Singapore firms to struggle in hiring talents from local labor pool

Despite schemes to boost their skills.

According to Randstand's comment on the recent employment results from MoM, on the impact of continued low unemployment, the average unemployment rate of two percent in 2012 reflects continued strong demand for manpower in Singapore. 

"This is an issue that is top of mind for many companies, particularly within the financial services and insurance, business process outsourcing (BPO) and the retail and hospitality sectors, where employers are struggling to attract experienced, skilled staff,'' it said.

The further tightening of foreign workers’ quotas announced in the Budget will unavoidably influence employers’ hiring strategies in the year ahead.

Here's more from Randstand:

Any businesses that aren’t already doing so, will need to make necessary adjustments to recruit and retain more local talent.

For example, adopting flexible working arrangements to gain access to a wider local talent pool, such as mature-age workers and return-to-work mothers, and offering career development and upskilling opportunities to attract and retain the right people.

However, even though there are schemes and initiatives to upskill the local talent, it will take some time for some of the industries to be able to source enough talent from the local workforce.

“We expect hiring in Singapore to remain strong in the months ahead, particularly in the information technology and banking & financial services sectors, with niche IT, audit and compliance and financial analysts in hot demand,” says Michael Smith, country manager of Randstand Singapore.