Singapore Expats

West side of the island. Enterprise Hub on Toh Guan Road East - about a 10 minute walk from IMM.

Bloomberg - Sorry Bankers, The Days of Big Fat Expat Packages Are Over http://bloom.bg/1TsClFb

This is specific to HK, but SG also is same story, I would imagine.

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There has been no shortage of doom and gloom articles like this in the trade publications the past few weeks. Months.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e1ece4fa ... e-comments

The US and British cities synonymous with banking, insurance and deal-making have lost an estimated 42,000 jobs — or 6 per cent of the sector — in the past five years as soaring costs have encouraged businesses to shift to cheaper locations.

Couple of paras there struck me...
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'Five years ago, when expat housing allowances were paid on a “use it or lose it” basis, agents had plenty of clients willing to spend as much as HK$300,000 a month. Now company-paid leases are out, and while salaries are adjusted to partially offset the missing housing allowances, employees no longer have an incentive to spend a king’s ransom on rent.
...
It’s increasingly common for companies to replace expat packages with quasi-local ones that include a subsidy for housing.
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The time my employer relo'd me to SG the rental allowance was generous and 'use or lose'. I had zero incentive to find a place cheaper than full budget. FWIW that got me a 3-bed condo in D9/Mount Sophia.
Of course the rent on such a place would be waaay higher nowadays, but if I was the same expat/age now and I'd been given rent in cash or on top of my salary, i.e. I had an interest in seeking value vs my realistic needs, then I wouldn't get a 3-bed, nor be as central as D9.

And I think the international playing field for quals+skills has seriously levelled too. The expats valuable competitive advantage is not what it used to be. In parallel there is not the expat career certainty there used to be. My first time in SG I'd a feeling I'd stay as long as I wished, or worst case flip up to HK, JP etc [at my discretion]. Increased uncertainty now + discretion in how much rent to pay likely translates into expats seeking to save more of their gross income.

@Brah. Yep, radical advances in comms/technology/transport etc have made precise physical location (office etc) increasingly irrelevant. Just one example is how the entire BBC used to be located in central/west London. Then a few years back they moved the majority of their staff, all but the on-camera front-line + direct support, to Manchester... don't know, maybe 150 miles away.

Meanwhile this news is raging on HWZ edmw:

http://theindependent.sg/business/piyus ... hyderabad/

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Wd40 wrote:Meanwhile this news is raging on HWZ edmw:

http://theindependent.sg/business/piyus ... hyderabad/

The ire of 'Who moved my cheese' SGn style?

But seriously, what banks are not outsourcing in such ways these days?

Did you guys notice the irony?

“I thought the government was supporting local PMETs. But this move suggests that the government is not sincere about the promises it makes to the local businesses. Maximizing profits is the order of the day!” said Mr Rao.

The person complaining is a Mr Rao, lol!

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I thought it unfortunate that the chap, the CEO? - who made the statement appears to be of Indian extraction himself - couldn't any other non Sub-Con board member have announced it? As it was it was perhaps just offering up a bucket of fuel for the fire of the more... er, 'racially sensitive' SGns.

I hadn't noticed the SGn complainer himself is presumably also of Sub-Con extraction. Lol, ah sweet irony

JR8 wrote:The ire of 'Who moved my cheese' SGn style?

But seriously, what banks are not outsourcing in such ways these days?

Good corollary. And right, they are actually in catch-up mode, as counter-intuitive as that must be for a local entity to now offshore jobs.

It's a sign of the times....and testimony to the shooting of one's self in one's foot.

It stands to reason, if the MNCs are driven out by the rising costs, it was only a matter of time for the rest to do so or fail.

The companies that set up shop and expanded here only a few years back (one bank called it the "Acorn" project, as in to plant a seed and grow here), it must feel to them that it was a bit of the old bait-and-switch.

Seems very academic in the long run.

Totally +1^ agree.
And once again it reminds me of the book Atlas Shrugged. Trying to force free capitalist enterprise to bend towards enforced and wide social provision. 'Who'd think those that could just get up and leave instead would?' Doh.

An insurmountable electoral majority vs a policy that actually works to the benefit of the citizens? Who decides...

Wd40 wrote:Meanwhile this news is raging on HWZ edmw:

http://theindependent.sg/business/piyus ... hyderabad/

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wasn't this because dbs is taking over rbs banks in india and looking to foray into the Indian market?
the article doesn't appear to state that but certainly could be the intent. at the moment DBS has only 12 branches in India.

rajagainstthemachine wrote:

Wd40 wrote:Meanwhile this news is raging on HWZ edmw:

http://theindependent.sg/business/piyus ... hyderabad/

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wasn't this because dbs is taking over rbs banks in india and looking to foray into the Indian market?
the article doesn't appear to state that but certainly could be the intent. at the moment DBS has only 12 branches in India.

Yeah, may be you are right. But I just read the article again, there is a clarification issued, yet it doesn't say this centre will cater only to Indian operations. It just talks about digital strategy which could be used for SG as well.

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From what I have heard it includes firm-/region-wide tech roles currently working from here

Original headline:
piyush-gupta-of-dbs-bank-moves-1500-local-jobs-to-hyderabad

Article updated, now ends with:
UPDATE: DBS Bank has responded to this piece and they have issued the following statement. We have also changed the headlines as per their request.
“The Hyderabad facility is part of the bank’s expansion into digital, and will be in addition to our existing operations. DBS tech hub in Singapore remains the bank’s largest, and no DBS jobs will be moved offshore.”

New headline:
DBS Bank plans to add 1500 jobs in Hyderabad as part of its digital strategy