Singapore traditionally ranks No. 1 in Asia for attracting talent, yet up to 91% of Singapore employers struggle to find the skilled workers they need. Over 40% of professional vacancies remain unfilled for six months due to missing specialised skills, particularly in IT and emerging technology fields.
The solution is multi-country recruitment. Over 93% of large Singapore organisations are now open to hiring international talent to fill critical skill gaps. This article explains what multi-country recruitment means, why Singapore companies need it, and how to implement it while managing strict compliance requirements.
We will share 3 strategic hiring models, how Singapore functions as an APAC hiring command centre, and the critical July 2024 regulatory changes that altered how foreign companies can hire here.
Key Takeaways
- Despite being Asia’s top destination for talent, 91% of Singapore employers struggle to find skilled workers, particularly in IT and emerging technologies. Multi-country recruitment is the solution to bridge this gap.
- Diverse teams drive innovation, improve global market understanding, and enable 24/7 operations through a “follow-the-sun” model. While initial costs may be higher, the long-term value outweighs the investment.
- Singapore’s business-friendly environment and strategic location make it ideal for regional hiring. Companies can establish a local entity and use Employer of Record (EOR) services to scale across APAC.
- The optimal approach combines a local entity for strategic foreign hires and an EOR for regional workforce management. This model addresses Singapore’s talent gap while ensuring compliance and scalability.
Beyond Borders: Three Ways to Hire Globally
Multi-country recruitment means sourcing, attracting, and hiring talent from different countries to build diverse and skilled teams worldwide. This strategically broadens the search to include professionals from a worldwide talent pool, moving well beyond domestic recruitment, which focuses solely on local candidates.
Your approach depends entirely on the business purpose. These 3 approaches are the most common and effective:
- Ethnocentric (Skills-First): Focuses solely on skills and willingness, regardless of nationality or location. Best for high-demand roles where you need the absolute best talent available globally.
- Polycentric (Local-First): Hire residents of the host country who possess inherent knowledge of the local market, culture, and consumer behaviour. Smart for market expansion.
- Regiocentric (Regional): Select candidates from the same geographic region – the “APAC-for-APAC” approach managed from a central headquarters.
The Talent Paradox: How Singapore’s Success Created its Biggest Challenge
Singapore’s Skills Crisis
The shortage outlined above stems from a specific economic reality. Singapore’s economy has successfully transitioned towards high-value, innovative sectors faster than the domestic workforce could develop specialised skills. This strategic pivot explains both the nation’s economic focus and the high-tech skills gap that has resulted from it.
The impact spans multiple industries. Businesses need professionals with specialised skills that may be scarce or non-existent in the local market, particularly for filling critical roles in high-demand, talent-short industries such as technology, engineering, and healthcare.
The Business Returns From Global Hiring
The case for international recruitment extends well beyond filling vacancies. Research shows diverse teams generated approximately 19% more innovation revenue than their less diverse competitors – diversity functions as a powerful driver of innovation rather than merely a social metric.
This innovation advantage delivers practical business value. Teams with diverse cultural contexts can navigate the complexities of global markets, understand consumer preferences, and establish strong relationships with global clients. Companies that can quickly assemble high-performing teams with the right skills, regardless of geography, are better positioned to outperform rivals and capture market share.
Operational benefits compound these advantages. A globally distributed team spread across multiple time zones allows a company to operate 24/7. This “follow-the-sun” model serves as a key risk management strategy, ensuring business continuity, reducing downtime, and improving project turnaround times.
The financial reality, however, requires a clear understanding. Global hiring often involves a higher initial investment in recruitment, compliance management, and potential entity establishment. Companies must offer “globally benchmarked packages” to attract and retain top international talent. The long-term strategic goal is cost optimisation, maximising value and skill level acquired for total employment cost, not simple cost reduction.
The APAC Hub Strategy: Hire Once, Scale Everywhere
Why Singapore Works
Singapore positions itself as a “trusted and connected business hub” that is “deeply integrated in global supply chains and trade flows”. The city-state operates as a high-income economy built on a famously business-friendly regulatory environment, political stability, and an efficient legal system.
Objective rankings validate this position. Singapore ranked first in the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index and was ranked the most competitive economy in the world in 2024. Beyond talent metrics covered earlier, it ranks 8th globally as a preferred work destination for professionals and highest in the latest World Bank Human Capital Index.
