A recent global survey by HSBC has shown that 91 per cent of 192 expatriates living in Singapore said that they have not considered returning home despite the downturn.

This is higher than the global average of 85 per cent, said HSBC in its annual “Expat Explorer” survey released yesterday.

More than 3,100 expats from over 50 countries were polled between February and April for this online survey that looks at the expats financial circumstances.

Countries hit hard by the financial crisis, such as the United Kingdom and United States, are seeing a greater exodus of expatriates. According to the poll, 44 per cent and 23 per cent of expats from those two markets, respectively, are considering returning home.

Meanwhile, among the minority expatriates that left Singapore amid the economic crisis, 28 per cent had to do so because their employment contracts were shortened. This was also higher than the global average of 15 per cent.

Although expats here are staying put, they are spending less. The survey found that two-thirds of the expats who stayed on had reduced their spending, especially on luxury items.

This is despite the fact that 47 per cent of those surveyed have more than $4,000 in disposable income.

“Our expat clients have told us that reductions in rent over the last nine months have increased their disposable income,” said HSBC Singapore head of personal financial services Sebastian Arcuri.

“However, due to the uncertain economic times, most of them are opting not to spend this increase in their income. Instead, we are seeing more of our expat clients use the additional funds to make provisions for their future needs as well as those of their families.”

Source : Today – 28 Jul 2009

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EXPATS live the good life, according to popular perceptions. Company-provided housing in Districts 10 or 11, children’s school fees, cars, home leave and more do indeed make the expat lifestyle alluring.

A predominance of Western and North Asian expats in past years has given way to ever more nationalities enjoying the same perks.

In reality, these perks are more complex. Even though expatriates are most often employees assigned abroad for two to three years with benefits enabling them to live as well abroad as they did at home, the sizes of their packages vary tremendously.

There are also long-term expats, many of whom stayed on long after their initial 2-3 year assignment to continue to receive expatriate benefits even after living in Singapore for a decade or more. There are also foreigners who voluntarily choose to relocate to Singapore and find an expat package waiting when they were hired.

While reports of fewer expat packages have circulated for years and many foreigners have received reduced packages or nothing extra at all, headhunters confirm that the recent economic downturn has speeded up the shift away from expat packages; fewer now enjoy the pampered expat lifestyle. When they’re cutting benefits or even eliminating jobs, companies are hard pressed to continue paying the large packages for a select few.

As Ms Linda Eunson of the University of Chicago in Singapore puts it, more businesses have moved from hiring expats to employing “lopats” or “nopats”.

Instead of offering a full package of expat benefits, some companies have moved to offering lower level – “lopat” -benefits that may only include support for housing or children’s schooling. An increasing number of companies are now offering only “nopat” terms whereby foreign employees receive the same compensation as Singaporeans and have no expatriate benefits.

One headhunter reiterated this trend, saying his US and European clients are specifically requesting that he first look for candidates willing to accept local rather than expatriate packages, even at senior levels. Global hiring freezes by some multinationals have also meant that the pool of expat jobs is also shrinking.

Another reason for the shift away from expat benefits is that more people in New York or London and other hard-hit markets are turning to Asia for jobs. Search firms, companies and career offices at universities are being flooded with resumes from talented people wanting to work in Singapore even on local terms, just so they can have a job. When companies receive this many resumes from people abroad willing to relocate on local terms, there’s little reason to offer expat packages.

Added to that, companies are able to find more local employees with the right skills. This abundance of local talent also makes it harder to justify paying more for expatriates.

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One manager at a multinational company estimated that it would cost him three times more to bring in an American from the head office as it would to hire someone locally.

Even though the American might have valuable skills and head-office knowledge, the hiring of one or two well-qualified Singaporeans at a lower cost seemed preferable to importing one expensive expatriate.

All these changes don’t mean that the days of high-level expat packages are over. Search firms say they still expect top management at the president or managing-director level to be offered expatriate packages. There is still a shortage of top company leaders, said Mr Charles Moore of search firm Heidrick & Struggles, so these executives can continue to expect generous packages.

