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Articles by Scott
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"Why" is doing more damage than you think
"Why" is doing more damage than you think
Three letters. One syllable.
6 Comments -
They anchored first. You folded, here’s how it happened.
They anchored first. You folded, here’s how it happened.
One number can rewrite your entire strategy, unless you know how to protect your reservation value from the start…
46 Comments -
Don’t wait for the Post Mortem. Review while the work’s still in motion
Don’t wait for the Post Mortem. Review while the work’s still in motion
Most teams reflect too late, after the cost, pressure, or opportunity has already passed. Today’s issue breaks down a…
11 Comments -
This Will Be the Last One I Publish on LinkedIn
This Will Be the Last One I Publish on LinkedIn
This is a quick note to say: Thank you! If you’ve been reading along, engaging, or even just skimming, I’ve appreciated…
18 Comments -
There’s one thing that instantly lowers resistance in high stakes conversations.
There’s one thing that instantly lowers resistance in high stakes conversations.
Most people try to fix tension with logic or empathy. But that’s not why people resist.
19 Comments -
Don't Wait for the Post-Mortem
Don't Wait for the Post-Mortem
Smart Procurement teams review while the work is still in motion We've all been there. The project wraps up Some things…
7 Comments -
The IRA and British Government Talks: Lessons in Tough Negotiation
The IRA and British Government Talks: Lessons in Tough Negotiation
Some of the toughest negotiations in history weren't about business at all. They were about war, power, and survival.
28 Comments -
Procurement’s Toughest Trade-Off: Poll Results Breakdown
Procurement’s Toughest Trade-Off: Poll Results Breakdown
Procurement leaders face tough choices daily: Cost Flexibility Quality Risk Which one is most important when you can’t…
16 Comments -
Let's call it out: Many people are repackaging sales advice and passing it off as negotiation strategy!
Let's call it out: Many people are repackaging sales advice and passing it off as negotiation strategy!
I roll my eyes every time I see a post with erroneous negotiation advice. It usually looks similar to this: Negotiation…
20 Comments -
What's Fair in Negotiation?
What's Fair in Negotiation?
If you ask 100 people how to fairly split $9.85M in newly created value, you’ll likely hear: "Divide it…
27 Comments
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10K followers
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Scott Harrison shared thisThe three letter word that's costing you in most conversations.
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Scott Harrison shared thisEight months ago, I disappeared from LinkedIn and stepped back from work. I had heart failure. My left ventricle ejection fraction had dropped to 18%, and I ended up in ICU. Since then, all of my energy went into getting well enough to live normally again, never mind getting back to work. It was difficult physically, and mentally it took me to a darker place than I expected. Most days I had very little to give anyone. No posts, work updates or conversations. It’s in times like this when you notice who keeps showing up when they have no obvious reason to do so. Dane Tang was one of those people. She kept in contact with me the whole time. Regular messages, supportive, positive, never making a big thing of it. Just there, consistently and selflessly. That helped me more than Dane probably realised. Urszula Woronowicz, Mark B. Logan, MPA, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, C.P.M., CPPB, Supratim Roy and Michelle Mah (M.Couns, PMH-C) were great friends too. Messages asking how I was doing. Sometimes just a few words. Sometimes enough to remind me that I hadn't completely disappeared from people's minds. That helps a lot when you’re going through something like this. More than people realise it. And they had no obligation, no audience or benefit. Just people choosing to care. So Dane, Ula, Mark, Supra and Michelle - thank you. I appreciated you then, and I still do now. After a long time away, I'm back!! Slowly, fully and grateful.
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Scott Harrison shared thisIn every difficult conversation I’ve sat in, there’s usually been a second conversation running underneath the first one. It took me years to fully understand it. A budget discussion becomes a competence discussion, feedback becomes disrespect, a challenge becomes loss of authority, a disagreement becomes: “you don’t value me” or “you don’t understand what I carry here.” I see this often in workplaces. Someone walks into a meeting believing they’re discussing the work. The other person walks in defending status, credibility, experience, or self worth. Now both are having completely different conversations without realising it. That’s why some conflicts escalate far faster than they should. People think they’re reacting to words, when often they’re reacting to what the words seem to say about them. This shaped a lot of my thinking around negotiation and communication under pressure. Identity is almost always in the room, and once it’s there, you can have the better argument and still lose the room.
