Real Estate
Recent global events such as the Brexit referendum, the United States’ presidential election and China’s slow economic growth have impacted many markets and economic conditions. A reserved approach to office expansions and industrial space commitment echoes the business sentiments for investments in the real estate industry. Moreover, there is a supply overhang in commercial properties that has led to weaker performance in price and rentals.
As such, property developers are not looking to develop new estates. Instead, selling or leasing existing units are higher in demand. Consequently, this indicates a greater demand for experienced residential & commercial leasing managers with strong business acumen, as well as asset & portfolio managers. Additionally, the Singapore Government has committed to the development of the Industry Transformation Map (ITM). This aligns with the Real Estate Industry’s jobs and growth strategy, which will be released within the year 2017.
With the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) assuming responsibility for the real estate ITM, it aims to restructure the industry and deepen partnerships between industry’s stakeholders. There is also a focus on raising productivity in the industry by leveraging ICT technology to streamline real estate transactions, as well as entering new areas of growth in the industry. This will lead to a need for a strong talent base for the real estate sector. With real estate being one of AYP’s key industries, this offer excellent opportunities for our business and workforce optimisation.
Engineering
Engineering forms the backbone of Singapore’s Economy, where an estimated half relies on engineers’ input in many sectors such as manufacturing, construction and transportation. Even other various industries require support from engineers, for instance, in the operational and maintenance of information technology systems.
According to the Ministry of Manpower 2016 Job Vacancies Report, there are many engineering related fields within the top job vacancies – such as civil, electrical, electronics, industrial & production, manufacturing, mechanical, and network infrastructure engineers. With the digital age and the government’s push to be a Smart Nation, fields with valuable technical skills are in demand. This includes automation technology, green technology, robotics, software and telematics engineering.
With the need for cyber security, other valuable skills are those in malware analysts and cyber forensics as stated by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. In 2016, the Singapore Government itself expanded their own engineers’ talent pool by more than 13% – hiring 1,000 engineers. The need for technical skills support in the market, coupled with the job vacancies, provide good career prospects for engineers.
Banking
Staff reductions and business exits from banks such as ANZ Bank and Barclays have made Singapore headlines in 2016. Despite these challenges in the Singapore’s financial services industry and banking sector, there are still looming opportunities. Singapore has over 700 financial institutions providing a wide array of financial services. Furthermore, various international credit rating agencies has still ranked Singapore as triple-A.
Due to the digital landscape transformation, FinTech – using technology to support banking and financial services is one such digital disruption in the financial services industry. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has come up with schemes to fund FinTech projects and aid the push for Singapore to be a FinTech hub. As such, FinTech companies require qualified candidates with banking & finance knowledge and technical skills such as experience in using programming languages.
Besides financial knowledge, other skills in data analytics, market trend and risk analysis are in demand. Nevertheless, the banking sector will not be totally displaced by automation. There is still a need for human touch points to deliver exceptional customer service. Moreover, professionals who are skilled at handling client relationships are valued. Other in-demand jobs in the sector are compliance, business development, client on-boarding and contracting.
Information Technology
Globally, digitisation is changing the way businesses operate. Technology trends such as big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality, are key drivers for the information technology (IT) industry. Moreover, the Singapore government has committed to initiatives for its push to be a Smart Nation. There is an increased focus on innovation, research and development. Information Technology is one of AYP’s key industries, and this breeds positive sentiments for our business as a placement agency.
Many industries are likely to face technological disruption. Besides the IT industry, there are other industries such as the finance and healthcare industry which requires IT professionals. For instance, as mentioned above, the government has provided funding to encourage the development of FinTech solutions. This has led to an increase in demand for candidates with strong IT knowledge, technical skills and other value-added skills.
With the cloud services market projected to grow by 18% in 2017, there is demand for cloud services specialists. Data crunching allow companies to measure and learn from previous interactions. On top of that, the analysis will effectively create a road map for future decisions. As such, data scientist, big data specialist and data analytic skills are increasingly valued. Additionally, there is also demand for other specialised skills such as mobile and software development.
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