.

However, lately I have witnessed many Chinese talents moving home or to the US as they start their families or want their children to attend prestigious schools. Many Indian talents moving home as well or to the US or Canada for similar reasons and also as they enjoy better lifestyles after cost of living adjustments(COLA). Many foreign talents are essentially now willing to move home unless they are willing to compromise cost of living or security to remain in SG.

What might result is a hiring market similar to during the pandemic, where hiring managers seek candidates with 12/10 scoring type candidate in order to make a hiring call, only to be put off by their expectations or to be limited by the tiny pool of A player candidates. They want someone who can wear 2 hats and still be within budget and in ideal years of experience.

Whilst that is happening, candidates maybe looking out and also looking to find hiring managers keen to meet their expectations as the market gets tighter and they want to move for personal reasons(organic) or due to job risks(inorganic). This will result inefficient workflows and stress on the delivery team of any business. Salary offers should also be expected to come down pretty rapidly as supply starts to exceed demand, unless we are possibly might be able to create artificial demand through more programs(Like what NCS has announced) and more EntrePass entrepreneurs to come in quickly to start new hiring frenzies.

SG will need to brace for the loss of firstly tech talent to other parts of the world or if not their transfer to bigger more secure companies on the island, where talents will seek refuge for the next 2 years until there is more clarity on the global markets and its recovery path. We will also essentially see more talents possibly move into other areas of passion or sustainability where they no longer work in the sector they once were in, but work in another field as they once again seek refuge or essential employment.

Whilst everyone and every CEO says they will still be hiring and still keen to take on talent, we have to understand companies are run by humans. Often bad markets create fears and uncertainties in investments, so only the contrarian CEOs or those with forecasting belief, will really continue to add firepower to their Armory with certainty.

AT Asia Pte Ltd

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