SG banks leave more jobs unfilled as corporate spending pauses

For every two people who resign, only one post gets replaced.

Banks in Singapore are hiring less—or not at all—as corporate spending hits a brake to stay liquid, according to a recruitment expert.

“Even the volume of replacement is not in proportion to the attrition level,” Ken Ong, managing director at Morgan McKinley’s Singapore operations, told Asian Banking & Finance. For every two people who resign, only one post gets replaced, he pointed out.

Ong expects bank hiring to slow this year, although some posts remain in demand, including relationship managers and roles in wealth management and family offices.

“Bulge bracket banks are not hiring as many,” he said via Zoom. “However, the second-tier banks, specifically Asian banks, still have a certain appetite in the market for some strategic [hiring] moves.”

Ong said second-tier banks are still hiring specialized workers who will help them boost their cybersecurity, cloud investment, and data analytics.

Much of the hiring is limited to contract workers and project-based roles as Singapore’s economy is expected to be flat this year, he pointed out.

“When they look at that sort of projection, then they will also take a step backwards from hiring for a replacement role,” he said. “A lot of banks also just want to have more agility with their cash flow and make sure that they have a bit of cushion.”

“The main challenge currently in the market is that everyone is just being very cautious,” he added.

There has also been a shift among workers, from bankers moving to fintech to Hong Kong posts being moved to Singapore, Ong said.

Employers are also using contractual work to test employees before offering them a permanent job.

“Most clients are happy to explore the contracting route to validate performance.”

New hires themselves seek job contracting to explore what career paths they want.

“Unlike the old times where they were told to get into a role and become a specialist very earlier in their career, they prefer to get a variety of exposures before deciding what specialization they want to get into,” Ong said.