China tech majors step up talent initiatives in Singapore

Singapore

AS CHINA'S tech powerhouses expand in Singapore, they also face a shortage of specialised tech talent. These companies are thus investing more resources into training and ecosystem-building.

Artificial intelligence (AI) company SenseTime last month inked agreements with the Institute of Technical Education and non-profit organisation Business China to support talent development through training, cross-border exchanges and internships.

The Hong Kong-based company sees a shortage of talent in areas such as machine learning, computer vision expertise and engineering, said Martin Huang, managing director of SenseTime International.

SenseTime has over 100 employees in Singapore, and continues to expand. It is actively looking for talent to boost its augmented reality (AR) offerings, due to a rising demand for immersive AR-enabled experiences in Singapore.

"Shortage of talent with the right skill sets has been a pervasive challenge across SenseTime's global operations . . . we have faced obstacles in hiring AI and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) talent with industry experience and an innovative mindset," said Mr Huang.

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Likewise, Tan Bin Ru, South-east Asia chief executive of OneConnect Financial Technology, observes that "the pool of talent is very limited" in blockchain, data engineering and machine learning. "Since this is still an emerging area for Singapore, there aren't large numbers of talent with years of relevant implementation experience," she said.

Like SenseTime, OneConnect has also rolled out talent development efforts. Within the company, it encourages employees to file patent applications for their creations, and sends talented staff to train at its China research laboratory. Externally, it has partnered SIM Global Education to offer fintech courses, with students considered for internships and job opportunities.

"Investing in a local talent pool is worth it," said Ms Tan. "We hire people who know the market to do the work. Singapore's local workforce boasts domain knowledge and product managers who understand the needs of multiple South-east Asian markets. Local talent stay for a longer period with the company."

OneConnect has about 150 employees in Singapore, mainly in product, engineering, information technology and sales positions. Over 75 per cent of the team here are Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

Huawei, which has been in Singapore for 20 years, also sees a shortage of talent in certain niches. It has over 700 staff here as of end-2020.

"Some of the areas with talent shortage in Singapore belong to high-end sectors including emerging tech like AI, cloud and cyber security, roles supporting network and data centre planning, and development and maintenance," said a company spokesperson.

Last year, Huawei designated Singapore as the Asia-Pacific headquarters for its enterprise and cloud businesses. Expecting to strengthen its presence here, the company is investing in talent initiatives.

This year, Huawei launched its DIGIX lab in Singapore, with three programmes to train developers, from the student level to more advanced levels.

The lab plans to provide more developer training and certification programmes. This could include partnering SkillsFuture Singapore to offer online training courses, as well as certificates for skill sets related to Android and Huawei Mobile Services, which includes consumer apps and developer capabilities for mobile devices.

Huawei also plans to collaborate with Institutes of Higher Learning and ecosystem partners to create and offer more internship opportunities.

"We are leveraging our expertise, resources, and solutions in the ICT (information and communications technology) industry to provide knowledge transfer and professional training," said the spokesperson.

Other Chinese tech majors are also on the prowl for local talent. A Tencent spokesperson said that the company continues to recruit in Singapore, with more than 60 per cent of the positions being technology-based, such as software engineers, site reliability engineers and data scientists.

The company is working with local universities to "develop fresh graduate programmes to engage young talent, explore their potential and develop them from the moment they join us", the spokesperson said.

All this buzz means that the talent wars are heating up. The concentration of international businesses in Singapore "is a double-edged sword because everyone is drawing from the same talent pool", said a spokesperson for Alibaba Group.

The Chinese behemoth also has its range of talent programmes. Its cloud unit works with local universities to train students. Alibaba also offers its Netpreneur Training programme here for entrepreneurs to master digital technologies.

In 2018, Alibaba Cloud launched a scholarship programme, with support from Nanyang Technological University and Singapore's Economic Development Board, for graduate candidates pursuing a PhD in computer science-related fields.

"We will continue to bring training and development opportunities to grow the next generation of local talent, via our dedicated training arms such as Alibaba Global Initiatives and Taobao Education," the spokesperson said.

TikTok owner ByteDance is likewise "committed to deepening the pool of local talent and upskilling the local workforce through on-the-job training", said a spokesperson.

The onward march of China's tech juggernauts into South-east Asia is expected to continue.

It remains to be seen if China's recent crackdown on its homegrown tech majors may accelerate these companies' expansion in Singapore. Notwithstanding that, there are already other macro factors drawing them here.

"Given our stable business climate, advanced digital infrastructure and relative access to tech talent, Chinese tech companies with aspirations to expand overseas have been drawn to Singapore," said Tin Pei Ling, chief executive of Business China.

One of the key functions that these companies are moving to Singapore is research and development (R&D), said Ms Tin, citing the growth in patents filed by Chinese companies in Singapore.

Among the roles the companies are hiring for, "the most notable and interesting function is product", reckoned Yorlin Ng, chief operating officer of venture builder Momentum Works. "This reflects their ambition of building global products, and the realisation that it is very difficult to base such product functions entirely in China," she added.

Other common Singapore-based functions include localisation, community management and corporate development, said Michael Norris, an analyst at consultancy AgencyChina.

Ms Tin, who is also a Member of Parliament, is hopeful that the opportunities will provide a "confidence boost" to Singapore's tech talent, and even enable them to start their own tech companies after gaining experience.

Ms Ng observes that there are a number of Singapore talent who have worked in tech companies in China, and are now bringing their experience to regional tech companies or their own startups.

"In my opinion, the most useful takeaway is how business models such as e-commerce evolved. Singapore tech talent who have in-depth understanding of this will make better choices at work, as well as for their career progression," she said.