Purpose, pay and AI pressures redefine talent expectations in Singapore finance sector

Maurice Cheong, Head of Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, ACCA, said employers can no longer assume compensation alone is enough to secure talent. “Employers in Singapore are competing for some of the most skilled finance professionals in the world. But skills professionals have choices, and increasingly, those choices are being shaped by purpose as much as by pay,” Cheong said. “Organisations that think social impact is a nice-to-have are likely to find that the most talented people are choosing somewhere else.”

The report also points to growing organisational challenges arising from Singapore’s increasingly multigenerational workforce. For the first time, workplaces are spanning five generations simultaneously, and more than half of respondents (53%) said their organisation struggle to support effective collaboration across age groups, significantly above the global average of 42%.

ACCA identified this as less of a people issue and more of an organisational design challenge, highlighting structured mentoring programmes, mixed-age teams, and clearer communication frameworks as among the approaches employers are adopting to improve collaboration.

READ MORE: Employees in Singapore feel resigned over pay despite believing salaries are fair, report finds

While Singapore performed relatively well on pay satisfaction compared with other Asia-Pacific markets, pressures related to compensation and living costs remain evident. Some 46% of respondents said they were satisfied with their current pay, but 52% still intend to request a salary increase within the next 12 months.

Employee wellbeing also continues to emerge as a key retention issue. More than half of respondents (52%) said work pressures negatively affect their mental health, mirroring the global average. ACCA’s findings suggest a strong relationship between poor wellbeing and employee flight risk, reinforcing calls for employers to move beyond surface-level wellness initiatives and address workload, culture, and management practices more substantively.

On workplace flexibility, the findings indicate that office attendance still carries perceived career value among finance professionals in Singapore. Around 65% agreed that organisations should mandate a set number of office days each week, while 59% believed that being physically present in the office positively influenced promotion opportunities. Hybrid working, however, remains the preferred arrangement for most respondents.

Cheong added that the findings reflect a workforce navigating multiple shifts simultaneously, from technological disruption to changing expectations around career meaning and progression. “The employers who will retain the best people are those who take all three seriously, not just the ones that make the headlines,” Cheong concluded.