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Scott Harrison shared thisFirst time founders often walk into a fundraise underprepared. They prepare the deck, numbers and answers to the obvious questions. What they don't prepare for is the room. I worked with a founder recently who was walking into her first seed raise, with a VC who'd done hundreds of these. We both knew the standard playbook was coming, anchoring low, asking for more equity than the funding justified, walk away threats, time pressure. All of it. We didn't spend our time on the pitch. The pitch was fine. We focused on everything that happens around it. How to use silence when they push. As people naturally fill silence under pressure. She trained out of that. When to change her tone, and when not to. Pressure pulls people upward in pitch and faster in pace, and both of those signal to the other side that you're rattled. She learned to do the opposite. The questions to ask back. This is where most coaching stops at platitudes, so I'll give you a real one. When a VC tells a founder the ask is too much, the instinct is to justify, walk through the model again, and explain the assumptions. That's the trap. Confidence beats explanation, every time. What I trained her to do instead was hold a deliberate, slightly curious tone and say "it seems like you had a different number in mind." Then stop talking. The next person to speak is giving up information, and it isn't going to be her. And underneath all of it, what was actually on the table. Funding is the headline number. The terms underneath it are what decide whether you still run your company in three years, board composition, pro-rata rights, control terms. She walked in knowing which ones she'd trade and which ones she wouldn't. She got terms a first time founder isn't supposed to get, and it wasn'tby being tough, she simply did the work others often skip. Founders walk in hoping the meeting goes well. The ones who do well walk in expecting it won't, and ready for the moment it turns.
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Scott Harrison shared thisPressure exposes what preparation hides. I've been in negotiations from Singapore to Scotland and I've watched it happen hundreds of times. Someone comes in prepared. Every counter rehearsed and objection mapped. Then the room shifts and they can't move with it. You see it immediately. Their composure goes, they look flustered, or sometimes they don't notice at all and just keep going, completely oblivious, heading in the wrong direction while the other side watches them lose credibility in real time. The chain reaction from that point is always the same. Misread the room and it corrupts everything downstream. Your thinking, your decisions, your responses, the direction you take the whole conversation. By the time you realise, the outcome is already gone. The other side doesn't just walk away without a deal. They walk away feeling unheard, disrespected and feel their time was wasted. No agreement gets made from that place. I understood this before any boardroom or contract. Growing up in Glasgow, misreading people wasn't a lesson I learned slowly. The consequences were immediate. Pressure exposes what preparation hides. A script tells you what to say. It tells you nothing about what to do when the room stops following it.
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Scott Harrison shared thisThere's a debate that keeps circling about recruitment. Will AI replace recruiters? Will automation take over hiring? Wrong questions. The more interesting question is: what parts of recruiting were actually valuable in the first place? Experienced recruiters immediately understood where AI sourcing tools would fit. Because we all know the truth, large chunks of the job were always mechanical. Endless hours of searching, reading through thousands of profiles, running the same queries over and over to surface a handful of people worth speaking to. Soul destroying work that ate away lots of valuable time. So when tools arrived that could do that in minutes, the reaction from anyone who's been in the game long enough wasn't fear. It was relief. But… that's never been what separates good recruiters from average ones. Recruitment professionals who consistently outperform are the people who can build trust with candidates who weren't looking. Keep a process moving when momentum starts slipping. Influence a hiring manager whose judgement is drifting. Read hesitation before it becomes a declined offer. Have the honest conversation nobody else wants to have. That's where recruiting becomes commercially valuable, and I can assure you that no tool is anywhere near close to that yet. What I do think people are underestimating though, is that most of these AI sourcing tools are trained on similar signals. Meaning more companies are now targeting the same visible candidates, in roughly the same way, with messaging that's been personalised by the same technology. From the candidate side, it's already becoming just background noise. The more automated outreach becomes, the less it separates one recruiter from another. The edge disappears. The industry is splitting. Some recruiters will lean into AI and gradually become interchangeable. The most succesful ones will use exactly the same tools, but double down on the parts machines still can't do. Judgement. Influence. Trust. Timing. Real conversation. Let’s be clear, once everyone has the same tools, the human parts matter more than ever.
