SINGAPORE ‘Brain drain’ slows Singapore’s growth

The city-state has one of the best passports in the world in “spending capacity” and has established itself as a financial and productive center. Managers and professionals are among the best prepared on the Asian continent. But the authorities are worried about the exodus of “brains”, a dilemma that goes hand in hand with a low birth rate and the proportion of foreigners in the workforce.

Singapore () – Singapore’s influence goes far beyond the narrow limits of its territory or those, much broader, to which its role as a large financial, productive and advanced tertiary center destines it. This is due, among other things, to the diaspora of managers and professionals trained in some of the best universities in Asia, for one of the most demanding and functional educational and business systems, as well as a first passport in the world in terms of prestige and “spending capacity”.

Examples of this are Singaporeans who have taken up management positions in other countries, such as Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew and PepsiCo CEO Tan Wern Yuen.

However, the authorities are concerned about the brain drain of the city-state, which is experiencing the paradox of losing a large number of high-level professionals and young recent graduates to multinationals or companies outside its borders, while fighting for meeting their own needs to fill skilled jobs.

Added to this dilemma is the complicated relationship between local and foreign labor, and the low birth rate, a “scourge” that for the busy republic comes from afar and to which until now no official intervention has been able to remedy, forcing it to to resort more and more to immigrants of very varied nationalities.

However, many are wondering at this moment how it is possible that a reality that has always imported foreign talents also sees its exports grow. In fact, it does not go unnoticed that last year the number of people who offered to study or work abroad grew by 72% compared to 2020 (in 2019 there were around 215,000 out of a total of 341,000 expatriates).

One answer, albeit partial, comes from the latest research on Global Asian Leaders, which identified traits increasingly shared by emerging Singaporean and global leaders. Shared and sought after are, in fact, the benefits of prolonged exposure to a foreign environment, whether through public or private programs that broaden knowledge, but above all lead to sharing different work styles and approaches to problems. of the usual in the city-state.

With some limitations, however, that also raise questions, another survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore stands out, which in the 2022 edition of its report on employment showed that, although in the South-East Asian republic local talent occupies more than half of management roles at 60% of companies contacted, Singaporeans in leadership roles have not increased at the regional or global level. The survey indicates that a limit in the comparison with other business realities lies in the characteristics of the Singapore system, which responds to its own rules and standards promoted by the educational system and also adopted in the business and productive system. These encourage preparation and participation but not individual initiative, which translates into a more direct and immediate approach to needs. Less prone to formalities and a planned career and more towards dynamism and planning.