Skilled workers can relocate again as borders reopen, but low risk of mass ‘brain drain’ from Singapore: analysts

THE global war for talent is back on, as international mobility improves with the reopening of borders – and Singapore risks losing high-skilled professionals to greener pastures abroad.

Local workers’ interest in relocating is “maybe even slightly higher than pre-pandemic”, Jaya Dass, managing director at recruitment firm Randstad, told The Business Times (BT), adding that “I think this will increase even more next year” when the pandemic situation stabilises further.

Said labour economist Walter Theseira, an associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences: “We can, and also should, worry about too little outward migration – it would mean we’re becoming more and more insular, which is not good for our competitiveness.”