Companies will also need to dangle expat benefits to lure staff with specialised skills in still-growing economic sectors. Increasingly, though, all but staff at the very top levels or with highly specialised skills seem likely to become nopats or at most lopats, on a package with only limited benefits.

The existing expats, too, are likely to remain on their current packages as the changes primarily affect new hires. However, some companies are renegotiating packages downwards, though, according to Mr Moore.

While high rentals continue to cause more expats to move from District 10 to outlying areas when they renew their leases, and they now fly home in economy rather than business class, companies seem reluctant to eliminate packages entirely for their current staff.

To wit, international schools still have waitlists, even if they’re shorter; and clubs report that they’ve seen little drop in membership so far.

While these patterns could change if the economic downturn deepens, the full effects of the reductions in expat packages are likely to become visible only over the next two or three years.

As more new staff below the very top levels are offered local terms and more staff who want to stay on after the end of their initial assignment are only given a choice of staying on a local package or returning home, the number of expats looks set to drop.

So, while expat packages are far from totally redundant, expect to say “bye-bye expat” and “hello, nopat” more often.

The writer is a consultant who has lived in Singapore since 1992.

Source : Today – 29 Nov 2008

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The move is part of the government’s initiative to enhance the national security of the country, said the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The LTP card will replace the current stamp endorsement on the travel documents and the paper-laminated Disembarkation/Embarkation card issued to long-term pass holders.

The LTP card will bear the photograph and fingerprint of all cardholders aged 15 and above.

With the added personal identifiers, government agencies will be able to verify the cardholder’s identity through face and fingerprint matching.

The LTP card boasts better security features compared to the present card, containing biometric features to provide more secure means of identifying individuals and facilitate travel, while deterring forgery and fraudulent use of the card.

All new long term visit pass and STP holders will be issued with LTP cards in the second half of 2008.

MOM will also open a new Employment Pass Services Centre in 2009 to register and issue the new cards to those currently holding on to the various types of employment passes.

The ministry said they will transit to the new cards from the second quarter of 2009 during renewal of their passes. They will be informed when and how to register.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Jul 2008

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The latest Cost of Living survey by consultancy firm ECA International shows that Singapore has leapt 17 places in ranking this year.

The city-state is now ranked 13, trailing behind cities such as Beijing, Taipei and Shanghai.

Higher food and fuel prices are among the reasons for the jump.

Tokyo tops the list as the most expensive Asian city for expatriates, followed by Yokohama and Seoul.

ECA’s Cost of Living survey is carried out twice a year, comparing a basket of more than 120 consumer goods and services commonly bought by expatriates in over 370 locations worldwide. – CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 11 Jun 2008

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Mr Lee, who was speaking to 120 bankers at the hour-long Thomson Reuters Dialogue on Tuesday, added that more would be done to ease capacity constraints, such as the crunch in office space and accommodation.

The financial sector in Singapore grew by some 17.5 percent last year. But the prime minister said Singapore needs to level up to cope with this upsurge in activities.

He said: “We are running up against constraints because we don’t have enough office space, we don’t have enough accommodation and rentals have gone up.

“We don’t have enough schools for the expatriates’ children. (But) we are addressing this – we are helping the United World College to build a new school in Tampines, and they told me that places are already fully taken.”

Mr Lee added that rentals are likely to come down, with more offices and apartments coming on stream in the next few years.

On the whole, he is optimistic that Singapore will be able to weather the economic slowdown in the US.

Responding to a question, Mr Lee said while the value of export in the electronics sector is down, the volume has increased and there are other sectors that are doing well within the manufacturing sector, such as the pharmaceutical and petrochemical businesses.

On the issue of inflation, the prime minister said food prices will continue to rise for some time as consumption continues to increase.

