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About a decade ago, a younger version of myself ranted to an older colleague — a Thai expat — that too many foreigners were coming into Singapore and competing with locals for jobs. I will always remember his response, because it was the rude awakening I needed.
It went something along the lines of this:
“The real competition you should be afraid of is out there, beyond these shores. Because you need to understand that whether or not people migrate to Singapore, competition is coming.”
As the 2010s gradually unfolded, I started to see his point.
One by one, roles were offshored to countries with more affordable labour. Side hustles that used to pay me lucratively were done for a fraction of the price by folks on Fiverr.
When the pandemic came, there was a short window where we all celebrated jobs that could be done 100% remotely.
Until we realised the competition was 100% remote, too.
The reality of what this means for Singaporeans
Let us be clear: this doesn’t mean you’re doomed if your job can be done by someone sitting in Bangalore, Ho Chi Minh, or Manila. However, it does mean Singaporeans cannot afford to be ‘average’.
It’s also worth saying that many jobs in the future that were once thought of as ‘untouchable’ are already under pressure. Singaporeans already know roles like Customer Support and HR have already been offshored.
But with constantly improving global talent, it’s not inconceivable that in the future more mid-level functions might follow: such as mid-level financial modelling, legal discovery, and even high-end software architecture.
And so, for Singaporeans who don’t want to work overseas, we need to ask ourselves this question: In a world where work is no longer bound by geography, which jobs are likely to stay here?
Note: We won’t be able to name every industry or job, and frankly, neither would you want to read a long list of job titles. So instead of naming random industries here and there, we’ve decided to approach this based on the advantages that Singapore has.
#1: Advantages based on where we are
These advantages are based on a concept called path dependency. This idea is that decisions made in the past constrain future decisions, making it costly to switch in the future.
Think about our status as a maritime, aerospace, and logistics hub.
Singapore has been a major seaport since pre-independence. And that still remains true today. We sit on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and have the world’s busiest container shipping port. Likewise, Singapore sits on major air routes between continents.
With these come many industries, and the jobs are ‘sticky’. Unlike a remote copywriter, a port tech engineer or a cold-chain logistics expert is integrated into a physical reality that transcends cheap labour. We stay relevant because we are part of the hardware.
Yes, other countries can attempt to steal Singapore’s crown, but the jobs are already ‘locked in’. They cannot be relocated just because labour is cheaper elsewhere.
(Which is why Singapore is doubling down on our physical location advantage with the Tuas mega port and Changi Terminal 5.)
If you take a closer look at Tuas mega port, you will also see that it also utilises technologies like automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated equipment + integrated ops systems.
These are examples of deep tech that are not easily done by remote workers, and further cement Singapore’s port status.
| Here’s a cool lil bit of nerdery:
Deep tech is a catch-all term for technology whose advantage comes from hard-to-replicate technical breakthroughs. Like years of R&D, prototyping, validation, specialised talent, and often hardware and real-world testing. If we were to use a layman example: Ride-hailing services like Grab or Gojek are ‘surface tech’. |
But there is an important caveat:
Some of the lower-value port and logistics functions are already facing competition from our neighbours. Basic warehousing, simple cargo handling, and labour-intensive tasks are easier to move because they are not tightly tied to the flow of trade itself.
Location gives Singapore a powerful starting point. But it is not a magic bullet against competition.
#2: Advantages from what the world believes about us
We do not have scale. And we do not have cheap labour. That much is clear.
But we can be relied upon to be neutral, safe, responsible, and trustworthy, because we’ve been doing that for years. And this is important in a world where superpowers see each other as rivals.
Because of this, the most important, expensive functions will likely remain here. Work that involves sensitive data and critical infrastructure is less likely to be fully offshored, as organisations would want to have control and oversight closer to HQ.
This anchors certain high-value roles here. Think: data centres, family offices, art storage, wealth structuring, and regional HQ strategy roles.
Similarly, people will also come to us when they want a neutral party to help resolve disputes. Singapore frequently ranks as one of the top global hubs for international arbitration — often alongside London, Paris, and Geneva.
That is not something that even superpowers like China or the US can easily do, given their non-neutral political standing with other countries. Nor can our regional friends compete with. Not yet, at least.
#3: Advantages from ecosystems we have to grow ourselves
Last but not least, there are the ideas of talent density, critical mass, and agglomeration.
The general idea is this: The more talent, capital, research institutions, regulators, and suppliers gather in one place, the more valuable that place becomes.
Think Silicon Valley in the US for startups. Or Taiwan when it comes to semiconductors. In the latter example, semiconductor giants like TSMC sit alongside suppliers, process engineers, equipment vendors, and materials specialists. They become part of an entire ecosystem, and are deeply integrated with each other.
The density of tacit manufacturing knowledge there is extraordinary. You cannot recreate that by simply announcing a semiconductor park somewhere else.
Of course, these can’t be built overnight.
Both examples went through decades of experimentation, failure, capital recycling, and institutional learning. But once they matured, they became extremely difficult to displace.
So the bet is this: Singapore will be able to be better builders than the competition because we already have existing advantages (see above), and because we have the state’s buy-in.
| In 2026, Singapore is deliberately assembling various ecosystems. According to the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 (RIE2030) plan, it’s focusing on four domains: Advanced Manufacturing, Human Health, Urban Solutions and Sustainability, and the Digital Economy.
If you need an example of this, the one-north area has clusters of research institutes, universities, hospitals, and startups all in one place, to support biomedical research (a subset of Human Health). But the ecosystem is also about people. So far, we have excelled in becoming technical experts. Now, we need people who are also technical-business bilingual — that is, people who can navigate clinical trials, manage intellectual property, and understand how to scale a deep-tech product for the global market. Developing talent with these essential capabilities will require specific training so that they can gain real industry exposure, beyond their academic credentials. Ultimately, these roles would be more bulletproof because they require a rare mix of deep domain knowledge and commercial grit. |
So let’s go back to the original question
Realistically, what are the jobs that Singaporeans can still compete in?
Tbh, they are not the ones that can be described in neat bullet points. After all, the world is changing faster than we imagined. The job titles of the future have not even been invented yet.
But our best guess is this: They’re not the ones our neighbours can do. They’re complex, context-driven, and require judgement and decision-making. And they are the ones tied to where we are, the trust we’ve built, and the ecosystems we will create.
For a small, tiny country, this is the way.
We cannot win on scale, we cannot win on cost.
So we must win on being hard to replace.
Stay woke, salaryman.
A message from our sponsor, SGInnovate
In an increasingly competitive global landscape, Singapore will need to leverage her existing strengths. Building our ecosystems will be the next step, alongside developing the talent that form the foundation of it.
SGInnovate is a Deep Tech ecosystem builder and investor that aims to build talent pipelines for the industry by providing structured pathways for working professionals and graduates in the field:
- Helix Immersion Programme: Equips biomedical researchers with the industry-specific skills needed to transition from the lab to the life sciences market; basically bridging the gap between academia and industry.
- PowerX: Talent accelerator. Helps mid-career and early career working professionals pivot into high-demand Deep Tech roles through upskilling and mentorship.
By strengthening this talent pipeline, Singapore can continue to build capabilities in Deep Tech — areas that are incredibly hard for the rest of the world to replicate.
If you’re interested in finding out more, you can visit https://bit.ly/sgi_helix (Helix Immersion Programme) or https://bit.ly/sgi_px (PowerX).
