WHAT'S DRIVING SKILLED
SINGAPOREANS HOME?
Singapore returners survey findings
hays.com.sg
Background
Recent labour laws and the Fair Consideration
Framework prioritising local talent over
foreigners have increased competition for
Singaporean nationals in the jobs market.
Whilst Government initiatives that endorse local
Singaporean hires are positive in many aspects,
they have seen the demand for talented local
candidates reach new heights. For employers, the
challenge to secure the right, skilled talent now
has an added layer of complexity.
Singapore’s demand for highly skilled professionals in the
past has been satiated by the readily available flow of foreign
talent. These new policies however have heightened the
talent shortage in Singapore, particularly for highly-skilled
professionals and middle-income employees.
This is supported by findings from the 2014 Hays Global
Skills Index, which shows that wages in Singapore’s high-skill
industries are rising much faster than in low-skill industries.
Such wage pressure indicates that employers are competing
for highly-skilled professionals in high-skill industries.
In fact, Singapore’s talent shortage has reached a point where
it is now a hindrance to the effective operation of businesses in
the city-state.
Returning talent can help counterbalance this shortage by
offering employers the opportunity to recruit Singaporeans with
in-demand skills and highly valued international experience, but
they come with a price tag. So what motivates Singaporeans to
return and what is the best approach to their recruitment?
INTRODUCTION
To help answer these questions, we recently contacted
Singaporeans (and those who have lived or worked in Singapore
before) who are either studying or working overseas, but thinking
about coming back to Singapore for their next career step. 423
such Singaporeans completed a confidential online questionnaire
in October/November 2014. We share their insights here.
38%
Foreign-born citizens make
up a huge proportion of
Singapore’s workforce
Profile of our survey respondents
Of our 423 survey respondents, 32 per cent had studied
in Singapore and 22 per cent in Europe. Returning
Singaporeans are typically a highly educated group. 42
per cent hold a Bachelor degree, 39 per cent a Masters.
Over one third (36 per cent) of our survey group have
15+ years experience and 23 per cent have between five
and ten years of experience.
Why ARE returning
Singaporeans in demand?
They have studied or worked internationally, which provides them with a
Westernised way of thinking and experience of how business is done overseas.
Employers operating in our globalised economy value such skills and
experience – not least because these returners are in demand over
expatriates. They also have one further advantage however; their local cultural
understanding. This is particularly valued by both local companies and those
multinational corporations that are establishing an Asian hub in Singapore.
The mixture of knowledge and experience of the local market and global
business acumen is appealing to both multinational and home-grown
companies.
Key findings
Motivations
We firstly asked our returner survey respondents what
would make them consider coming back to Singapore. A
significant 53 per cent of returners said they miss the culture
and lifestyle. A further 44 per cent said it was a desire to live
closer to their family. Culture and family ties are strong factors
in motivating talent to come back home, but people who
have lived and worked abroad are also often highly ambitious
to achieve certain career goals. Twenty nine per cent said they
are motivated by more job opportunities in Singapore than
where they currently are abroad and 30 per cent because
their career path would be faster in Singapore.
Returners’ motivations
CAREER
44%

Family
17%
JOBS
13%
53%

Culture & Lifestyle
We next asked our returner survey respondents which type
of organisation they want to work for if they were to return.
The majority (66 per cent) of returners want to work for
a foreign-owned enterprise if they return. As Singapore is
one of the four largest financial services centres globally, it’s
unsurprising that over one in four candidates (26 per cent)
want to work in financial services. Other desired industries
include IT/telecommunications (16 per cent), engineering (12
per cent) and professional services (nine per cent).
Salary expectations
Returning Singaporeans offer an alternative to both
local and Western businesses that previously relied on
Western expatriates to run their operations. The question
is, however, whether these individuals bringing with them
a wealth of trade contacts, new ideas and capital, are
actually worth quite what they expect.
Many returning Singaporeans understand their worth in the
global marketplace, the value of their demand back home,
as well as the advantage of their cultural awareness and
global business acumen.
What would it take for you to return to Singapore to work?
Of our survey respondents, almost half (49 per cent) will
only return if they can increase their current earnings.
Singaporeans are motivated by increased salaries more so
than returning Chinese (34 per cent) or Malaysians (38 per
cent) where we ran simultaneous studies, suggesting salary
is a key motivator. Singaporeans looking to return are wary
of the high cost of living and housing. For families with
children, international schooling is cited as an attractive
inclusion in a salary package.
15%
=
Same
More
Less
45%
35%


