47% of Singapore bosses extremely worried over talent shortage

Is everyone going abroad for greener pastures?

According to a study by Alexander Mann Solutions, with about 200,000 Singaporeans residing overseas, mostly for work, it is little wonder that 47% of Singapore employers are extremely concerned about the talent shortage back home.

The main causes are a lack of available applicants (35%), followed by a lack of technical competencies or ‘hard skills’ (29%), employability skills (28%) and lack of experience (17%).

Across the Asia Pacific region, most companies are adopting short-sighted tactics to combat the talent shortage. The majority of firms (19%) are using additional training to retain and up-skill existing staff, others (13%) is trying to improve their talent acquisition pipeline, while some are considering raising starting salaries (9%) or even appointing people without job skills currently in the hope that they will develop.

Workers from Asia Pacific have moved abroad for a specific reason: they want international careers, to gain international experience, and to develop their skills rapidly. However, the majority of them intend to return home. Those who want to come home will do so within relatively short timeframes (around five years after they left).

“Moreover, they have a positive view of what Asia has to offer. And, above all, they are prepared to relocate for the right opportunity – if they know about it – and will welcome the right approach,” said Alison Baird, Managing Director, APAC for Alexander Mann Solutions.

“The talent gap is worsening, but there is a pool of relatively untapped talent out there. We need to think carefully about the value proposition to attract them back. And we need to think differently about how to reach, engage and convince them,” concluded Baird.