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Scott Harrison reposted thisAnyone else risk everything for a new job? I did. And I almost lost it I left Scotland for a new job in Singapore 17 years ago. A company called Brunel hired me as a sales and recruitment manager to build an oil & gas drilling business. It was a huge risk giving up everything in Scotland to come here. I needed to succeed → it had to work out; there was far too much to lose. My task was to call companies, ask for the drilling manager and set up meetings. That's all I needed to achieve success. Positive and smiling I'm all set on my first day, pick up the phone and make my first call. "Good morning! I'm looking to speak with the drilling manager, please." I was expecting a simple, "Yes, no problem, I'll transfer you." I was not expecting → "Say again?" Which is what I got! Then the same happened on almost every call. When I said the word "drilling", people couldn't understand me. My job and life in Singapore depended on meeting with drilling managers. Yet that was the one word that no one could understand. We were speaking the same language. But, my thick Scottish accent made it so challenging to communicate. I would repeat the word 50 different ways. But they would still say, "Huh?" No one could understand me. I worried. My job was to connect with drilling managers. Yet, I couldn't progress, hit my targets, and succeed because of my accent. My business development efforts almost came to a dead stop. Many love the Scottish accent for its beautiful sound. But it can be hard to understand. ↳ "I" and "L" have different vowel sounds. ↳ The "R" sound is shorter, less pronounced and rolls off the tongue. ↳ When we speak, it can be challenging for non-Scots to understand. We have different vowels and lengths and skip over the "T" sound. After speaking with a unique vocabulary and slang my entire life, I found it really hard to change. I realised that if I I wanted to succeed it was up to me to change how I sounded . It wasn't the fault of the people I was calling; this was on me. I'm grateful to my helpful colleagues in Singapore. Who spent endless 'humorous' hours practising with me until I had finally mastered my pronunciation, slowing down and speaking clearly. Eventually people began to understand me! Combining my Scottish accent and clear speech became a positive for me. Once they finally understood me,: ↳ People loved my accent ↳ Enjoyed listening to me speaking ↳ It helped me build relationships and got me many more meetings. It took time and effort, but eventually, I saw the benefits of working on myself. Business was successful, and 14 years later I'm still here in Singapore. This experience made me more empathetic to others who had different accents. Anyone else risk everything for a new job? It would be great to hear your stories!
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Scott Harrison shared thisHiring managers don't trust their own judgement anymore. They haven’t gotten worse at their jobs. It’s because a bad hire feels existential, and every delay compounds the risk of making one. So decisions get slower, more steps get added to the process, more sign offs arise, and obviously nothing moves. TA teams that should be trusted advisors have become traffic controllers. Processing requisitions, managing logistics, keeping things technically moving. The strategic input, the part where someone with real experience says "this candidate, not that one" is MIA. Recruitment agencies are filling the gap, but not in the best way for the business. Instead they're being used as a crutch, a way to outsource the discomfort of the decision. If an agency recommended the hire, the accountability sits somewhere else. That last part is the real issue here. Nobody wants to be the person who made the call that went wrong. So nobody makes the call. It gets spread across enough people and processes that when something does go wrong, it's genuinely hard to say whose decision it was. Don’t for one moment think this is a hiring problem, it’s not. An accountability vacuum is what it is. Accountability vacuums don't fix themselves. They attract people who are comfortable making calls and owning the outcome, senior advisors, fractional CPOs, experienced operators who've seen enough bad hires to know what one looks like before it happens, and who aren't afraid to say so. That's exactly where experienced advisors earn their place. By being the person in the room willing to make the call instead of just adding another layer of process.
