Throughout 2020, despite Covid-19 has interrupted the whole world, KPMG's latest survey reported that Singapore has taken the top spot as a potential world-leading technology hub. Singapore is considered as a top alternative tech hub to Silicon Valley. Moreover, recently on the Swiss report, it has been named the ninth-best country for attracting talent - which is apart from Canada, ranked eighth on the list. Singapore is the only non-European country to make it to the top 10.
What makes Singapore the best county for attracting talent?
For a country that able to attract talent to move over, there are lots of criteria that need to take into consideration. "We need to understand, eventually, they are leaving everything behind to a brand new unknown city," says Jin Han Tan, Associate Vice President of Middle Office.
Tan has been working closely with candidates for the past 5 years. Especially since her team is working on the Technology space, it always comes to the time that they need to reach out to overseas candidates. "The fact is Europe and America are ahead of us in tech space. They have already generated a big pool of great tech talent. While we cannot find anyone suitable here, we have to reach out to the external source of candidates," says Tan
"Where does the role base become a tougher conversation with them. As once they move over, they will have to spend a long enough time to this new home. And even potentially they might consider retiring at this place," says Tan. What makes Singapore attractive, below are the reasons why:
The Superior Quality of Life
According to the Mercer annual survey, Singapore is the best in Asia for quality of living.
No doubt, housing in Europe or America is bigger than the ones in Asia. While overseas talent moving over to Asia, housing is always the main concern. Luckily, Singapore has a structured housing policy, which ensured everyone had a home. On top of that, the housing size here is decent. Singapore is continuously improving the standard of living of its residents with “greater connectivity and sustainability of resources". The Centre of Liveable Cities (CLC) is also conducting several research initiatives and launching innovations to make sure that the city can “continue to foster a high living standard for its residents”.
Good Environmental Conditions
When speaking about Singapore, the first thing pop into people's mind is clean (and maybe Garden by the Bay too!). A clean and green city has often been used by authorities to promote and define the city as one of their highest achievements. Singapore aims to be aligned with nature, as well as to be sustainable in the long term. Being a clean city with adequate sewage and waste removal infrastructure is the Government’s goal - to build a Green Singapore.
Safe Environment With Low Criminality Rates
Singapore has always been ranked as one of the top 3 for safe cities. Even during the pandemic, it is still ranking at the top 4 countries by Covid-19 safety - top-ranked Asia city. You just feel safe in Singapore even at night time.
Fulfilling Professional Opportunities - Tech.Pass
With travel restrictions and pandemic poor economy, authority is prioritizing Singaporean for job opportunities. However, new work pass for top-tier foreign tech professionals will be launching in January.
The new work pass is for top-tier foreign professionals and experts looking to start businesses, lead corporate teams or teach here, in a bid to woo these people to Singapore and develop its high-potential tech ecosystem. "Tech.Pass will add to the critical mass of established tech talent in Singapore and create a flywheel effect to further strengthen our position as a leading tech hub for the region," said Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister or Trade and Industry.
The tech sector is a large engine of growth for Singapore. Not just the city itself (hardware) is ticking a lot of boxes for a new opportunity; the extra government push (software) on attracting tech overseas talent is on-going. If you are tech talent looking for opportunities in Singapore, speak to our specialist team.
