Top-notch tech talents, from start-up entrepreneurs to experienced industry operators, are starting to set their sights on Singapore.
There have been about 60 applications approved as at March 31 for the new Tech.Pass that aims to attract top-tier foreigners, the Economic Development Board (EDB) told The Sunday Times.
This is well above the 22 successful applications announced in Parliament last month.
The Sunday Times understands that requests came from a diverse pool of candidates. Approved candidates include tech entrepreneurs, investors and those with management experience in sizeable tech firms.
The Sunday Times understands many of the successful applicants are in the early stages of making plans to move to Singapore and the roles they will assume here are still not firmed up.
Tech.Pass is administered by the EDB and was launched in January with 500 places available.
It targets professionals with a track record of either founding or leading sizeable tech companies and in the development of widely adopted products.
The pass also builds on the Tech@SG programme, which spells out more flexible requirements for foreign professionals to apply for an Employment Pass.
Tech talent as a whole has been in short supply in Singapore as large firms continue to expand.
There were 890 vacancies for software, Web and multimedia developers and 700 for systems analysts as at last September. These two job scopes had the most positions available in the infocomm technology industry, according to Manpower Ministry data this month.
"It is important that companies set up in Singapore have access to a strong Singaporean workforce complemented by a diverse foreign workforce, in order to better serve the international and regional markets," said Mr Ang Chin Tah, senior vice-president of Digital Industry Singapore, a joint office of the EDB, Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) that engages with the technology sector.
Mr Ang told The Sunday Times that digital skills continue to be in demand and Singapore's workforce must keep up with changes to stay competitive. "These include skills in areas such as analytics and data science, cyber security, product management and software engineering," he said.
Mr Ang said that tech companies like Shopee, Lazada and Amazon have been actively hiring despite the pandemic.
The EDB has also supported firms such as Google, IBM, Microsoft and Facebook in the roll-out of digital upskilling programmes targeted at Singaporeans in the past year, he said, adding: "These present opportunities for our people to upgrade and keep themselves relevant in a job market that increasingly requires digital skills."
Tech firm Sea announced last year that it will hire and train around 500 Singaporeans over the next two years under a collaboration with IMDA.
Sea's e-commerce platform Shopee, which employs more than a thousand staff in Singapore, told The Sunday Times it has recently filled more roles in areas like business development, data analytics, software engineering, marketing and product management.
Ms Agatha Soh, its head of people, said: "As the tech and e-commerce industry continues to expand at an exponential pace, demand for tech talent will continue to grow. This will make finding the right talent increasingly more challenging."
She added that the firm has put in place various initiatives aimed at attracting, retaining and developing talent, such as the Sea Management Associate Programme and Shopee Apprentice Programme.
Likewise, Grab's head of people, Ms Ong Chin Yin, expects competition for talent to intensify given that there are more tech multinationals expanding in Singapore.
The ride-hailing and food delivery giant has eight research and development centres globally. Singapore is home to its largest and also houses most of its total tech talent headcount, specialising in areas like artificial intelligence, data science and cyber security.
Grab will be hiring about 350 more employees here this year to help it deliver online financial services in South-east Asia, develop its digital banking business and support micro enterprises in their digital transformation.
Ms Ong said: "There is clearly a demand and supply gap for tech talent today across all levels and roles.
"Companies will need to balance their talent strategies where they groom from within, while also introducing new hires to bring fresh thinking and capabilities within the organisation."
© 2021 Singapore Press Holdings
This article was written by Prisca Ang from The Straits Times and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
