Hiring local talent remains priority: Study

SINGAPORE - Domestic talent acquisition remains a key priority in Singapore, revealed a study by international recruitment consultancy, Robert Walters.

The Asia Job Index tracks job advertising volumes for professional positions across -the leading- job boards and national newspapers in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

With Singapore's tight labour market, employers are focusing heavily on talent development and retention, on top of aiming to attract the best talent for the right positions.

There was a 30 per cent increase in job advertising volume for legal and compliance jobs, while positions in anti-money laundering and financial crime are particularly in demand.

With more companies strengthening their social media and digital presence, the IT job advertising industry marked a 18 per cent increase.

As more companies source for talent, the demand for professionals in human resource increased as well

Toby Fowlston managing director of Robert Walters Southeast Asia said: "Companies prioritise Singaporean professionals when hiring and that emphasis will continue throughout the year. Only when all channels of recruiting domestic talent have been exhausted do hiring managers expand their search to foreign candidates."

debwong@sph.com.sg