The reason why getting a banking job in Singapore is so easy
Mainland Chinese companies flocking to register in Singapore are adding to demand for financial services, and adding further pressure to the city’s already tight labour market for financial professionals.
Companies such as Shein, a fashion retailer, Nio, an electric vehicle maker, and IT services company Cue are among the roughly 500 mainland entities that have domiciled or registered in Singapore in the last 12 months, according to the Financial Times.
The migration of these companies is adding to demand for banking and financial services at a time when Singapore has suffered growing pains after it emerged as a destination of choice for banks downsizing in or exiting Hong Kong.
As financial firms take on more Chinese clients, the net effect is continuing strong demand for core mid-office roles such as compliance, operations and trade finance, says Priya Gupta, manager of banking and financial services at Robert Walters. “For all those functions, we are seeing an enormous influx in Singapore. We are not seeing any signs of slowing down,” she says.
She adds that a further catalyst for financial sector hires has been strong growth in the past year of venture capital, private equity and family offices which have ties to mainland China businesses. Additionally, some investment firms are setting up operations in Singapore that previously would have been based in Hong Kong or London, such as derivatives trading.
The growth of these new business lines has spurred demand for roles tied to credit risk and quantitative analysis. “I have seen a lot more increase in risk in general,” says Gupta. “Those roles were not based in Singapore before.”
She estimates about 90% of vacancies are filled with local hires, while international hires account for the remainder of placements. “The impact is real. We are seeing more and more influx of different talent from all over the globe... so you can see Singapore becoming more cosmopolitan than it was,” says Gupta.
Underscoring the tremendous pressure on the local labour market, it has been the norm in the past year for good candidates to secure salary increases of around 40% when changing jobs. Gupta says she expects the hiring scene to cool slightly in the new year with the average salary increase for new joiners to ease to between 20% to 25%.
Photo by Matthias Speicher on Unsplash
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