Foreign unicorns here juicing up market for high-tech skills

Singapore

THE growing pool of foreign unicorns in Singapore is adding magic to the local market for highly-skilled jobs.

According to data compiled by BT, 24 foreign tech unicorns - venture-backed companies valued at over US$1 billion - have a presence in Singapore. Nine of them employ a total workforce of just over 1,000, most of them in highly-skilled and tech-centric jobs.

A check on business network LinkedIn showed another 817 persons who self-identified as working for the other unicorns.

While the data excludes local unicorns like Grab and listed tech companies like Google, Facebook and Uber, together this group would have added thousands more jobs that require high-tech skills.

The largest employer among the 24 foreign unicorns is Airbnb, which told BT it has about 300 employees here. Indonesian super-app Gojek is second; the firm now has more than 230 employees in Singapore. Gojek's hiring in Singapore this year is focused on product fraud, digital marketing and…