Singapore has become the regional headquarters for many MNCs due to this stability and connectivity. Its workforce of 4 million is a complementary mix of highly skilled residents and a diverse global talent pool.
The Two-Market Advantage
Singapore offers dual value: solve local skills gaps and launch regional hiring simultaneously. Companies are advised to leverage Singapore’s strategic location and use the city-state as an APAC hub for choosing Employment of Record (EOR) providers for regional coverage.
The model works like this: establish one regional legal entity in stable Singapore, then partner with a Singapore-based EOR to legally hire employees in other APAC nations, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong. This strategy centralises regional management in a world-class, business-friendly environment whilst completely outsourcing the complex, country-by-country compliance suffering to a specialist partner.
Understanding Employer of Record (EOR) Services
An Employer of Record (EOR) is a third-party organisation that serves as the legal employer for your staff in a specific country. Its core function is to allow a company to hire talent in a new market without the overwhelming, time-consuming, and expensive process of establishing its own local legal entity.
The EOR manages all local employment responsibilities, including compliant contracts, payroll and tax filings, statutory contributions like CPF, and full compliance with local labour laws. This model is the strategic enabler for the APAC hub strategy, as it directly solves the primary hurdles of global hiring:
- Speed (Rapid Market Entry): You can legally hire and onboard new employees in days, not the months or even years it can take to register a new company.
- Compliance (Risk Mitigation): The EOR assumes full responsibility for compliance, mitigating the severe legal and financial risks of navigating unfamiliar local labour laws and tax codes.
- Reduced Administrative Burden: It outsources the complex, non-core functions of HR and payroll, freeing your team to focus on strategic growth.
- Flexibility and Scalability: The model is ideal for testing new markets or scaling a workforce quickly without the long-term legal commitments of entity ownership.
Critical Compliance Requirements
The EOR model’s use is governed by critical domestic regulations. A fundamental clarification from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on July 9, 2024, prohibits EORs from applying for work passes. (like the Employment Pass) for foreign employees on behalf of an overseas client.
This means a foreign company must establish its own local Singapore entity to directly sponsor any non-Singaporean talent requiring a work pass. This ruling does not affect an EOR’s ability to hire Singaporean citizens or permanent residents.
Furthermore, all employers in Singapore must adhere to the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). This mandate requires businesses to consider the local workforce fairly for all roles and explicitly prohibits discrimination based on nationality.
Employers must be able to document that their hiring processes are open and merit-based. Penalties for non-compliance are severe, including fines up to $20,000, imprisonment, and debarment from hiring any new foreign employees for up to 24 months.
The Optimal Strategy in 2025 and Beyond
The most effective multi-country recruitment strategy is a dual-pronged hybrid model. First, establish a mandatory local entity to hire the core, strategic foreign talent who require work passes. Second, partner with a trusted, specialist EOR such as InCorp to compliantly hire your local Singaporean workforce and manage your entire regional team across APAC.
This hybrid structure is the only model that simultaneously solves Singapore’s domestic talent gap, respects its complex compliance framework, and fully leverages its position as a global-Asia hub.
Where to Next With InCorp
Executing this hybrid hiring model is operationally complex. InCorp is built to run both parts. We manage your Singapore entity formation, secure the required work passes for foreign professionals, and run your local payroll.
In parallel, our EOR service hires your teams across APAC, managing the different employment laws for each country. You get one provider to execute the complete strategy, securing the talent you need without the risk of compliance failures. Contact InCorp today to solve your skills shortage in Singapore.
FAQs about Multi-Country Recruitment
What is multi-country recruitment?
- Multi-country recruitment is the strategic process of sourcing, attracting, and hiring talent from different countries. It expands the search beyond the local domestic market to a global talent pool, often using models like an Employer of Record (EOR) to hire compliantly in other nations.
Why do Singapore companies need international recruitment?
- Singapore faces a critical talent paradox. While ranked #1 in Asia for attracting talent, up to 91% of employers struggle to find skilled workers, especially in IT and tech. Over 40% of professional vacancies remain unfilled for six months. International recruitment is the primary solution to fill this domestic skills gap.
What is an Employer of Record (EOR) in Singapore?
- An Employer of Record (EOR) is a third-party company that legally hires employees on your behalf in Singapore. It handles all local payroll, tax, CPF contributions, and ensures compliance with the Employment Act, allowing you to operate without setting up a local legal entity.
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