Demand for finance professionals skyrockets amid tighter financial regulations

Job openings surged by 91%.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently unveiled a new regulatory framework for domestic and international banks. The demand for finance professionals in the country has skyrocketed in light of increasing regulation, a the Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q2 2014 revealed.

The report showed that conducted by  job advertisements for finance professionals surged by 91% in Q2, revealing a healthy demand for corporate governance, compliance, risk, legal and internal audit candidates.

It also noted that the Fair Consideration Framework has caused demand for local talent  to rise across industries.
However, it remained a candidate-driven market which left positions vacant for extended periods and longer-running job advertisements. 

“Singapore continues to be an economically viable choice for multinationals and SMEs to establish their Southeast Asian hub despite increasing operating costs and competition from other countries in the region. Hence, we are likely to see more new-to-market jobs and opportunities driving wage inflation. In particular, oil and gas and manufacturing companies remained strong employers as many are attracted to Singapore for its strong infrastructure. To fulfill the market demands for Singaporean talent, we focus heavily on developing the domestic as well as the overseas candidate pool,” noted the report.