The impact of COVID-19 on the hiring plans of fintech firms is negligible, with the overwhelming majority of firms still looking to expand their headcount in the coming months, finds a survey.
For firms which are not looking to hire more staff, the pandemic was cited as a reason by half of respondents surveyed.
The survey, titled FinTech Talent Report 2020, was conducted jointly by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and PwC Singapore. It explored the impact of the pandemic on the attraction, recruitment and retention of talent among fintech firms in Singapore.
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As per this survey, talent gaps exist across the various identified job functions. But for the most part, these are manageable with firms generally reporting no shortfalls or a shortfall of 0-25 per cent in their desired headcounts.
When hiring talent, fintech companies are likely to draw on their own personal networks and connections, in addition to job portals, to find the right talent for their needs — a trend similar to findings from the 2019 Talent Survey.
Compared to the 2019 findings, more Singaporean fintech firms are focussing on hiring local talent, though the majority of respondents were in favour of hiring both foreign and domestic talent.
This could be due to a combination of factors like increased capabilities of domestic talent and greater challenges in hiring foreign talent.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently raised the minimum salary required for new Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass (SP) applicants in early August to encourage firms to hire more local talent.
Challenges persist for startups as local talent is more likely to be attracted to larger, more established firms and many applicants have unrealistic salary expectations.
The survey further reveals that many fintech businesses feel that the current situation is an opportune time to upskill their staff so resources and grants may be applied for in order to achieve this.
Despite a growing number of training partnerships and fintech qualifications, many fintech companies in Singapore are unaware of them and those that are aware remain generally neutral in their assessment on material coverage.
The majority of the 1,491 respondents agreed that increased dialogue between industry, academia, and regulators was beneficial in ensuring local talent could be developed to meet the needs of fintech firms.
The imminent launch of digital banks in Singapore is largely perceived to be a boon for the talent pipeline, with the combination of banking and fintech seen as offering the best of both worlds and driving interest in people to learn the necessary skills to work in such institutions, says the report.
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Such a result would likely have spill-over benefits to the wider fintech community, increasing the availability of local talent across the industry.
Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said: “It is encouraging to note that Singapore’s fintech sector has stayed resilient despite the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hiring sentiment for local talent remains strong. With fintech companies looking to expand their workforce, workers must keep an open mind and explore picking up new skills to stay relevant or secure employment in this growing sector.”
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