A notable trend in the middle to back office of financial institutions across Singapore is starting to appear; if you haven’t already heard, Changi Business Park is the new hot zone for technology and operations. While the banks are belt tightening and restructuring globally,  a uniform trend on the island has been to shift operations and support services out of the Central Business District.  The result?  A new and emerging technology and operations hub in the East.

Canary Wharf - home to a growing number of financial institutions in London

You could be forgiven for missing the strategic importance, when you walk along Changi’s gentrified paths and absorb the eerie quiet. Yet it plays host to a number of prime data centres and back office processes that underpin mission critical day-to-day operations of the banking sector worldwide. Citibank, Standard Chartered and DBS boast prime real estate in the hub presently with an increasing number of employees being relocated from the centre. Credit Suisse recently announced a back office centre-of-excellence to join them in 2013.

An ex-Londoner now settled in Singapore, my thoughts are naturally drawn to Canary Wharf, a banking hub outside of the City of London on the site of a 19^th century port. Redeveloped in the 1980’s, the old docklands became an attractive place for banks to shift their operations outside of the relatively expensive central business district – often referred to as the Square Mile. It is now host to the headquarters of many of the world’s top tier financial institutions.

Changhi Business Park in Singapore

So, watch this space Singapore. As capital inflows to the East continue to rise and the regulatory landscape in the West looks somewhat uncertain, who knows how Changi will transform in the not-so-distant future.  Are we looking at the Canary Wharf of the East…..?

banking sector, Canary Wharf, Central Business District, Changi Business Park, Financial Services, IT, Square Mile, technolgy jobs

“I’m only looking for a permanent position.” As an IT finance recruiter, this is a common reaction from candidates I approach with fixed term contract opportunities. I understand their reasoning. Coming out of the back end of the financial crisis, with mixed opinions about the sustainability of growth, people are still prioritising the safety and stability a permanent role offers above all other factors.

A fixed term contract has a potential end in sight but consider this; if downsizing, bad performance reviews, off-shoring or restructuring occur then you are all pretty much in the same boat. In parallel, it makes little sense for companies to wave goodbye to outperforming professionals just because their contracts are expiring. The survival factor for all employees in these cases will be their ability and willingness to adapt to change. It may be comforting to know that over 65% of candidates we place on contracts in Singapore go on to have their contracts extended or converted to permanent roles.

Following on from more mature hiring trends in the West, we are anticipating a surge in contract openings from the financial services sector in Singapore, which is likely to affect most business functions. There are a number of reasons why demand for contractors is increasing:

Recruitment Views: A contract recruitment solution is great for business

As the contract market in Singapore gains traction, I feel that companies will need to adopt incentives to make fixed term employment more appealing and competitive, in order to attract the best talent. When weighing up the opportunity of a contract role in Singapore, here are some factors you should consider:

eFinancialCareers: News and Views

Contract, IT, job search, permanent, Singapore, technolgy jobs

If you are an IT professional in Singapore or aspiring to be one, there is ample good news in the New Year as hiring in this sector continues to be hot.

Singapore has been one of the strongest IT economies in Asia not only due to its highly favourable business environment for ICT but also due to solid infrastructure and attractiveness to the local and global IT talent pool.  At the start of this year, Singapore retains its top technology hub position in Asia with numerous global companies choosing to locate their regional headquarters here.  And, of course, there is the “renewed” financial services sector that continues to tap technology talent due to the increased need for speed, regulation and risk management.

In the IT division here at Morgan McKinley Singapore, we have noted the trend for technical skills to be in demand in areas such as web and mobile based technologies, cloud computing and virtualisation as more and more firms jump on to the web/mobile/cloud bandwagon.  Here, business development, project management and architecture roles are the most common hiring needs seen.

IT hiring requirements mirror some of the trends we are also seeing within financial services; demand for project management, architecture and risk management as well as the continued demand for support and development roles.  The latter are always in demand by hiring organisations but now tend to be more cross platform/technology.

Our advice to mid-level IT professionals is to enhance their business acumen and seize the opportunity for cross technology experience rather than limiting themselves to certain technologies.  For those who wish to specialise, choose the path of new and emerging technologies that are going to be in demand.  Wherever you are in IT, 2011 promises to be an exciting year…make sure you’re ready for it!

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