Cross-cultural
communication
Overseas work
experience
Apart from salary, other drivers include opportunities for
advancement, a desire for new challenges and an improved
work/life balance.
Length of job search
A large percentage of our returner survey respondents (43
per cent) expect it will take one to three months to find a
job if they were to return to Singapore. Twenty three per
cent said it would take more than six months to find a job,
which is significantly higher than those thinking about
returning to China, where only seven per cent indicated
it would take six months or more. Fifty two per cent of
respondents think it’s easier to get a job where they are
currently living overseas.
“One quarter of our
survey respondents
looking to return to
Singapore want to
work in the financial
services industry”
Would you consider working overseas?
The movement of students and professionals overseas shows no sign of abating. Increasing
numbers of educated and qualified Singaporeans are at the same time moving abroad in
search of better opportunities. In a separate survey in November/December 2014, we asked
150 candidates if they would consider working overseas, either now or in the future. Almost all
(88 per cent) said they would consider working overseas for better job opportunities, career
development or exposure and lifestyle factors.
SALARY INFORMATION | SALARY VS project size/annual turnover
49%
Forty five per cent of returners we surveyed said crosscultural communication skills are their number one advantage.
Cross-cultural communication skills can only come from being
immersed in another culture and gaining the insight to give you
intercultural understanding and cultural adaptability. A further
35 per cent nominated their overseas work experience as their
key advantage over local candidates with no overseas exposure.
Returners’ advantages
ReturnerS’ salary expectations
29%
The value of experience
Advice for employers
How to go about attracting highly skilled talent back to the shores of Singapore.
Our advice is to firstly make sure you pay appropriately for
skill, and nothing else. Whilst salary is a key driver, think
about your overall offering and benefits package. What
initiatives do you have in place to promote a healthy work/
life balance for example?
Second, find your leverage and recruit intelligently. What
attracts a candidate to your organisation might not be
financial. As our survey shows, talent can be brought home
by family ties and career advancement opportunities, so talk
to your recruiter to gain deeper insight on what motivates
the candidate. With this knowledge, you can tailor your offer.
For example, for one returner the opportunity to leave work
an hour early one day a week to spend time with ageing
parents might be viewed as a highly attractive benefit,
while for another a structured career development plan
might encourage them to accept your job offer.
Finally, hold on to what you already have. According to our
survey, 30 per cent of returners are considering coming back to
Singapore because they believe they will have a faster career
path here. This highlights the importance of putting solid,
individualised retention plans in place, which includes open and
honest discussions about career development expectations.
Advice for returners
How to go about securing a rewarding career back in Singapore.
Keep your eye on the market to identify the right time
to make the move back for your particular industry or
profession. Subscribe to the Hays Quarterly Report for the
latest hotspots of demand and talent trends in Singapore.
Speak to a recruitment consultant in your country of
residence. Our specialist Hays Globalink team in London is
dedicated to international career transitions and can provide
useful information to you before your departure. This
includes giving you an indication of market rates and salary
guidelines, discussing visa and work permit requirements,
arranging interviews in Singapore prior to your departure,
helping to update your CV and giving you job searching tips.
Hays is the fastest-growing, market-leading recruitment
consultancy in Singapore, so if you land in Singapore and
require assistance, our experts have nine years of local
experience behind them to help find the right job for you in
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