About 3,010 jobs are available in the financial service sector here, with nine in 10 for professionals, managers, executives and technicians.
They make up 57 per cent of the nearly 5,200 job, traineeship and attachment openings available in the sector as at the end of last month, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday in its final job situation report for the year.
Roles with the highest number of job vacancies include compliance officers or risk analysts, which have a median monthly pay of $9,100, as well as software, Web and multimedia developers, which have a median monthly pay of $7,750.
In addition to these vacancies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Employment Outlook Survey found in June that more than 30 financial institutions intend to hire for about 1,800 jobs from July this year to June next year.
Half of these positions are in technology functions, including application developers, application architects and business analysts.
Increased hiring has been observed in private banking and wealth management, corporate banking, consumer banking and insurance, according to the pilot MAS survey.
“MAS continues to look for new opportunities to entrench, grow and strengthen our enablers, with the end outcome of ensuring that our financial services sector continues to create good jobs for Singaporeans,” said Ms Thong Leng Yeng, executive director of MAS’ financial centre development department.
Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, who was on a visit to United Overseas Bank with Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and Ms Thong yesterday, said the financial service sector has done well, with 4.7 per cent growth amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, “disruption in the financial services sector will continue, if not accelerate”, he added.
Adoption of technology and data use were sped up around the world, enabling new products and services. They will also support the innovation necessary to meet the increasingly diverse needs from various segments of the market, said Mr Chan.
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Openings available
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Compliance officers
• Ensure the relevance and effectiveness of policies and operating procedures, and compliance with Singapore banking laws and regulations, and the regulatory requirements by the Government.
Software developers
• Define the architecture, design, development, code review, testing and maintenance of applications.
• Develop and maintain tools to manage aspects of the business.
• Knowledge of coding languages is required.
Financial analysts
• Create financial models and provide valuations.
• Evaluate due diligence materials and provide recommendations.
• A university degree in business or finance is required.
Despite these changes, the need for people to trust in financial institutions remains the same. Singapore has established itself as a safe harbour for funds amid the pandemic and geopolitical shifts, and it must continue to leverage this as a key advantage, said Mr Chan.
“Our ambition is for us to strengthen our position as the leading financial hub in Asia, in service of the global market. We see a great opportunity during this crisis to strengthen this position,” he said.
To realise Singapore’s ambition, there are three shifts that need to be addressed, said Mr Chan.
The first is digitalisation, where new business models and financial products are created based on data.
Second, even more foreign banks in Singapore will have to serve overseas markets.
Third, the financial service sector will no longer operate in a silo. Instead, it will have to operate as a network with other sectors such as the legal, trade and retail sectors.
To support the sector’s growth in these areas, MAS has adopted a progressive stance in its regulations to allow new financial products and services to be introduced in the market, but the skills of the local workforce must also be upgraded and remain relevant, he added.
Together with the Institute of Banking and Finance, MAS said, it will partner financial institutions to create jobs and progression opportunities for Singaporeans, to build a pipeline of local talent in the sector.
MAS will also support financial institutions to groom Singaporeans with high potential for leadership roles through structured talent development programmes and regional postings.
New training and attachment programmes will also help mid-career professionals move into growth areas in the sector. Employers can also tap career conversion programmes to hire mid-career job seekers.
So far, 1,900 existing workers in the sector whose jobs were at risk of being lost to automation have been reskilled and redeployed into new roles. Another 3,400 workers are or will be undergoing reskilling for new roles.