SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user wanted to know what competitive advantage Singaporeans have in the current job market, amid jobs being outsourced to employees who ask for lower salaries.
In their recent post, u/throw2503 clarified that they did not mean roles in the government, those that require security clearance, or jobs that specifically require Singaporeans when a firm has no quota for work passes.
“Apart from these excluded jobs, what do we really offer to employers that makes it worth it to pay us 3x-5x the salaries of our ASEAN counterparts in their own countries. How could we differentiate ourselves?” the post author asked.
They added in an edit that their department director, a Singaporean, has said that young local workers have become too complacent and have therefore lost their edge in the job market.
In the past, conventional wisdom had it that a good education and producing good quality work were enough to give someone an edge at work, u/throw2503 wrote, adding that they believe that “workers from neighbouring countries are catching up in terms of competency, and thus, Singaporeans are getting too expensive for the little additional value they offer.”
Concern has been expressed over the past few years about Singaporeans losing jobs to regional hires, mainly due to lower costs and access to talent. The reduction in costs certainly is substantial, given that companies can save as much as 70% and 80% when they hire from overseas.
Most of these jobs involve support functions, such as IT, customer service, data processing, and back office work.
However, while there is evidence that lower- and mid-skill roles face real competition from cheaper overseas labour, Singapore has adapted to the situation, keeping high-value, strategic, and regional roles at home.
This was borne out by some of the commenters on the Reddit post.
“To be objective, the typical (not every) SG worker has better logical thinking and analytical skills compared to our neighbours… The problem is that many companies (SMEs especially) don’t require good thinkers, just cheap workers,” wrote one.
“It’s very simple, it’s a lot easier to find top talent in SG as long as you are willing to pay well. It’s considerably harder to staff an elite workforce out in Malaysia or the Philippines because anyone with some capability would usually move out of the country to somewhere where they can earn a better wage (like SG),” added another.
“I personally also have more faith in the work done by fellow S’poreans, or at least those who work/study here… When I was on exchange, the profs were surprised at our work quality, which wasn’t even at 1/10 of our full effort. Speaks much about the quality of people we have here,” a Reddit user opined, adding, “I think we bash ourselves up a bit too much sometimes.”
“Among the mid-career managers and C-level executives I’ve spoken to from MNCs, work ethic, process efficiencies, integrity, multilingualism, and respect for seniors are key – the Singapore brand. However, what truly distinguishes them is their acute sense of self-reflection on their strengths and weaknesses and the areas for improvement,” another wrote. /TISG
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