MAS Director: 43% of Senior Management Jobs in the Financial Sector Are S’poreans

By
Shawn Ambrose
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The Covid-19 pandemic has reignited the debate about bringing foreign talent into Singapore, as many netizens have accused local companies of unfair hiring practices in the past few weeks.

Netizens claimed that companies such as Standard Chartered and Temasek Holdings hired more foreigners than Singaporeans, implying that they had a biased hiring process.

Some posts also shared screenshots of the LinkedIn profiles of their foreign workers, with their faces and names visible.

Both companies had responded to the allegations.

But now the authorities have something to say about the matter.

Plans to Grow the Singapore Core

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will “intensify its engagements” with financial institutions to grow the Singaporean workforce.

Managing director Ravi Menon said that protecting and growing Singaporean jobs, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, is a “top priority”.

Menon was responding to a letter published in The Straits Times Forum page, where the author claimed that many foreigners in the last 20 years have been hired for upper-middle to senior management positions in Singapore’s finance sector.

In his reply, Menon said, “While not yet where we want to be for every financial institution, the picture across the sector as a whole is better than often portrayed.”

As previously mentioned, many netizens have accused companies of hiring more foreigners than Singaporeans, without substantive evidence.

Image: Facebook

Some of these posts were removed by Facebook for breaching community guidelines on hate speech, reported Mothership.

In response to the allegations aimed at Temasek, the company released a statement saying their global workforce is made up of 60% Singaporeans, and that 90% of their employees in their Singapore office are Singaporeans.

43% of Senior Management Jobs in the Financial Sector Are S’poreans

Now, Menon has said that according to estimates, 70% of the workforce in the finance sector comprises Singaporean citizens, with permanent residents (PRs) accounting for another 14%.

He added that 43% of senior management jobs across the sector are occupied by Singaporeans, “reflecting Singapore’s role as an international financial centre”.

Speaking to ST, several local banks said that Singaporeans make up a significant portion of their workforce in technology and risk management:

  • UOB said 8 out of 10 of its workers in these areas are locals
  • DBS said 95% of its risk management team and 85% of its technology and operations team comprise citizens and PRs
  • OCBC said 84% of its technology and risk management teams are citizens and PRs

“My colleagues and I are committed to growing the Singaporean core in the financial sector”, Menon said.

Tarnishing Individuals Unacceptable

In response to allegations made against Temasek, its CEO Ho Ching said that while it’s acceptable to complain about unfair hiring practices if it’s based on facts and not hearsay, it’s unreasonable and improper to “tarnish individuals” and dox them based on false claims.

Ho called the campaign against her Indian workers a “cowardly act of hate”, one that “stirs up racial biases”.

“… let’s not put up photos of innocent folks to dox them just bcos we don’t like their race or nationality, as a way to stir hate and hatred”, she wrote.

Ho added that the country’s prosperity is in part attributable to the skills and ideas we have gained from workers from other countries and that we should view our diversity as a strength.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]