{"id":56749,"date":"2026-05-31T05:54:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=56749"},"modified":"2026-05-31T05:54:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:54:05","slug":"rising-costs-in-singapore-spur-business-migration-as-regional-alternatives-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=56749","title":{"rendered":"Rising costs in Singapore spur business migration as regional alternatives rise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Recent moves by companies such as Gardenia and H&amp;M to shift some operations from <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/singapore?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Singapore<\/span><\/a> across the Causeway have put the spotlight on <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/malaysia?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Malaysia<\/span><\/a>\u2019s growing appeal as a more affordable base for businesses facing high costs and a tight labour market in the city state.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">But while the trend may look like an easy win for its neighbour \u2013 bringing investment, jobs and spillover opportunities \u2013 analysts say the gains could come with trade-offs, as an influx of firms drives up competition for skilled workers and risks leaving lower-skilled staff further behind.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The shift also points to a wider regional recalibration, with other Southeast Asian economies such as <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/vietnam?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Vietnam<\/span><\/a> and <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/thailand?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Thailand<\/span><\/a> positioning themselves as alternatives for companies moving lower-cost or labour-intensive functions out of Singapore.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">On May 20, food manufacturing company Gardenia announced it was shifting its bakery production from Singapore to Johor Bahru, resulting in 141 employees being laid off.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The company said the move was part of an ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency and remain competitive amid an increasingly challenging global environment.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Earlier this month, Malaysian media reported that fast fashion retailer H&amp;M would relocate its Southeast Asian headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, affecting close to 80 roles in the city state\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/economics\/article\/3355378\/rising-costs-singapore-spur-business-migration-regional-alternatives-rise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent moves by companies such as Gardenia and H&amp;M to shift some operations from Singapore across the Causeway have put the spotlight on Malaysia\u2019s growing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}