Another reason for the price hike is an under-investment in the agricultural sector previously. This shortage in food supply has resulted in hoarding and some countries have limited the export of rice.

Mr Lee said he hopes ASEAN member countries can coordinate efforts and not work against one another so as to ensure that rice gets to the people.

The topic of foreign talent was also raised at the dialogue session. Mr Lee said that like London and New York, Singapore needs to tap on a range of expertise from all over the world.

“We are not only a city, we are a country. We have to have a hard core of Singaporeans so that the character of the place remains Singaporean, while being cosmopolitan,” he said.

As for leadership renewal, Mr Lee said Singapore needs to keep it contestable while focusing on building a good team that can meet future challenges and find new ways of engaging the population.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 6 May 2008

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This is according to a recent survey by ECA International, a global human resources organisation.

Singapore has maintained the top spot for ten years now but regionally, it is getting tough competition from Japan and even Hong Kong.

The survey found that Singapore’s infrastructure, low crime rate and lack of social and political tensions were the main factors behind its draw.

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“For us, it’s very peaceful and we don’t feel any hassle or difficulties. So I think for us it’s the best place,” said an expatriate.

“Growth is planned. That’s one of the reasons we feel we have more value for money here,” said another.

But there are some factors that Singapore needs to address if it wishes to remain at the top spot.

Firstly, it has to counter the haze issue caused by forest fires in neighbouring countries.

It also has to make sure that property and rental prices are affordable for Asian expats.

“It’s pretty good to work here and earn money but not for retirement,” said an expat.

“It’s not like Australia is any worse than Singapore, so I would say it’s personal choice at the end of the day,” said another.

Sydney came in second in the rankings, while Melbourne and Kobe tied in third place.

Hong Kong went up the rankings by eight spots to reach the 15th position this year.

Most Chinese cities, like Beijing, while they are not in the top 100, they have risen quite rapidly in the rankings over the last five years.

But this progress may soon plateau. Lee Quane, ECA International’s general manager in Hong Kong, explained: “Pollution levels in mainland Chinese cities are consistently high….the highest among the cities which we include in our rankings.”

Air quality is one factor considered in the rankings. – CNA/ir

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 4 Mar 2008

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Sydney was rated second in the survey, with third spot shared by Melbourne and Kobe in Japan, the human resources firm said.

Rounding out the top 10 list for Asian expatriates was Copenhagen in fifth spot, followed by Canberra and Vancouver. Wellington and Yokohama shared eighth spot, with Dublin next.

ECA said Singapore, Southeast Asia’s most advanced economy, was also ranked above the other cities because it offered Asian expatriates a similar feel to their home countries.

“Since quality of living is relative to where someone comes from and to where they are going, our scores take into account the home and destination country,” said Lee Quane, ECA International’s general manager in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Singapore’s long-running regional rival as a business hub, was ranked 15th in the global cities list, with the territory’s air pollution cited as a drawback.

Among Chinese cities, Shanghai was seen as the best place for top Asian professionals while Xian ranked as the worst location, according to the survey, which compared living standards in 254 locations worldwide.

Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympic Games in August, fared worse than other Chinese cities such as Nanjing and Tianjin because of its notorious air pollution, the survey showed.

ECA International’s annual survey is based on categories such as climate, air quality, health services, housing, political tension and personal safety.

Within Asia, Hong Kong and Tokyo were ranked joint fourth behind Singapore, Kobe and Yokohama, the survey said.

Trailing in sixth spot was Taipei, followed by Macau and Bangkok, with Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown cities sharing ninth spot while Shanghai and Seoul were in 11th and 12th places, respectively.

Brunei’s Bandar Seri Begawan was in 13th place in Asia and 89th place globally.

Manila was ranked 24th in Asia and 133 globally, while Jakarta was in 39th place regionally and 190th worldwide.

Chennai was the highest ranked Indian city within Asia, in 26th spot, with Mumbai in 30th and New Delhi 37th. – AFP/ir

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 4 Mar 2008

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