According to a report by Hays, 45 percent of Singapore returnees, who have studied or worked outside the city state, are willing to accept the same pay despite unsuitable job opportunities back home.

The study noted that 53 percent of returnees stated that the main challenge was unsuitable job opportunities due to a mismatch of skills to jobs or roles available.

Other challenges in finding jobs included inappropriate remuneration (45 percent) and unfamiliarity with local job market conditions (39 percent).

The 2019 Hays Overseas Returnee Report highlights that more than eight in 10 employers (82 percent) are eager to hire an overseas returnee in the next 12 months, but only 39 percent said that they were able to do so. Employers cited mismatch in expectations of offer packages (65 percent) as the most prominent factor for not hiring returnees, followed by candidates with lack of local work experience (36 percent) and candidate drop out ratio (22 percent).

Although Singapore’s returnees expressed willingness to accept a pay equivalent or lower to what they were receiving overseas, the study stated that 54 percent of employers were keen to offer premium salary packages to overseas returnees with suitable experience over local talent, with respondents from both sides citing cross-cultural awareness as the most favored skill, followed closely by language and communication skills.