The economic crisis has left the banking and financial services sector less attractive to fresh graduates in Singapore.

Although the sector is still the most popular among entry-level graduates, the percentage of students who rated it as their top industry choice has shrunk by 10.8% compared to last year, the latest JobsFactory Employers of Choice Survey revealed. In fact, the survey results, which polled 3,010 graduates and undergraduates in Singapore, show a significant drop in the rankings of financial institutions. Only four banks - Citigroup, Barclays Capital Global Services, Deutsche Bank and DBS Bank - remain in the top ten employer of choice ranking this year.

This year, all financial institutions have fallen out of the top five spots. Only Barclays has risen from 11th to 9th in the rankings. This is a marked difference from six banks being in the top ten last year, of which three were among the top five employers. “Most banks have not hired aggressively in the past year, and some even retrenched staff to cut costs,” says Lim Der Shing, director of JobsFactory. “The effects of the economic crisis have most probably diminished the appeal of the financial industry considerably.”

There are no big surprises in the private sector however. Singapore Airlines (SIA) remains entry-level graduates’ top employer of choice, with 42.4% of respondents voting for the company this year, a slight 0.2% increase from 2008. “Such a result indicates the strength and resilience of a strong brand, considering how tough 2009 has been for SIA, with the downturn and competition from budget airlines eating into its bottomline,” Lim says.

Likewise among government or government-linked employers, the Singapore Tourism Board tops the rankings once again. Nanyang Technological University and the Economic Development Board are both in second and third place respectively.

Sources and references: Sandbox Advisors, JobsFactory, HRO

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