Singapore eyes overseas talent to help stem shortage

However, certain challenges remain for local organisations seeking employees

Singapore eyes overseas talent to help stem shortage

Businesses in Singapore are eager to hire international talent, data from Deel has revealed, as the payroll and compliance provider launches in the city-state to help organisations find talent overseas and vice versa.

Deel's latest data unveiled that the most popular countries that businesses in Singapore are hiring from include the United States (11%), Philippines (11%), India (9%), Australia (6%) and Indonesia (6%).

Employers are mostly looking for Virtual Assistance (24%), Software Engineers (22%), Software Developers (9%), Community Managers (8%) and Content Writers (7%).

At the same time, Singapore talent is also in demand globally - with the United States, United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, and Australia among the places hiring Singapore talent.

Tapping on international talent further increased thanks to the rise of remote arrangements over the past years, according to Deel, with its recent State of Global Hiring Report showing a 227% increase in hiring remote employees and contractors in the Asia Pacific alone.

Despite the increase in hirings, however, Karen Ng, Regional Head of Expansion & Market Lead Hong Kong, Singapore, ASEAN, India, pointed out that certain barriers remain for employers when it comes to hiring international talent.

"The reality is that many organisations face significant roadblocks to hiring international talent even in the age of remote work," said Ng in a statement. "They may encounter compliance risks associated with setting up an entity, with lengthy times averaging six to eight months."

To help address these "roadblocks," Deel will be launching in Singapore to help businesses hire overseas talent.

"Deel's platform and compliance expertise solves these issues, giving businesses the tools to expand, hire, and pay teams more easily than ever before," said Ng.

Read more: How to create connections in an international team

With Deel, organisations overseas will also be able to hire talent in Singapore and help them onboard compliantly in minutes. Businesses are also assisted in streamlining payments to employees and contractors in their preferred currency in just a single click.

"Ultimately, we want to ensure they have access to the best talents, regardless of geographies, and can secure them for their workforce. We are confident that our technology can help streamline this process of managing teams and vendors around the world, while keeping compliant with local tax and legislation requirements."

Shuo Wang, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Deel, added that he is excited to bring their services to Singapore's businesses.

"With the hybrid working model here to stay, and talents all over the world enjoying the flexibility of working for their employers of choice, it is crucial that organizations are able to keep up with these demands, from bringing new team members onboard to managing their global teams."