Local businesses raise the alarm over Singapore’s severe skilled talent dearth

The country’s wage pressures rank highly in a global index.

Singapore’s severe skilled talent shortage has reached the point where it is now a hindrance to the effective operation of businesses in the city-state, a report by Hays revealed today.

The report showed that Singapore has received high scores for wage pressure in both high-skill occupations and high-skill industries in the latest Hays Global Skills Index of 31 countries, suggesting that Singaporean employers are paying a wage premium for highly-skilled talent and in high-skill industries.

The Hays Global Skills Index for 2014, produced in collaboration with Oxford Economics, shows that Singaporean employers face a tight labour market with several pressure points. 

On a scale of one to ten, Singapore received a score of 8.5 for wage pressure in high-skill industries. Such a high score shows that wages in high-skill industries are rising much quicker than those in low-skill industries. 

Also notable is the score of 6.0 for wage pressure in high-skill occupations. This shows that wages for highly-skilled candidates are rising faster than for low-skilled candidates. 

These scores show that sector-specific skill shortages, such as in engineering and technology, have emerged, and that Singapore’s skills shortage is most acute for highly-skilled candidates in high-skill industries. 

“Some industries like engineering, technology and life sciences, require higher-skilled staff than others. Since it takes time to undertake the training necessary to work in those industries, it potentially makes them more vulnerable to skill shortages as the number of people qualified to start work cannot be changed quickly. The situation is similar for highly-skilled occupations, which require a higher than average amount of training and education. These indicators show there is a wage premium for such highly-skilled talent.” said Chris Mead, Regional Director of Hays in Singapore.