There continues to be strong demand for talent in the financial and accounting sector in Singapore. That’s according to a series of polls conducted by global recruitment agency Robert Half International.
The global survey included 5400 finance professionals from 18 countries.
Out of the 300 hiring managers surveyed from Singapore, 40 per cent said they would expand their finance team within the next six months. That’s compared to the five per cent who said they would be reducing headcount instead.
Robert Half said demand for financial professionals will continue to be robust.
Tim Hird, Director, Robert Half International, said: “Certainly from what we’ve seen in the first four months of this year is a demand for talent which continues to be at a premium in Singapore across all industry sectors. So the natural consequence of that is that salary levels will continue to rise and expectations of employees in the marketplace continues to increase.”
And according to Robert Half, it will take a premium to attract quality talent from other firms.
This could mean offering to pay potential candidates ten to 25 per cent more than what they are currently getting.
Still, the recruitment firm said that monetary incentives are just one aspect to retaining talent, especially younger staff.
Mr Hird continued: “The expectation of the employee to have the highest quality leadership and mentorship from their direct manager is pretty much top of the list. And we would argue that that’s as important as compensation as it relates to the modern day employee.”
The survey shows that overall, Singapore companies pay higher variable bonuses than other countries.
More than 96 per cent of respondents from Singapore received annual bonuses compared to 93 per cent in Hong Kong and 90 per cent in the US. – CNA/vm
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 5 Jun 2008