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Scott Harrison reposted thisScott Harrison reposted thisSix months ago someone thought I should meet Scott Harrison. I looked him up. He called himself a negotiator. I don't like arguing. Didn't think we had anything in common. I did nothing. Then life put me in a tricky situation. I was frustrated. Couldn't see a way out. I needed someone who thought differently from me. I remembered Scott. Reached out. Half expecting a "who are you?" or a "why should I meet you?" He just said sure. Coffee at 11am. I arrived at 10:57. He was already there. Tattoos covering his arms. Sipping coffee. Talking before I even sat down. I sat. Half listening, half wondering why I came. He talked a lot. Never even asked why I reached out. So I asked him: what are you focusing on now? Then he mentioned recruiting for the oil and gas industry. He wasn't just placing candidates. He knew the operations. The complexity. The business behind the rigs. He goes deep on one thing and knows it inside out. I've done that. Different industry, same obsession. I know what it takes to go that deep. That's when I understood why he calls himself a negotiator. Not because he argues. Because he knows the terrain so well, he can find where everyone wins. I found my respect for him right there. That afternoon I found out he had already told someone about our coffee. He'd snitched. Turned out we had more mutual connections than I expected. A whole world I almost missed. For six months. Because I judged too fast. Nearly closed the door before I even looked through it. How many doors have you been sitting on? #Entrepreneurship
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Scott Harrison liked thisScott Harrison liked thisMany clients have shared this similar concern with me over the years. “Melinda… I don’t think my team feels safe speaking honestly anymore.” Not because people were rude. Not because there was shouting. But because over time: people stopped asking questions, stopped sharing ideas, and started saying, “Anything also can.” That sentence tells you more than most realise. Because when people no longer feel safe: ❌ they stop contributing, ❌ stop challenging, ❌ stop sharing concerns, ❌ and eventually… disconnect emotionally. Psychological safety is about creating an environment where people feel: ✔ respected, ✔ heard, ✔ safe to think, ✔ safe to ask, ✔ and safe to speak honestly without fear of humiliation. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁. 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀. Because people don’t open up just because we tell them to 😅 They open up when they consistently feel safe enough to. And honestly? Many workplaces don’t lack talent. They lack psychological safety. Sharing some phrases here that may help you reconnect better with others 😊 What’s one phrase someone once said that made you feel genuinely safe to speak ... and that you think should be added to this list?
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Scott Harrison liked thisScott Harrison liked this*** The Purchasing ChessBoard *** Clip from the discussion with Joël Collin-Demers 👇 In the Human Libraries of Procurement Podcast we were discussing about Procurement strategies segmentations and the parallels to Maps. The other point that came up was the Purchasing Chessboard which was developed by A.T. Kearney (with all due credits) and how to use the strategies - So like the chessboard 64 is clubbed as 16 and in turn 16 is groped as 4 major strategies being Leverage Completion among Supplier, Spend Management, Demand Management, Seek common Advantage with Supplier. Then depending upon how you want to see the chessboard you can zoom into details of each strategy or take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Joel explains how you can concentrate on different aspects with great example and details. Please watch this 2 min video for more details and if you like then please watch the full podcast the YouTube link mentioned in the comments 👇 Please Support the video by Like... Comment and Subscription ---> Thank You
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Human Resources: Leadership and Strategic Impact
SHRM
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Strategic Human Resources
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ICF PCC HAPPY Coach Training Program
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Mae Tam
