SINGAPORE OFFERS CREDIBILITY, EFFICIENCY
Ms Teo said the pattern of moving some functions out of Singapore has already been taking shape for years – particularly in banking and financial services, where shared service centres in Malaysia now handle many support functions.
“Offshoring is not today’s business. It has been there for a decade,” she noted.
“The support functions, the know-your-client roles, customer care roles, HR operations, finance operations, marketing operations roles, typically will be moved to Malaysia. But we do see a trend that the higher value jobs (will) still (be retained) in Singapore.”
These include leadership roles, project management positions and specialist jobs, Ms Teo said.
This is because Singapore still offers value many companies want, including reliability, efficiency, strong regulation and governance, she added.
Prof Agarwal concurred, saying Singapore offers credibility to clients, as well as rule of law and an environment that is hard to replicate elsewhere.
For those reasons, some functions are much less likely to move out of Singapore, especially in the areas of research and development, high-end pharmaceuticals and chip manufacturing, he said.
Even with higher wages and living costs, Singapore still has the talent pool and ecosystem needed to support those sectors, he added.
As for middle management roles, Ms Teo said companies in Singapore are still hiring for them, but a trend has emerged where they are “a little bit more cost-sensitive”.
She pointed to the large number of Malaysians who commute daily to Singapore for work, saying this labour pool can support companies looking to spread functions across the border.