Report reveals skill shortages a challenge for many employers in Singapore

The first quarter of 2011 will be an active one for recruitment, with a particular focus on securing permanent staff in response to improved market conditions and confidence.

Our latest Quarterly Report for January to March 2011 reveals that employers are creating new roles to bolster their teams for the year ahead. The fact that employers now need to promptly backfill roles that become vacant following staff departures is another factor.

Candidate levels will rise this quarter as more people are now far more confident in the market’s ability to present them with a solid career-advancing opportunity. There will also be a wave of job seekers who have been waiting for their bonuses to be paid out.

Despite this rise, the demand for certain specialist skills will not be met. But some employers still believe there is a surplus of candidates in the market. Such employers have very narrow requirements when recruiting and often struggle to secure top talent since good candidates often now receive several offers. Yet there are other employers that have recognised the shift in the market and are able to secure good candidates through a quick recruitment process. Quick processes and fast decision making are the keys to securing a strong candidate in this competitive market.

Many organisations are using temporary assignments to cover workloads while a permanent employee is sourced and an increasing number of these roles are being created with a view to becoming permanent. Such long-term opportunities for temporary candidates have not existed since before the GFC.

According to the January to March Hays Quarterly Report, skill shortages are most prevalent in accountancy and finance, banking, human resources, IT, oil and gas and pharmaceutical.

Accountancy & Finance:
• Candidates with strong IFRS and accounting policy experience are still in demand due to ongoing changes here. Those with strong Basel and capital adequacy experience are also in demand as capital allocation is still high on the agenda.

• Experienced Product Controllers across all asset classes, especially commodities and emerging markets, are highly sought after because of the perceived growth opportunities.

• The focus on risk management across the board means that internal audit, risk and internal controls candidates are still in high demand. There has also been an increase in the number of roles within the private banks. This is a reflection of how this market is growing in Singapore as investors look for opportunities outside of the traditional markets.

• The insurance sector has also been consistently buoyant and we have seen a number of roles within audit, risk and compliance in this space.

• In the commercial sector we have seen the market remain strong across the board. Shipping, IT&T, FMCG, oil and gas and retail have been particularly buoyant. This is a good sign for 2011. Audit and risk roles are still common and there has also been an increase in finance business partnering roles as employers look for candidates that can add strategic and commercial value as they plan for growth in the coming year.

Banking:
• Commodities continue to receive a lot of attention, with firms recognising the significant opportunities arising from global commodities markets at the moment. This has been across a number of product classes (oil, metals and derivatives) in line with Singapore becoming more of a trading hub for the commodities space.

• Wealth management and private banking continues to be an area in great demand, with many of the world’s major players announcing growth and development plans in this sector.

• With increasing focus and current enhancement and stiffening of capital regulations there is increasing demand for senior banking professionals with strong regulatory and risk management experience, in particular credit risk, portfolio risk, compliance and economic capital.

• With the increasing deal flow being experienced by corporate finance teams and the expansion of global markets trading businesses there is also increased demand for suitably experienced corporate actions and trade support professionals to support this growth.

• Structured trade finance, export finance and project finance are areas where niche players that specialise in this space are experiencing growth. As a result people with strong networks and proven origination and execution experience are sought after.

Human Resources:
• Companies within the commerce and industry sector have seen a steady increase in recruitment needs. HR Business Partners in particular are in demand as organisations restructure their HR departments according to the ‘Centre of Excellence’ model. Strategic generalists will be highly regarded.

• The financial services HR industry has reopened the recruitment doors following a dry period over the last quarter, and the hotspots are now at the more senior end for Talent Managers and Learning and Development (L&D) professionals to focus on employee engagement, up skilling high potentials, and ensuring retention.

• Regional roles are another hotspot as always due to the strategic location of Singapore, and global organisations setting up their regional hubs.

Information Technology:
• Strong technical infrastructure, project management and ERP candidates will be in high demand with a focus on the banking, telco and industrial sectors. There has also been an increase in demand for permanent candidates for roles in infrastructure as there are a lot of new projects in the bid stages. This includes network engineers and cloud computing consultants.

• To tackle these areas of demand, employers are often looking to hire candidates with previous experience in the ASEAN market.
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Oil & Gas:
• The main skills in demand fall under the Project Controls banner as companies start to build up their onshore operations team ahead of new offshore and installation projects starting at the beginning of the second quarter.

• Commercial and Business Management requirements remain strong as does the demand for Procurement and Contract staff.

• Demand will be high for ROV personnel and there still remains a world-wide shortage of Subsea Control personnel. With new contracts also being issued to pipe-lay barges and vessels the demand will also be high for installation personnel.

Pharma:
• Over the next three months there will be an increase in the number of health economics, market access and pricing and reimbursement roles as Pharma companies continue to look at emerging markets. Setting the pricing for drugs in new markets, the strategy and government relations will be transferred into the hands of experts in the APAC region (rather than being left to marketing personnel), the majority of whom will be regionally headquartered in Singapore.

• In addition we expect continued demand for quality assurance and compliance professionals as many companies continue to address quality issues within their clinical trials and manufacturing processes.

Chris Mead, General Manager of Hays in Singapore