Commentary

Financial companies start to increase hiring as Singapore returns from the Circuit Breaker

As with all industries, the financial services sector has been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, we are beginning to see what shape the economic recovery will take – as well as the state of the labour market. What hiring trends will emerge? What skills will be in demand? In Singapore, three themes have become clear: the hiring freeze is thawing, the market is flooded with quality candidates, and transformation roles have become critical.

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Financial companies start to increase hiring as Singapore returns from the Circuit Breaker

Commentary

Transfer pricing in pandemic times

The COVID-19 pandemic is being felt in the operations of businesses worldwide and one of the most striking disruptions is evident in supply chain arrangements. This has brought on transfer pricing implications of how one realigns existing supply chain arrangements to adapt to challenges and undertakes comparability or benchmarking analysis in absence of data to determine the arm’s length prices. This article discusses the transfer pricing considerations that should be top of mind for multinational corporations (MNCs) in the time of a global recession induced by COVID-19.

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Digital will only pay out if it spans the generations

David Koh, Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management, argues that family-owned businesses risk being left behind if the preconceptions of digital payments aren’t overcome.

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Mitigating Supply Chain Disruption in the Manufacturing Industry

The rapid growth in international trade in the past few decades has built an incredibly complex global supply chain network. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is represented by 164 countries today – equivalent to 98% of world trade – and governed by over 60 international trade agreements. In 2018, merchandise exports of WTO members totaled US$19.09t and the top ten merchandise traders accounted for just over half of the world’s total trade.

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Circuit Breaker: the perfect time to innovate

The past few months have been hard for all of us, especially in the ride-hailing sector, but it has also offered opportunities.

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Working from home, Singapore and the COVID-19 productivity factor

Singapore is trying to keep business running as close to normally as possible during the COVID-19 emergency. That means a high percentage of workers being required to work from home with the complexity and adjustments that entails. How can companies retain productivity during this turbulent time?

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Maintaining Productivity? Employers need to meaningfully support employees as they work from home

It’s been more than two months since a majority of Singaporeans had to work from home. Even as we enter phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening, the Singapore government has stressed that working from home should be the default mode for all companies. Still, we see some employers eager for employees to return to the offices with some failing to implement safe management measures and others unable to justify the need to work in the office rather than home.

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How to Ensure Data is Going Places – at a Time We Cannot

5 Best Practices for a Displaced Workforce.

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Give Your Business' Data Protection Processes a Coronavirus Health Check

As employees continue to work from home at an unprecedented scale, how can corporate IT teams navigate unforeseen data protection challenges? The coronavirus continues to dramatically affect everyday life and the global economy. As the uncertainty of the virus impacts workers in countries around the world, including Singapore, many businesses are still determining the best way to enable remote operations for vast numbers of employees and for longer periods of time. This is absolutely the case for the IT community.

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Why time in the market is better than timing the market

With the current market volatility and general mood of uncertainty with the economy and society, many Singaporeans may be wondering if it’s a good time to invest. While navigating the markets can be complex for many, especially investors in Singapore who are newer to the markets or those who feel less confident to do self-directed investing, there is no good excuse not to invest as over time, they will be able to reap the rewards.

Commentary

Hong Kong's Possible Loss of Special Status Reiterates Singapore's Stability

Hong Kong has taken a series of unfavourable hits in the last year, their unfortunate magnitude clear to see for the watching eyes of the world. The latest of which is United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly stating that the country no longer considers Hong Kong to be adequately independent from China.

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Charting the Future of Drone Delivery

Online retail giant Amazon recently proved that delivery by drone, known formally as an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), is not only possible, but represents the future of last-mile delivery. Introduced in 2016, Amazon’s PrimeAir service will eventually be capable of delivering packages from Amazon’s warehouses to customers in 30 minutes or less using small, unmanned aircraft.

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Human Resources: COVID-19 Workforce

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Financial education vital for SMEs to stay afloat amid and beyond the Covid-19 outbreak

Government support is helpful, but firms should know all financing options available to them.

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Singapore's Fintech market in 2020: coronavirus and new business realities

Businesses around the world have taken a major hit in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Singapore is not an exception. Fortunately though, as many news outlets all over the world have pointed out, the city-state was able to quickly curb the spread of the virus, and is somewhat better off in fighting it compared to other countries.

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COVID-19 and the challenge of off-site connectivity: The view from Singapore

When the full magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, trading firms across the Asia-Pacific had to deploy their pre-existing business continuity plans (BCPs) - It has been an eye-opening experience. Firms have discovered that BCPs are much more than a box-ticking exercise. The planning that goes into one can determine the success–or even the survival–of a firm.

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Navigating business through chaotic times in Singapore: five ways to evolve in a post-pandemic world

Singapore, like the rest of the world, has their hands full in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen a torrent of change, and adjustments to our way of life happen in quick succession. From the announcement of “Circuit Breaker” measures on the 3rd of April which led to closure and suspensions of businesses, to the announcement of its extension along with greater business restrictions.

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