From Singapore to Thailand, Asia dangles visas to lure high-fliers

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https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/From-Singapore-to-Thailand-Asia-dangles-visas-to-lure-high-fliers?del_type=1&pub_date=20221004190000&seq_num=2

From Singapore to Thailand, Asia dangles visas to lure high-fliers
New programs kick off as companies struggle to find skilled workers

KENTARO IWAMOTO, TSUBASA SURUGA and APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writersOctober 4, 2022 06:00 JST

TOKYO/SINGAPORE/BANGKOK -- During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore tightly closed its borders. While many countries did the same, it was a sharp shock to the system for a city-state that had thrived as a hub for travel and as a magnet for foreign workers.

As some foreign nationals left, and entries were largely halted, Singapore's population dropped by 4.1% over the year through June 2021, to 5.45 million.

The latest data released on Sept. 27, however, shows nearly as swift a turnaround, thanks to a gradual lifting of restrictions. The population rebounded by 3.4% to 5.63 million, largely driven by workers in sectors like construction and shipyards -- the unsung labor that keeps the economy going.

Now, Singapore hopes to attract more highly skilled professionals with expertise and ideas that could jolt growth in the post-COVID era. "This is an age where talent makes all the difference to a nation's success," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his annual National Day Rally speech on Aug. 21, days before his government announced a new type of visa designed to lure such people. "We need to focus on attracting and retaining top talent, in the same way we focus on attracting and retaining investments."

The city-state is far from the only place that covets high-flyers. From Thailand to Taiwan, a competition is heating up to entice the best of the best, and to fill hiring gaps with people equipped to excel in today's pandemic-altered workplace.

Innovative sectors like digital technology and biotechnology are especially hungry for talent.

Singapore's latest carrot is called the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass, a new visa for high-skill professionals who earn at least 30,000 Singapore dollars ($20,800) a month. The program will allow people with these visas to stay at least five years and work at multiple organizations.

Office workers in Singapore: The city-state's newest visa will allow holders to stay at least five years and work at multiple organizations.   © Reuters

Thailand, meanwhile, began taking applications on Sept. 1 for a new visa that lets global professionals stay in the country for 10 years. The government hopes to bring in 1 million foreign nationals with the Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa, designed for those with skills in targeted sectors such as electric vehicles, biotechnology and defense.

Tourism-oriented Thailand, like Singapore, has been hit hard by travel disruptions. Both also have aging populations. While Singapore is expecting growth in the 3% to 4% range this year, the Asian Development Bank's latest outlook forecasts Thailand's growth rate at 2.9%, far below Indonesia's expected growth of 5.4%, Malaysia's 6% and Vietnam's 6.5%.

Malaysia, for its part, aims to attract wealthy investors with its new Premium Visa Program. The program, which began accepting applications on Saturday, allows people who can deposit 1 million ringgit (about $215,000) in the country and have an annual offshore income of around $100,000 to stay for up to 20 years. During that time, they can invest, run businesses and work.

As part of a broader move to bring in more human resources, Australia recently raised its annual permanent immigration cap to 195,000 for the current fiscal year, from 160,000.

These initiatives add to existing programs offered around the region, such as Taiwan's Employment Gold Card system, which started in 2018 for foreign professionals in targeted sectors such as science and technology.

"Despite recession fears, many companies are backfilling from the pandemic and hiring for new roles as part of their expansion plans that they have put a pause on for the past two years," said Jaya Dass, managing director of permanent recruitment for the Asia-Pacific region at Randstad, a staffing company.

Dass noted that the evolution of business and digital transformation over the past two years have created a need for professionals armed with new skills. "There is now a greater focus on high-value jobs. Besides being digitally adept, employers are looking for talent who are agile, innovative and able to think critically," Dass said.

Finding that talent appears increasingly difficult. A survey by ManpowerGroup, another human resources company, found that 75% of about 40,000 companies globally reported challenges in hiring the employees they need, a big jump from 54% in 2019.

Companies in some Asian economies are struggling more than the global average: 88% of Taiwanese employers reported such challenges, the highest among the 40 economies the survey covered. Singapore employers did not fare much better, at 84%.

Government leaders share a sense of crisis about the competition for talent.

"Right now, the best and the brightest minds aren't coming to Australia. They're going elsewhere," Canberra's Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said, announcing the immigration revision on Sept. 2. "If we want Australia to continue to thrive, then we are going to need more help."

