In spite of the recent global economic downtrend, Singapore’s demand for highly-skilled financial services professionals has remained robust over the past ten years. On the back of this trend, Singapore company registration specialists Rikvin is optimistic that the demand for financial services specialists will correspondingly increase and in turn, bolster the industry. Rikvin is also positive that the financial services sector will remain as a growth engine for the Singapore economy.
According to a recent announcement by Minister of State for Manpower and National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, 8,700 new Singapore work visas were issued to financial services professionals in 2010. This represented a marked increase from 3,300 Employment Pass (EP) approvals in 2001. Hence, over the past decade, an average of 4,500 new Singapore work passes were issued to finance services professionals per annum. Additionally, local employment within the industry has grown by over 66,000 personnel within the same period.
Commenting on the uptrend, Mr. Satish Bakhda, Head of Operations, Rikvin, said, “As home to over 600 foreign and local financial organizations, Singapore has long been known as a leading international financial hub and one of the most established capital markets in Asia Pacific. Although there were some layoffs in the second half of 2011, the employment trend over the past decade has been very positive. We believe that the growth of wealth in Asia in recent years has led to an increase in the demand for private banking, wealth management and related treasury and insurance services. In turn, Singapore has attracted many wealth, asset and fund management firms and correspondingly, seen an increase in demand for specialists to serve the growing market.”
Further analysis by Rikvin shows that the outlook for the industry remains positive in spite of short term fluctuations. According to Contact Singapore, the financial services sector employs 5.4% of the total workforce and contributes to more than 13% of Singapore’s GDP. Additionally, recent news reports have indicated that more Swiss banks are looking to start Singapore companies to expand private banking services and take advantage of Singapore’s extensive network of tax and free trade agreements.
“As the economic center of gravity is steering eastwards, Singapore is well-positioned to attract more high value-added activities to its shores. Rikvin is optimistic that Singapore’s sound legal framework, transparent regulatory structure, alignment with international capital standards and growing wealth trend will contribute to the continued growth of Singapore’s financial services sector and in turn, facilitate an optimistic hiring trend in the years to come,” added Mr. Bakhda.
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