Despite news of major job cuts within the banking industry, the queue of fresh graduates lining up to get into the doors of Singapore's local banks just got longer. One local bank saw almost twice the applicants for its various positions in the last two years. 

Fresh numbers from Singapore's big three banks - DBS, OCBC and UOB - showed that the volume of applicants for the fresh graduate programs has been growing between 25 percent to nearly 100 percent, as the global prestige of local banks grows. OCBC saw the number of applications for its Graduate Talent Programme surge by 25 percent to 5,000 this year, for the 60-80 positions in Singapore.

At UOB, the bank saw its number of Management Association program applicants go up from 25,000 last year to 35,000 across Asean vying for about 40-50 spots in the region. The attractiveness of working at local lenders comes at a time when international banks have announced major headcount cuts.

Number Of Applicants Jumped

«The question for the foreign banks is if they will withdraw if the economy turns. But for us, the three local banks, this is home ground. We are anchored here,» said Susan Cheong, DBS group head of talent acquisition who was quoted in a «Business Times» article. 

For DBS, it typically receives between 4,000-5,000 applications from fresh graduates for its various programs in Singapore. For last year and this year, the number spiked to 7,000-9,000, DBS said. 

Commitment and Branding

The local banks' efforts to retrain and reskill staff to cope with disruptions that help them stand out from the rest, observes Eliezer Neo, director of banking, financial services and insurance, RGF Executive Search Singapore. 

In addition, human resource experts attributed the banks' attractiveness as an employer to improved branding as a result of a series of advertisements resonating with the younger crowd, and winning international awards such as World's Best Bank by Euromoney. The number of candidates hired remained between 120 - 140 in the last five years. 

«This comes on the back of the local banks going through a recent culture shift. They have focused more on diversity and inclusion initiatives and have also hired international talent into a few key areas, and this has aided change,» noted Michael Nette, managing director of recruitment specialist Ambition Singapore.

Opportunity for Bigger Impact

Candidates are also drawn to the allure of working at the banks' global headquarters, with the opportunity to make a bigger impact, he adds. «Overall, candidates in Singapore are more cautious about joining global banks, specifically due to the restructuring and offshoring that has been taking place.»

The growing spotlight on local banks takes place at the same time as some global banks - especially the US and European lenders - slow down hiring activities in the Asia Pacific as they prioritize their operations back home, say some recruitment experts. 

Stability and Room For Progression

The concept of making the most money in the shortest time within banking is less popular these days, they say. The fact that local banks have embarked on training programs that reskill or re-deploy staff impacted by technological disruption or global economic conditions, are likely to have huge influences on these applicants' choices.

«Employees want stability and room for progression,» said Nette.