Deep Dive Impact of some businesses moving out of Singapore - and what it means for jobs
Apr 8, 2026
Sumit Agarwal, NUS professor of finance and real estate, gives concise analysis of economic drivers and regional integration. Karen Teo, country manager at Quess Singapore, shares hiring trends and skills-based hiring perspectives. They discuss why firms move operations to Malaysia and Vietnam, which labour‑intensive roles are most vulnerable, the resilience of high‑value roles, and reskilling and cross‑border opportunities.
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Cost And Regional Integration Drive Offshore Moves
- Companies move operations overseas primarily for cost savings and regional integration advantages.
- Sumit Agarwal cites cheaper labour, better land availability, and English-speaking talent in Malaysia and Vietnam as drivers for moving space- and labour-intensive functions like brewing.
Support Functions Are Most Vulnerable
- Support and transactional functions are most likely to shift across the border.
- Karen Teo highlights KYC, customer care, HR ops, finance ops and marketing ops as roles already being offshored to Malaysia for cost efficiency.
R&D And Specialists Stay Anchored In Singapore
- High-value R&D and specialist roles tend to stay in Singapore due to talent concentration and lifestyle pull.
- Sumit Agarwal says top researchers and specialists prefer Singapore for pay distribution, quality of life and rule of law, keeping R&D anchored locally.