By Suresh Menon

SINGAPORE - Singapore stands out as the least-risky place in the Asia-Pacific for companies to find talent related to recruitment, employment and redeployment, according to a survey.

The study by Aon Hewitt, a global human-resource company, also found that Singapore is the third-best city for low risk worldwide among 131 cities covered.

The company's People risk index, which measures the risks organisations face with recruitment, employment and restructuring, is based on ratings relative to risk across the five broad areas of demographics, education, government support, talent development and employment practices.

Hong Kong is the second-lowest-risk city in the region and is ninth in the global ranking, tying with Vancouver and Copenhagen.

Melbourne, Sydney and Taipei completed the list of the five lowest-risk cities in the Asia-Pacific.

The Aon Hewitt study revealed that Singapore has the lowest risk globally for government support and talent development.

"With increasing labour costs and low growth in the Western economies, more companies are looking to Asia as a source of talent," said Mr Rick Payne, an Aon Hewitt executive.

"While Singapore is clearly the lowest-risk location in Asia for employers, the risk of sourcing and employing talent throughout much of Asia is declining as the educational and training infrastructure improves and employment regulations become clearer and more equitably enforced."