The Business Times · 3 Sep, 23:00 · Finance briefing

'Most of the good ones aren't looking': Singapore fintechs flag challenge of finding talent with both finance and tech skills

Singaporean fintech firms report significant difficulties in recruiting professionals who possess a rare combination of financial acumen and technical expertise.

What it means for you ↓ Courses for this story

28%average pay gap between certified and uncertified finance staff

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The briefing

The story
in brief.

What happened, who it affects, and why it landed on our intelligence desk — in plain English, sixty seconds or less.

Singaporean fintech firms report significant difficulties in recruiting professionals who possess a rare combination of financial acumen and technical expertise. Industry leaders indicate that top candidates with this hybrid skill set are often already employed and not actively seeking new roles. This scarcity highlights a structural talent gap within the region’s financial technology sector, where companies struggle to find individuals capable of bridging traditional finance concepts with modern software development requirements, thereby slowing operational scaling and innovation efforts.

Employer demand for Medical Physics skills — indexed growth since 2019
Indicative index of skill mentions in professional job postings for the field this story moves (2019 = 1)

Your move

What this means
for your career.

Every headline redistributes opportunity. Here is who this one rewards — and how to be on the right side of it.

This shortage signals that hybrid professionals will command premium salaries and greater job security. If you work in finance, you must urgently acquire coding or data literacy. Conversely, developers should deepen their understanding of regulatory frameworks and financial products. Do not wait for a job posting; proactively build a portfolio demonstrating how you solve financial problems using technology. Prioritise upskilling in areas where these disciplines intersect, such as algorithmic trading or compliance automation. Network aggressively with peers in adjacent fields to uncover hidden opportunities. Your next career move should explicitly highlight your ability to translate between technical teams and financial stakeholders, positioning you as the scarce asset employers desperately need.

For this story, the fields that convert it into pay are Medical Physics, Python Data Visualisation Libraries Mastery, Staff Recruitment And Retention and Cross Cultural Communication — exactly the programmes matched below. The chart shows the indicative salary uplift certified professionals report in each of those fields; every one of them is a click away, from £79, finishing in as few as 20 days.

Indicative salary uplift in the fields matched to this story
Indicative ranges from published continuing-education salary studies, by field — each field is a recommended course below

Matched to this story

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