MAS Stands Up for the Expat Banker
But not at the expense of local financial sector expertise.
The talent shortage in the city-state’s financial sector was scrutinized in a Parliament session on Monday, and MAS board member Alvin Tan was quick to answer.
According to him, the city will continue to have a «balanced approach» that focuses investments on upgrading the skills and expertise of the local workforce while also attracting overseas talent.
Staying Competitive
«As a leading regional and global financial center, Singapore must continue to attract high quality talent, both locally and from abroad, in order to stay competitive,» said Tan, who is also the Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
He said pursuing such an approach was «key» to the city’s success as a global financial center,
Leading Financial Center
«We are now a leading financial center in Asia and the third most competitive globally. We are home to over 2,500 licensed financial institutions and employ close to 200,000 people,» Tan indicated.
He also emphasized that 80 percent of the workers in the financial sector were local and provided the highest median gross income in the city-state.
Strong Growth
«Over 2018 to 2023, the financial sector workforce grew by more than 25,000, of which more than 9 out of 10 of the net jobs created went to locals,» Tan said.
The MAS has also committed S$400 million in the four years to 2025 to support the training of local professionals, from the entry level to senior executives, encompassing everything from job rotation programs to overseas postings.
UBS Recognition
Tan also maintained that local financial institutions such as OCBC recognize the importance of a strong local workforce. He also mentioned UBS.
«UBS also partnered (SIC: with the) government to develop the UBS-SUPER program in 2020, and has trained over 400 fresh graduates and mid-career professionals. UBS has also doubled the number of Singaporeans sent on overseas postings, compared to pre-COVID levels,» Tan stated.
Maintaining Balance
The MAS will continue to closely monitor the overall workforce profile and composition while pursuing its programs that encourage firms to both support local employment and the hiring of expats from overseas.
It's COMPASS (Complementarity Assessment Framework) for Employment Pass applications supports local programs by awarding points based on the share of local share of roles in a firm while also recognizing global talent that contribute skills that are in shortage.
Attracting Global Talent
It also has a separate Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass) that attracts «top global talent» worldwide.
«We will continue to strike a delicate balance – ensuring our financial institutions have access to high quality foreign talent, while steadfastly developing our local talent pipeline. By maintaining this balance, we will attract more investments and provide good jobs, career choices and progression opportunities for our locals,» Tan stated.
