The Great Talent Myth - Why Singapore Doesn’t Have a Talent Shortage
Almost every business leader in Singapore has said it at some point:
"There’s a talent shortage.”
The concern is understandable. Recruitment cycles are longer, specialised roles remain vacant for months, and salary expectations continue to rise. ManpowerGroup’s 2025 Talent Shortage Survey found that more than four in five employers in Singapore report difficulties finding the skilled talent they need.
But if Singapore truly faces a severe talent shortage, why are universities producing record numbers of graduates and many vacancies still attracting hundreds of applications?
The issue is not a shortage of people but a mismatch of capabilities.
The Workforce Strategy Playbook developed by AustCham Singapore and James Cook University Singapore found that employers increasingly seek more than technical expertise. They need individuals who can adapt quickly, think strategically, communicate effectively, collaborate across teams, and continuously learn in an environment of rapid change.
Why the old hiring formula no longer works
For decades, many organisations relied on a relatively simple equation:
Degree + Years of Experience = Talent
Unfortunately, this formula no longer works.
Rapid advances in AI, digitalisation, and customer expectations mean today’s skills can be obsolete tomorrow. Hiring for what you need today is no guarantee you will have what you need in three years.
Instead of asking “Does this candidate meet every requirement?” employers increasingly ask “Can this candidate grow into what we need next?”
This shift from credential-based hiring to capability-based hiring is transforming how organisations compete for talent.
The SME advantage: competing differently
If you run an SME, you have probably felt outgunned by large corporations with stronger brands and deeper pockets.
But SMEs offer things candidates increasingly value: broader job exposure, faster learning opportunities, greater autonomy, earlier responsibility, and closer access to leaders and decision-makers.
For ambitious, adaptable candidates, that can beat prestige.
Instead of saying “We cannot compete with large employers,” offer a different proposition: “Join us if you want to learn faster, contribute sooner, and grow broader.”
For high-potential people, that is a compelling offer.
From hiring for experience to hiring for potential
If the problem is a capability mismatch rather than a shortage of people, you need to rethink what you screen for.
Few candidates will tick every box. So put more weight on learnability. It is the ability and willingness to pick up new knowledge, adapt to changing circumstances, and keep developing.
They may not have every technical skill on day one, but they show curiosity, adaptability, resilience, initiative, and a willingness to continuously learn.
These people often become your strongest performers. They pick up new capabilities quickly, settle into the culture, and respond well when the business changes.
Which leads to the real question: “How do we spot and attract that potential?”
Five practical actions for SME leaders
1. Rewrite your job advertisements
Separate requirements into:
Must Have
- Essential technical skills
- Regulatory requirements
- Minimum experience
Can Learn
- Specific software
- Industry knowledge
- Internal processes
This one exercise often widens the pool substantially.
Before posting a vacancy, ask your hiring managers: “If we hired someone with all the ‘must-have’ capabilities but none of the ‘can-learn’ skills, could they be fully effective within six months?”
If the answer is yes, those requirements belong in Can Learn.
2. Hire for capabilities
Assess candidates on learning agility, problem-solving ability, communication skills, adaptability, and cultural fit.
Add one behavioural question per capability to your interviews.
For example: Tell me about a time when you had to learn something completely new; describe a situation where you had to adapt quickly to unexpected changes; or share a time when you initiated a new idea to solve a problem.
Technical skills can be taught. A learning mindset is much harder to install.
3. Build a capability scorecard
It is easy to default to credentials, years of experience, or the candidate who simply “feels right” in the room. A capability scorecard forces the decision to be weighted deliberately.
| Dimension | Weight |
| Learning Agility | 30% |
| Problem Solving | 20% |
| Collaboration | 20% |
| Technical Skills | 20% |
| Cultural Fit | 10% |
It pushes hiring managers to assess potential, not just paper.
4. Sell growth, not just jobs
Candidates increasingly seek learning opportunities, meaningful work, career development, exposure to leaders, and diverse experiences.
These are areas where SMEs often beat larger organisations - Say them everywhere, in your job advertisements, interviews, onboarding, career pages, and social media.
5. Build talent rather than buy it
Instead of hunting endlessly for the “perfect candidate”, ask: “Which capabilities can we develop internally?”
Leading organisations take a hire–build–borrow approach: hire for curiosity and adaptability, build the skills that can be learned, and borrow specialised expertise when they need it. The result is a pipeline that holds up over time.
The new talent equation
Singapore does not have a shortage of people. It has a shortage of organisations that can identify and develop adaptable, high-learnability talent.
The winners will not be the highest payers, or the ones hiring from the most prestigious universities. They will be the ones who master a new equation:
Potential × Learning Agility × Continuous Development = Future Talent
The implication is simple: stop hiring for what candidates know today. Start investing in what they can become tomorrow.
What to do next
Build a capability-based hiring framework:
- Identify the capabilities that drive future success.
- Differentiate between skills that are essential and skills that can be learned.
- Assess candidates for learning agility and adaptability.
- Communicate growth opportunities as part of your employer brand.
- Invest in developing talent rather than simply competing to acquire it.
Sources
1. ManpowerGroup, Talent Shortage Survey 2025. https://www.manpower.com.sg/en/insights/blogs/2025/01/83-percent-of-employers-in-singapore-struggle-with-finding-skilled-talent-in-2025
2. AustCham Singapore & James Cook University Singapore, Decoding the D.N.A.S of Australian Businesses in Singapore: A Workforce Strategy Playbook. https://www.austcham.org.sg/news/austcham-singapore-and-james-cook-university-singapore-campus-launch-workforce-strategy
Author Bio: Dr Pengji Wang is an Associate Professor in Business and Acting Academic Head of the Business School at James Cook University Singapore. She teaches and researches human resource management, digital marketing, sustainable marketing, strategy, and firm leadership, and has served as Managing Editor of the Journal of Tropical Futures.
This four-part insights series is developed from Decoding the D.N.A.S of Australian Businesses in Singapore, a Workforce Strategy Playbook on navigating talent management, launched in May 2026. The Playbook and this insights series are prepared in partnership with Center of International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA) and James Cook University Singapore. The report includes aims to address the challenges that businesses in Singapore, particularly Australian businesses, face in finding the skilled talent they need.
See other stories in this series: