If you think Singaporean workers are passive, think again

Eight in ten Singaporeans are actually open to opportunities in some way.

According to a release, six out of seven passive candidates in Singapore are approachable according to LinkedIn data about passive talent*in Singapore.

These results have strong implications for Singapore, with its tight talent market - recent research findings report that about half of Singaporean employers are having trouble finding highly qualified talent, and up to 57% of employees expecting a talent shortage in the next three years (Randstad Workmonitor Q3 report, 10 Sept 2012).

With 73% of Singaporean professionals characterizing themselves as passive talent (i.e., those who are already employed and may not be actively seeking a new job), chances are, employers’ best bets for their talent woes lie in passive talent.

Some key findings include:

· Passive talent isn’t as passive as you may think – 86% of Singaporean passive talent reported being open to opportunities in some way. Of the 10 countries surveyed, Singapore had the highest ratio of ‘approachable’ passive talent to ‘super-passives’ at 6:1.

· This is true even in professionals’ first year on the job – 49% of Singaporean respondents said they were willing to discuss a new opportunity with recruiters

Of the more than 1,000 Singaporean respondents:

· 27% were ‘Active’, i.e. sending out resumes and actively looking for a new position

· 17% were ‘Tiptoers’, i.e. thinking about changing jobs and reaching out to close associates

· 45% were ‘Explorers’, i.e. not looking for a job but willing to discuss a new opportunity with recruiters

· Only 10% - the lowest of all countries – were ‘Super-passive’, i.e. happily employed and not interested in a new opportunity