In the second instalment from our new magazine, reporters look at how the Southeast Asian republic’s maritime community faces many HR hurdles that other hubs are experiencing.
More ink has been spilled on human resources issues in this magazine than any other topic, a clear sign of the vexing problems the republic’s maritime industry faces in attracting and retaining the best talent available.
Mark Charman, who heads up global recruitment firm Faststream, argues Singapore is still winning the war for talent in maritime.
“Not only does it continue to be a destination of choice, but maintains itself as an aspirational move for many expats. With so many maritime businesses having moved their global headquarters to Singapore, it boasts a variety of opportunities that some hubs just can’t compete with,” Charman says.
Over the last five years in Faststream’s global talent surveys, Singapore has continued to come out on top as the most attractive maritime hub, across multiple disciplines from technical and commercial right up to senior executive level.
“Not only do people want to work there, but employers also cite it as one of the top hubs to find the best talent for their business now and in the future,” Charman says.
Maybe, but from a talent perspective, the country has not improved over the past year, according to Heidi Heseltine, who runs rival HR firm Halcyon Recruitment.
“Restrictions on employment pass allocation are making it increasingly difficult and more expensive to bring in talent and there remains a lack of widely available talent locally,” Heseltine warns.
Peter Schellenberger, founder of consultancy Novamaxis, says the limited possible size of the Singaporean talent pool along with the tight grip on work permits linked to cost of living has indeed made hiring difficult.
Matt Cannock, managing director of Latitude Brokers, says that the shortage of talent locally has driven up costs.
Employers are still relying too much on people with a maritime background, accounting for about 90% of the open positions, according to Schellenberger.
Rise of Dubai
Carl Schou, president of Wilhelmsen Ship Management, is one of a host of people surveyed who warns that Dubai is increasingly popular as a maritime hub. From an employer’s side, Schou lists the ease of employment pass, cost and location as being attractive in Dubai. Splash has noted a significant tranche of maritime expertise leaving Southeast Asia for the Middle East over the past year.
Govind Ramanathan, director at Shipfinity International, reckons the tech sector is the biggest competitor for new talent, so maritime must evolve to make it more attractive, something potentially made easier this year with all the lay-offs in tech.
Bjorn Hojgaard, who runs shipmanagement giant Anglo-Eastern, believes the jury is out on whether Singapore maritime is winning the war for the talent.
“Singapore is obviously punching well above its weight in maritime, and as such it’s a great place to pursue a career in the industry, but in recent years it has not felt as welcoming of foreign talent as it used to,” Hojgaard says, advising: “For a small, open economy like Singapore’s to stay ahead it’s important that talent, whether foreign or local, is embraced as the catalyst for progress that is has been and will continue to be.”
Philippe Lecloux, head of marine at Aderco, hits out at barriers such as military service, which do not facilitate access to a maritime career at sea.
Familiar global problems
Ryan Kumar, managing director of Direct Search Global, says much of Singapore maritime’s recruitment struggles are mirrored around the world.
“There is a global shortage of skilled talent in key areas such as engineering, operations, and logistics, which makes it difficult for any single country to secure enough talent to meet its needs,” Kumar says.
Rama Chandran, head of marine at QBE Singapore, agrees with Kumar saying that Singapore’s HR issues are faced by many other nations, something that was exacerbated by the pandemic.
“We are now at the critical level which would see the gaps not being filled in the next five years,” Chandran warns, urging authorities to work long-term solutions to develop local talent.
Government is listening
The good news is that the government is listening and immigration changes are imminent.
According to Synergy Marine’s COO Ajay Chaudhry, the Ministry of Manpower’s new points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) will enable the maritime industry, and others, to improve workforce diversity.
“This transparent system will greatly improve clarity and certainty in hiring, and personnel planning, and from September 1, when this comes into effect, Singapore will be able better to court skilled maritime professionals from across the globe,” Chaudhry tells Splash.
Dr Shahrin Osman, regional head of maritime advisory at DNV, heaps praise on the maritime Singapore ecosystem for its focus on talent attraction and retention, highlighting outreach programmes launched by the Maritime and Port Authority and the Singapore Maritime Foundation, including the appointment of youth ambassadors last year, providing youth leaders a platform to advocate for the maritime sector among their peers. Likewise, Osman hails the recent establishment of the Tripartite Advisory Panel for maritime talent.
“We must establish a talent pipeline and improve retention rates,” stresses a spokesperson for OSM Thome, praising a recent public-private project called SAILMAP, a 10-year initiative to train 50 new seafarers each year, with a monetary reward of $50,000 for completing certain milestones.
Esben Poulsson, chairman of Enesel and a former president of the Singapore Shipping Association, urges getting the promotion of the industry started earlier at schools, something that will take time to bear fruit, he concedes.
This article is one of many reports carried in our brand new 56-page Singapore Market Report. Splash readers can access the full magazine for free by clicking here.
