A team strategizing solutions to address Singapore’s talent shortage. Photo by Freepik
Singapore’s Talent Shortage: How Employers Can Compete for Scarce Skills
- In 2025, 83% of employers in Singapore say they are struggling to find the skilled talent they need — up from ~41% just a few years ago.
- Between March and June 2025, job vacancies dropped from 81,100 to 76,900, and the vacancy rate fell from 3.2% to 2.9%. However, there are still more job vacancies than jobseekers, with a vacancy-to-jobseeker ratio of 1.35.
- The Ministry of Manpower’s Shortage Occupation List (SOL) 2025 identifies ~30 occupations across seven industries experiencing acute skill gaps.
- Employers are becoming more cautious: according to Manpower Group’s 2025 survey, 45% of firms plan to maintain headcount, 37% plan to hire, and 17% anticipate reducing staff, citing economic uncertainty.
Why the Talent Shortage in Singapore Persists
1. Mismatch between demand & supply
- Many graduates lack in-demand skills (digital, AI, data, cross-functional) that employers urgently need.
- Even when graduates exist, some roles require years of domain experience, which new entrants cannot provide.
2. Expectations vs market reality
- Some employers expect “ready-made” candidates, which forces fresh grads to undercut on salary or work hours.
- Others are wary of investing in training & onboarding fresh grads in a volatile environment.
3. Economic headwinds & cautious hiring
- With global trade uncertainties and shifting demand, many companies prefer flexible staffing (temp, contract) over full-time hires.
- Some business units or projects are delayed, so hiring is postponed.
4. Strong internal retention & cost constraints
- Companies may prefer retraining or promoting internal staff rather than hiring externally.
- The cost of bad hires (turnover, productivity loss) makes hiring managers more conservative.
How Employers & HR Leaders Can Compete
1. Invest in upskilling & internal talent mobility
- Prioritize training existing staff in emerging skills rather than always looking outward.
- Partnership with learning institutions, micro-credentials, on-the-job rotations.
2. Adopt flexible workforce models (temp, contract, gig work)
- Use contract staffing or projects to fill immediate gaps while assessing if roles should become permanent.
- Leverage employer-of-record (EOR) models or remote / hybrid structures to widen talent pools.
3. Differentiate through employer branding & culture
- Highlight purpose, values, career growth, and employee support in branding.
- Transparent communication, ESG, hybrid policies — these matter to talent as much as pay.
4. Focus on high-demand roles & anticipate gaps
- Use the SOL 2025 list to identify roles that are already in shortage.
- Prioritize these in hiring or training pipelines.
5. Streamline recruitment & reduce friction
- Simplify interview rounds, provide faster feedback, reduce procedural
bottlenecks. - Use data analytics to monitor drop-off rates in hiring funnel and fix weak links (e.g. resume screening delays).
Elitez’s Perspective & How We Help
- At Elitez, we monitor industry demand-supply gaps continuously to advise clients which skill sets are heating up.
- We deploy temp staffing, contract roles, and EOR solutions to close immediate talent gaps while longer-term hires are planned.
- We help clients develop employer branding strategies, crafting narratives that resonate with in-demand talent (especially in tech, analytics, operations).
- We also support skill gap assessments, designing upskilling interventions and training modules in partnership with institutions.
If your business is feeling the pinch of scarce skills, don’t just chase candidates — fix how you attract, engage, and retain them. Reach out to Elitez to build a talent strategy grounded in data, flexibility, and brand advantage.