Like Forum contributor Raymond Koh Bock Swi, I also retired from the banking industry, after some 40 years (Workforce composition in banks needs to be examined, Aug 15).

And some of the practices in the sector, while understandable, are disconcerting.

For instance, over the past two decades, many banks have been outsourcing their back-office operations to developing countries in the pursuit of cost savings.

The flip side of this move is that basic understanding and fundamental banking skills are lost among the younger generation of bank employees.

This means Singapore will eventually be dependent on other countries to function as a financial centre, and any disruption in those countries will directly affect the daily operations of banks here.

Those back-office jobs could have been performed by our polytechnic graduates, allowing them to build their careers from there.

Onshoring these critical functions would give banks better control of the banking transactions overall, and even help them spot and stop fraudulent transactions.

For example, bills of lading - lists giving details of the goods that a ship is carrying - are always issued on security paper, and trained personnel can detect a genuine one from a fake one just by looking at and feeling it.

Once the operation is outsourced, however, the employee concerned would no longer be able to tell the difference through his computer screen or faxed copies.

The other immediate benefit is job creation. These back-office jobs would provide greater value-add to the economy than gig economy jobs like food delivery and private-hire driving.

My other observation is that nowadays, banks prefer to employ staff on a short-term contractual basis.

The banks cite limited headcount as the rationale. Not only would these short-term staff not feel a sense of belonging, but they would also find it difficult to plan their careers.

These trends are not conducive to developing Singapore's precious manpower resource.

Roy Lim Cheow Kwan