Despite mass layoffs at tech firms, analysts believe that tech professionals are still in demand in Singapore as companies look to develop digital capabilities. They said that hotspots of business activity and recruitment remain, even as parts of the tech industry cool amid rising inflation and interest rates and the changing post-pandemic landscape.
“The days of just hiring left, right and centre, in fear of losing out on talent – that will probably come to a stop for a while,” said Assistant Professor Ng Weiyi of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. Among those employers likely to become more “fiscally prudent” are fintech start-ups that have been highly reliant on venture capital and private equity for funding, he said.
Competition has also intensified with the increased supply of job seekers after several high-profile layoffs that impacted the Singapore tech sector. Facebook parent Meta, which terminated more than 11,000 employees worldwide, laid off dozens of employees in Singapore in departments ranging from marketing to engineering. Twitter slashed half its global workforce, or around 3,700 employees, though it is not known how many in Singapore were affected.
E-commerce giant Amazon is planning to lay off 10,000 employees, reports on Tuesday (Nov 15) said. Singapore-based online marketplace Shopee has held three rounds of retrenchments since June this year, which included staff in its food delivery and online payment teams. Both companies have not responded to queries about the number of employees affected in Singapore.
The larger pool of tech talent available for hire now will give companies leverage to dictate the terms of employment, which means they could end up paying employees less, said Asst Prof Ng. But outside the start-up world, companies that have traditionally not been regarded as tech firms – such as banks – are seeking to deepen their digital capabilities. The layoffs in tech could be a boon for them, and also present new opportunities to tech job seekers.
“There’s a potential mobility shift for companies that want to reinvent themselves to pursue the top tech talent that would otherwise not be available,” said Asst Prof Ng. “Now you are seeing an opportunity to recruit top tech talent that has otherwise been lured away by the very juicy compensation packages that were offered by the venture-backed companies.” Ms Yorlin Ng, COO of venture outfit Momentum Works, said this was the silver lining of the Big Tech layoffs for non-tech companies and start-ups that want to innovate and are now able to grab hold of tech talent. “A few founder friends of ours already find it easier to hire talent recently,” she said. “I believe there will be a boom in tech again – perhaps very soon. The landscape might be different from what we are familiar with now though.”
CNA
