First, a degree or diploma in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) provides a good head start. One does not need to have a tech qualification to take on a tech job. Financial institutions have been hiring engineering and science graduates as well. Financial institutions are also open to training mid-career Singaporeans with STEM backgrounds from other sectors too. Second, fundamental programming skills are essential. Demand is shi ing away from traditional roles like IT project manager and IT support, to product owners and so ware engineers. There are two kinds of so ware engineers: General app developers who focus on front-end and mobile app development; and Enterprise so ware developers who need deep technical skills that come from years of programming experience and knowledge of core banking so ware. Demand for enterprise so ware developers is much higher. Third, business domain knowledge is important. Gone are the days when technology professionals were at the back-end, building systems for business functions they had little interaction with. The demand today is for biz-tech or ops-tech integration. In financial services, tech professionals are expected to have business domain knowledge, to better support business needs. Fourth, overseas exposure is valued. As Singapore houses many global and regional tech hubs, tech professionals need to understand overseas markets to build better quality products and solutions. This means taking up overseas postings in countries like India and China, where there are large pools of tech talents to work with and learn from.
It reflects the impact of the Job Support Scheme that shored up local employment; and the border control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic that made the employment of foreigners diﬀicult. Job growth in the financial sector has been consistently strong over the past 5 years A total of 21,000 net jobs were created during 2016-2020, with Singaporeans taking up about 16,000 or about 75% of these jobs. With more financial institutions setting up their regional and global hubs in Singapore today, 40% of financial sector jobs here are primarily international-facing. Half of these jobs are filled by Singaporeans. They include good jobs such as: application developers who develop digital products for overseas markets; private bankers who serve regional clients; and risk managers who monitor risk metrics for the regional or even global business. The employment outlook for the financial sector in 2021 remains positive. Late last year, MAS and the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) conducted a survey of financial institutions’ projected hiring from January to December 2021. Close to 800 financial institutions responded, representing about two-thirds of the financial services workforce. Financial institutions are oﬀering 6,500 newly created positions in 2021. These are new jobs created and do not take into account gross outflow of jobs. About 6,000 of the newly created positions are permanent jobs. Half of these jobs are in technology and consumer banking, with the remaining jobs spread across other business lines and functions.