So the unemployment rate in Singapore is at a 14-year low of 2%. Most countries would kill for such low numbers! I want to look at the issue from the perspective of recruitment.

For the past decade, organizations operating in Singapore have benefited from a very liberal foreign labour government policy. Firms could easily hire skilled talent from Asian countries such as India, China, Philippines and relocate them to Singapore. Many flock to Singapore, given the strength of the currency versus their own local currencies. From the standpoint of Singaporeans, salaries have largely stagnated as many employers gravitated to the cheaper labour costs of foreign nationals. Coupled with the rising cost of living and the fact that Singapore does not have an extensive social safety net, there were lots of disgruntled Singaporeans frustrated that the government was not looking out for them. It translated into fewer votes for the ruling party during the last general elections in mid-2011.

With a liberal foreign labour policy, many firms did not bother with employer branding since they could jettision foreign labour easily into Singapore. But the government has signaled that there could be a policy change on the horizon to tighten labour laws to favour local talent. If this happens, it would mean a smaller talent pool and the war for local talent will truly be on. Higher salaries would be offered and organizations would have to develop their Employer Value Proposition (EVP) to attract the best local talent.

This would mean that recruiters cannot just take on an operational role when it comes to recruitment but start focusing on employer brand strategies to entice the best Singaporeans to join them.

Organizations need to do 2 things in light of the above scenario:

(a) Develop a flexible compensation & benefits framework.

(b) Formulate employer branding programmes that target the local talent.