Japan is rushing to catch up with other Asian nations, planning to expand its own programs for high-skill foreign workers.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, pictured during remarks on Sept. 17, has acknowledged that Japan is "lagging" behind when it comes to competing for human resources.

"We are now entering an era of global competition for human resources, in which countries around the world are competing to attract the best foreign talent," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Sept. 17. Pointing to Singapore as well as New Zealand as another country with preferential visa programs. "Japan is still lagging in this area, and we must make more efforts," he acknowledged.

Businesses seem to appreciate such endeavors.

Singapore's new ONE Pass has already drawn significant attention and rave reviews.

Kei Shibata, a Japanese entrepreneur who runs a travel startup in Singapore, said he was interested in the new visa, as it offers a longer stay than existing programs and allows holders to work in multiple companies.

"In terms of setting up and growing a business here, it would be nice to have a visa for about five years," he told Nikkei Asia. He also noted that some entrepreneurs serve as outside directors of other companies, saying he thinks there is a need for the program.

Magnus Grimeland, founder and CEO of Antler, a venture capital firm established in Singapore with over 550 portfolio companies, was also upbeat. "It's a really good scheme," he said. "Super smart."

Grimeland said about 60% of the founders his company supports in Singapore have set up their businesses using EntrePass, a separate visa for entrepreneurs.

But ONE Pass is more flexible than existing schemes. EntrePass has no minimum salary but is only good for one year to start. Another visa, the Employment Pass (EP), is typically granted for two to three years and is tied to a specific job.

"Moving [to Singapore] with their family can usually only be guaranteed for around two years, so the five-year term will give them security," he said.

Not surprisingly, the new visa has raised some questions about the impact on citizens. In a parliamentary debate following the ONE Pass announcement, an opposition lawmaker stressed that "skills transfer to Singaporean workers must be at the center of our manpower policies."

But the graying population is adding impetus for overseas recruiting. The latest data showed that people aged 65 or older accounted for 18.4% Singapore citizens of the total, up from 17.6% last year.

Grimeland suggested Singapore has a lot to gain from programs like ONE Pass. "If you combine the best talent in Singapore with great people from abroad, it's very beneficial," he said. "Many governments are trying to do this. From our experience, Singapore is exceptional on its execution of ways to attract talented people to build companies."

Likewise, Thai businesses are welcoming the LTR Visa, which has already attracted hundreds of applications.

Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, chair and group CEO of industrial real estate developer WHA, said companies appreciate the policy because there is an urgent need to bring in skilled labor. The need is especially acute in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), a development zone envisioned as a hub for high-tech industries such as health care, robotics, biotechnology, electric vehicles and tourism.

Jareeporn said that when the EEC is promoted, "many foreigners ask whether we have enough expert workers to work here."

The answer? "There are not enough expert workers, so we have to import [them]," she said. "We have to build our own [talent] too, but it takes time."

Koji Sako, an associate professor at Japan's Josai International University and a longtime Asian economy watcher, said the strategy behind Thailand's new visa is to offer early incentives to attract professionals in sectors that could be major industries in the future. He suggested the government hopes to get a head start on potential competitors -- say, India, which "could potentially be an EV exporter."

The Grand Palace in Bangkok lies empty of tourists in late 2020: As COVID-19 border restrictions come down, countries are looking to rev up their economies by attracting more international talent. (File photo by EPA/Jiji) 

The battle for high-skill workers is not just an Asian phenomenon, but a global one. For example, the U.K. earlier this year launched a new system called the High Potential Individual visa, allowing graduates of prestigious universities to stay in the country even before they land a job.

Meanwhile, some markets are losing human resources. Hong Kong's population fell by 121,500, or 1.6%, over the year through June 2022, the sharpest decrease since comparable data became available in 1961. The Asian financial center has been hit by a decline in births and an outflow of people. China's strict national security law, as well as tight COVID-19 restrictions, appears to be among the reasons people are heading for the exit.

Sako pointed out that geopolitics could affect the movement of workers in other ways -- and open up opportunities for Asian economies that offer the right enticements.

"Highly skilled workers had been concentrated in the U.S., but due to the recent conflicts between the U.S. and China, some Chinese talent is losing their place to go," he said. With their new programs, he said Asian countries could become a destination for such people.
 

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