Singapore and Hong Kong’s talent war intensifies: CBRE

Both markets have put up schemes to woo foreign talent.

Amidst the talent crunch across industries, Singapore and Hong Kong are currently having intense competition for skilled workers, CBRE’s report showed.

In Singapore, it registered a 13% year-on-year growth increase in foreign talent in 2022, but it is still below 2019 levels.

In Hong Kong, the count of foreign workers started to pick up in late 2022, increasing total visa applications 20% above 2021 levels but still below 2019.

Both markets also launched attractive programmes to lure top talent. For example, Singapore’s ONE Pass and Hong Kong’s top talent pass scheme, posted 14,240 applications within two months.

As Singapore reports the total count of foreign workers with an employment pass and Hong Kong documents the total number of new visa applications, the two sets of data cannot be compared, said CBRE.