American companies have an edge over local ones when it comes to attracting domestic and regional talent.
A recent survey by Aon Hewitt and Jobstreet.com reported 65% of Singaporeans ranked American companies as their preferred employer choice. Amongst Asian workers, the percentage was 78%.
Australian companies and British companies come closely behind, with 73% and 67% voting for them respectively. Singapore came in sixth place with an overall rating of 57% Asian respondents. The country fared slightly better when ranked by Singaporeans themselves at fifth spot.
“All else being equal, most job seekers would prefer not to join a Singaporean company because of the negative perception about the working environment,” Rick Payne, regional practice leader for human capital at Aon Hewitt, said.
He added, “Such perception could become a huge stumbling block for Singaporean companies to attract top talent in the Asian region.”
In order to attract more local/international talent and compete with foreign/American companies, Singaporean companies have to strive to provide a better workplace environment, as well as “communicate and create awareness” within the workforce.
Nearly all the Singaporean respondents (94%) selected “excellent working environment” as an important factor when selecting an employer.
Payne said if local companies want to “compete for top talent in the region” they would have to invest in “building an attractive and sustainable employer brand”.
Singapore received the highest overall rating from India’s workforce, coming in fourth place with 71%. Filipino workers gave Singapore a rating of 63%, ranking the country fifth on their list.
“Asian companies would need to enhance their value proposition as an employer to attract the talent they want,” Yusuke Higaki, Japan’s country manager at Jobstreet.com, said.
Other key factors picked by the respondents included opportunities for overseas training and development, and world-class products and services.
About 14,000 respondents took part in the survey, and were from Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Sources and references: HRO, Aon Hewitt, Jobstreet; Topics: American companies, British companies, Australian companies