SINGAPORE - Nearly two in three Singapore workers are willing to relocate for work, with Australia being the most popular destination, a recent survey found.

This figure of 64 per cent who are willing to move is a marked drop from the 87 per cent in 2018, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the Singapore workers willing to relocate, 72 per cent are young professionals aged below 30.

The survey findings released on May 14 by jobs portal Jobstreet by Seek also show that South-east Asian and global markets have similar proportions of workers willing to relocate, at 68 and 63 per cent respectively.

Commenting on the findings, Mr David Blasco, general manager at recruitment firm Randstad Singapore, said: “Traditionally, Singaporeans sought opportunities abroad for better remuneration, job satisfaction or a healthier work-life balance.”

But the Covid-19 pandemic changed this significantly, he said. “More companies in Singapore are offering better benefits, initiatives, and reshaping job responsibilities to meet talent expectations, reducing the allure of overseas ventures.”

Similarly, Ms Alyce Cheong, a certified Institute for Human Resource Professionals senior professional, said that Singapore, being home to many regional headquarters and multinational corporations (MNCs), provides workers here with opportunities to advance in their careers locally.

She also noted that the survey sample mainly consists of respondents in their mid-30s to mid-40s, which is a stage in life when individuals begin to start having families of their own, deterring them from moving abroad.

The report was based on a global survey conducted from October to December 2023 of 150,735 people in 188 countries. These included 3,260 respondents from the Singapore workforce, of whom 87 per cent are Singaporean and the rest expatriates.

Among Singapore respondents, those in marketing and media are the most willing to relocate for work. This is followed by those in the digitalisation, data science and artificial intelligence field.

At the other end of the spectrum, the social care and social services industry, and administration and secretariat industry have the lowest proportion of respondents willing to move.

The most popular destination for Singapore workers is Australia, which 33 per cent of respondents ranked in their top three spots, followed by other high-technology economies such as China, Japan and the US.

Jobstreet said neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand are also popular as they are frequent travel destinations for Singapore workers.

In terms of length of overseas postings, Singapore respondents prefer short-term stints lasting between one and three years. In contrast, the preference among respondents in the wider South-east Asia and Hong Kong region is for medium-term stays lasting more than three years with the intention of returning. Meanwhile, the global average figures show a preference for long-term indefinite stays.

Ms Cheong said Singapore workers’ preference for shorter stays could be “to fulfil familial obligations and be here to nurture the next generation”.

The most prominent factor encouraging Singapore workers to relocate is financial and economic reasons, similar to South-east Asian and global trends. This was cited by 60 per cent of Singapore respondents.

General career considerations such as work experience or job progression are the second strongest reason to move abroad for Singapore, South-east Asian and global workers alike. This is followed by the opportunity for a better overall quality of life.

Better educational and training opportunities proved less of a draw to Singapore respondents, compared with their global peers.

Better social systems and healthcare were cited as a reason to move by 35 per cent of global respondents, while only 24 per cent of Singapore respondents felt the same.

Of the Singapore workers who were not willing to relocate, 66 per cent cited the inability to take family members or life partners as a reason to stay. This is significantly higher than the 55 per cent of the wider pool of respondents in South-east Asia and Hong Kong who cited this reason.

Other reasons to stay as seen by Singapore workers include cost of relocation and concerns about personal safety and security, with 39 per cent of respondents citing each of these factors.

The survey also ranked the most popular work destinations.

To a global workforce, Singapore tops Asian countries as a desirable location to relocate to, and places eighth globally. Better quality of job opportunities was cited as a key reason for relocating to the Republic.