Do Foreign Candidates Get Discriminated Against In Singapore?

Do Foreign Candidates Get Discriminated Against In Singapore?

Does Singapore have a problem with hiring discrimination and bias? Do foreigners actually get a fair chance when applying for roles in Singapore? What reception does objective hiring get in Singapore?

We headed to Singapore recently to discover how ready Singapore is for objective hiring.

We were out and about at a hiring business conference in Singapore at the famous Marina Bay Sands.

We were discussing all things around objective & fair hiring, and how we can remove bullshit from the hiring process.

We brought a few eye-catching 2 metre banners to the conference, including a giant CV, pointing out all the potential biases on a CV.

It was especially thought-provoking and a great conversation starter, with lots agreeing and plenty disagreeing with the message.

Here’s 3 things we heard at the conference:

  • “Don’t bother trying to sell this into Singapore. It’s the opposite of what they want – they want to know the candidate is Singaporean, so they can hire them.”
  • “The first I want to know is, ‘am I hiring a man or a woman?’, so who the hell are you to tell me that I can’t have that information?”
  • “The ‘bullshit’ here is actually the DE&I stuff that tries to force me to hire someone I don’t want.”

In some ways it was actually refreshing to hear peoples’ honest opinions, even if we didn’t agree with them. It was also insightful to understand that maybe not every market is ready yet for objective hiring.

Is this just a Singapore problem? No clearly not, and with a recent prominent Australian university making the incomprehensible backward step of removing merit-based hiring, it’s clear we have a long way to go before recruitment is done in a fair and objective way.

But together we can make it happen!

Learn more about how to reduce bias

Hear from leading Alooba customers about crushing discrimination

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We get a high flow of applicants, which leads to potentially longer lead times, causing delays in the pipelines which can lead to missing out on good candidates. Alooba supports both speed and quality. The speed to return to candidates gives us a competitive advantage. Alooba provides a higher level of confidence in the people coming through the pipeline with less time spent interviewing unqualified candidates.

Scott Crowe, Canva (Lead Recruiter - Data)