A Grab-Singtel consortium that successfully applied for a full digital banking license in Singapore announced last Friday evening that it has started hiring for 200 positions based in Singapore. It intends to fill them all by the end of 2021, in advance of its planned launch in early 2022.

The open positions are in banking, fintech, and technology, and according to new CEO Charles Wong, about 10 or 15 percent have already been filled. Wong also said that most of the roles will see new hires, but that existing Grab and Singtel employees may also wish to move over to the new company.

Given the shortage of tech and fintech skills in the city-state—recruiters, analysts, and government officials have over the last two years been pointing out the increasing shortfall between the demand and supply of talent, and the stiff competition between companies—it is likely that the consortium will have to invest in reskilling and upskilling of at least some of the new hires. The consortium has already indicated that it plans to equip them with skills such as cyber security, a critical component of any fintech business.

The Grab-Singtel consortium is one of two successful applicants which the Monetary Authority of Singapore selected to receive full digital banking licenses, conditional on meeting all the applicable regulatory and other requirements. The other applicant, Tencent-owned Internet platform Sea, has not announced hiring plans but already operates an existing digital payments and financial services platform, so is unlikely to require as many new personnel.