Singapore’s financial sector to create 6,500 jobs in 2021

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon said, “The employment outlook for the financial sector in 2021 remains positive.” 

About 91% or 6,000 of the new positions in the financial sector are permanent ones, he said at a webinar co-organised by MAS, adding, “It is heartening that 44% of the 6,500 newly created jobs are open to mid-careerists with adjacent or no experience.” 

Out of these new positions, 24% are in technology roles, 4% in tech roles in business lines, while another 24% are in consumer banking, he said, sharing the results of an MAS-IBF employment outlook survey.

The other new positions are in private banking and wealth management (9%), human resource (9%), asset management (7%), insurance (7%), investment banking (3%) and accountancy (2%).  

According to the survey, the top 10 roles in technology this year include software engineer (31%), business analyst (13%), digital transformation (12%), data analyst (9%) and cybersecurity engineer (8%).  

Menon noted that though Singaporeans took up 75% of total net jobs, tech jobs formed only 35%, meaning there is an acute shortage of personnel with tech skills.

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Instead of restricting the inflow of foreign tech expertise, he said attracting the best tech talents from around the world is how the country can anchor new tech capabilities and functions that expand job opportunities for Singaporeans.