Singapore is well positioned to be a hub for innovation and technology, with many tech companies setting up offices and regional headquarters here.
However, there may not be enough skilled workers to meet their large demand for tech talent yet.
According to a report by job portal Indeed, software engineers faced the greatest talent shortage among all roles in Singapore in February 2019.
Other related job titles like full stack developer, data scientist and system engineer also ranked among the top 10 roles with the highest talent shortages.
Besides roles in tech, sales, business development, and account management also had many job openings but rather few jobseekers.
The percentage of mismatch was calculated by looking at the number of job postings for a particular role among all job postings on Indeed’s site, compared to the number of resumes reflecting that role, among all resumes.
These are the jobs that were found to be most heavily lacking in talent:
- Software Engineer
- Sales Executive
- Business Development Manager
- Software Architect
- Account Manager
- Full Stack Developer
- Data Scientist
- Marketing Executive
- System Engineer
- Sales Engineer
Surprisingly, on the other end of the scale, roles that saw a large proportion of job seekers to a shortage of opportunities were mainly occupations with lower educational requirements, like customer service, drivers, administrative staff and service crew.
But the lack of such job postings on sites like Indeed may be a result of employers having a preference to hire through freelance recruitment channels or their own personal networks instead.
Despite these results, Indeed’s report said Singapore actually has seen an improvement in talent mismatch as it lowered by 8%; from 44% in January 2015, to 36% in May 2019.
This could indicate that employers and job seekers in Singapore are actively adapting with the changing needs in the jobs market.
Said Indeed economist Callam Pickering, “Mismatch in Singapore has gradually declined over the past four years. […] Indeed data reveal a dynamic Singaporean jobs market. The island nation is positioning itself as a technology hub, which is readily observable in our data.”
Still, it remains important for Singapore professionals to upgrade their skills frequently, especially in the technology sector which is likely to continue creating new jobs in coming years.
On the other hand, the Government is also giving tech firms operating in Singapore more support to hire foreign talents, so that they have the resources to tide over their unmet demand and quickly fill vital roles.
Featured Image Credit: Arif Riyanto, Unsplash
