Singapore faces labor crunch as more tech companies look to expand in the city-state

Among companies looking to expand in the city-state are Tencent, ByteDance, and Zoom, as well as local giants Grab and Sea. The crunch comes as the unemployment rate in Singapore reached a 16-year high due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic impact.

Citing data from NodeFlair, which is currently helping recruit talent for ByteDance and Sea’s Shopee, the report noted that roughly 500 new vacancies are posted every week on job sites.

The crunch includes talent in the data science and computer engineering space, noted the CEO of Singapore’s American Chamber of Commerce Lei Hsien-Hsien. With a strong demand and relatively weaker supply, some companies’ expansion plans in the city-state are being affected, he shared.

But even amid the labor crunch, the Economic Development Board said it has been seeing strong interest from global tech firms that are looking to expand in Singapore. Last year, the government body also launched Tech.Pass, an initiative aimed to attract more talent from outside the country.

Tech.Pass is an extension of the Tech@SG program launched in 2019 to help local technology firms recruit foreign talent and expand in the region. As part of the new program, pass holders can start and operate businesses in Singapore, as well as work for and invest in Singapore-based companies.