WHAT’S BUZZING
Remote hiring helps organisations access high-quality talents
As remote and hybrid working models continue to operate as the norm, organisations are now keener to hire outside of higher-cost countries to secure quality talents and alleviate the stresses of the lack of qualified candidates.
According to the State of Global Hiring Report H1 2022 by compliance and payroll solutions provider Deel, companies in Singapore are eager to hire international talent. They are mainly seeking talents from the Philippines, India, United States, Indonesia and Canada.
Top roles that Singapore companies are hiring include virtual assistance (26%), software engineers (22%) and software developers (10%).
Singapore talents are also highly sought after globally. They are mostly hired by organisations in the US, UK, Canada, Israel and the Virgin Islands, with sales and software engineer roles being the highest paying roles offered.
See also: Younger consumers in Singapore more receptive towards AI agents
“Businesses must continue reinventing the way they communicate, operate, hire, and retain employees by pivoting to remote and flexible working arrangements. This has lent organisations the much-needed agility and efficiency to tackle a myriad of pain points — from addressing the challenges of talent crunch exacerbated by border restrictions, to accommodating growing employee demands for workplace flexibility,” says Karen Ng, regional head of expansion market lead for Hong Kong, Singapore, Asean, India at Deel.
ENGIE and SIT to jointly advance district cooling innovation in APAC
ENGIE — a global leader in low carbon energy and services — has partnered with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to develop a district cooling centre of excellence in Singapore that aims to catalyse innovation in cooling solutions across Asia Pacific.
See also: Nearly four in five Apac retailers will increase their tech investment in 2025
The partnership will include joint development and funding of applied research, as well as knowledge exchange projects between ENGIE South East Asia, ENGIE Lab Singapore and SIT.
It will also cover local work attachment opportunities and commercial district cooling systems (DCS) development opportunities for SIT students with those ENGIE entities through SIT’s integrated work study programme.
“Well-designed DCS have the capacity to save 30% or more energy consumption to cool cities [in the region]. Our relationship with SIT will not only allow us to train the future generation of engineers on this cornerstone technology for the region's energy transition but also to perfect it through a joint applied R&D effort,” says Thomas Baudlot, ENGIE CEO Energy Solutions and country head for Southeast Asia.
“Working with ENGIE will help us advance innovation in decarbonisation and sustainability. In addition to co-developing integrated and innovative solutions, the close, symbiotic partnership we enjoy with ENGIE will enable us to build a strong talent pipeline of work-ready graduates who will lead green transformations in industry and communities,” says SIT president Prof Chua Kee Chaing.
IN PICTURE
Photo: Rae
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Created by computer-generated imagery (CGI) and powered by AI, Rae is Singapore’s virtual influencer who traverses between the digital and offline worlds. She owns vibrant and curated Instagram (@here.is.rae) and Weibo feeds that show her passion for street culture, fashion, art, technology, and urban adventures.
Rae has achieved many firsts since her debut in October 2020. She is the first virtual influencer in Singapore to:
- Live-host the launch of co-living property lyf one-north
- Be the ambassador for brands, including OSIM International and Audi Singapore
- Collaborate with local singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng (pictured above) in a music production using the latest text-to-speech tech capabilities and machine learning for voice generation
- Mint and sell NFTs, of which her second NFT collection was used to raise funds for United Women Singapore’s Girls2Pioneers programme that encourages young women to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
DIGITAL LIFE
In light of National Day, learn more about Singapore’s past and future through these apps:
Photo: National Heritage Board
BALIKSG LITE is a mobile app that aims to help Singaporeans rediscover history and experience it in a new way. It will bring you on an immersive journey back in time along the Singapore River and around Fort Canning Hill. Encounter historical characters, discover stories and places, and revisit significant events in Singapore’s history through the app’s augmented reality trail.
Photo: Quest2030
The Quest2030 web app by the Institute of Policy Studies will seek your thoughts on how Singapore will fare in three areas: a sense of agency, economic inequality and regional cooperation. Based on your answers, you will then be presented with one of the eight imagined future Singapore, which you can then explore how that world would look like and affect certain jobs.