The region’s hiring landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by technology, shifting candidate expectations & intense competition for specialized skills. The future of recruitment in Singapore & SEA is fast, digital, skills-focused & candidate-centric. Companies that move quickly, humanize digital processes & authentically support employee well-being & development will win scarce talent across this dynamic, diverse region. The digital imperative accelerates: 📌AI for screening, chatbots for queries & predictive analytics for retention are moving mainstream. While SG leads the adoption, there is a rising uptake across SEA to boost efficiency & reduce bias. 📌Video interviews, online assessments & virtual onboarding expand cross-border talent pools for both Singapore HQs & regional firms. 📌Employers are going above & beyond to focus on demonstrable skills, competencies & potential. Skills verification platforms & project-based assessments are growing. Candidate experience reigns: 📌Talents expect a seamless, respectful & transparent process. Slow processes lose candidates. 📌Companies are streamlining stages & keeping communication clear & consistent. 📌Authentic messaging about culture, purpose, DEI & growth opportunities across digital channels is now essential. Beyond just remote work: 📌Fully remote exists, but most talents in Singapore & major SEA cities expect hybrid arrangements. 📌Flexi hours, compressed weeks & result-oriented culture matters especially to Gen Z. 📌Trust-based management & measuring output, not office time, underpin effective flexible work. The intensifying war for specialized talent are in short supply region-wide: 📌Demand is rising for renewable energy, sustainable finance, carbon accounting & green supply chain experts. 📌Companies are investing in internal L&D, partnering with edtech & leveraging government programs. 📌Hiring for potential & training for specifics is a key strategy. DEI as a business imperative with employers prioritizing diverse hiring & equitable practices to drive innovation & better decisions: 📌Programs to attract, retain & promote women are gaining traction. 📌Progressive firms are adapting processes to tap neurodiverse talent & ensure accessibility. Regional nuances & emerging hubs: 📌Singapore: Regional HQ hub with fierce competition for leaders & niche tech talent. Active global attraction via Tech.Pass & ONE Pass + local upskilling. 📌Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines: Rapid digital growth & strong demand for mid-level tech, digital marketing & e-commerce talent. Salaries rising but often more cost-competitive than Singapore. 📌Thailand, Malaysia: Manufacturing strengths diversifying into tech & services. Growing focus on automation & Industry 4.0 skills. 📌Remote work enables regional access to talent but regulatory, compensation & tax complexity persists. Our team at Peoplebank is well-prepared to support your hiring needs across the region. Reach out for a further discussion!
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Lorenzo Agatiello
The Most Important People Issues in Maritime 2025 – Singapore’s Perspective The maritime industry’s biggest challenges today are not just technical, they’re human. In Singapore, many companies are working hard to attract the next generation of talent, retain experienced leaders, and adapt to rapid advances in AI and technology. These are not HR issues alone; they’re strategic business priorities. Our latest insights highlight how reward, retention, and talent attraction are shaping the future of our sector. It is clear that success in 2025 and beyond will depend on how effectively we lead, develop, and invest in our people. Read the full insight: https://lnkd.in/gVhvHeuf #SingaporeMaritime #FaststreamSingapore #SingaporeMaritimeHiring #Recruitment #FaststreamRecruitmenr
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YokePei Ong
The global talent landscape is evolving. Are your workforce strategies keeping up? 👨💼 The Hays Global Talent Tracker, built in partnership with Oxford Economics, gives you the insights you need to make bold, data-led decisions. - Compare 35 markets including Thailand - Explore 5 strategic pillars - Unlock smarter workforce planning 👉 Get your copy today: https://lnkd.in/exEFW35k #HaysGlobalTalentTracker #HaysThailand #WorkforceStrategy #TalentPlanning #Recruitment
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Joanna Raczynska
Beyond traditional HR responsibilities, chief people officers (CPOs) now play a broader role in shaping business strategy and driving long-term growth. Our colleague Louise Huang shares how CPOs can lead with a people-first mindset, strengthen engagement with the CEO and board, and apply data-driven thinking to drive impact. Read the full article in People Matters: https://lnkd.in/g6YaEVyQ #CPOs #HR #Leadership #Talent
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Kevin Matthews
Economic growth no longer guarantees employment growth. In today’s economic structure, the two are increasingly decoupled. As labour markets cool, we’re witnessing a widening gap between GDP expansion and job creation — driven by automation, AI, and capital efficiency at scale. Here’s the part policymakers understand, but rarely say out loud: We’ve reached an inflection point where capital no longer needs labour in abundance to grow. Productivity gains now come from technology leverage, not headcount. Margins scale faster than workforces. Output increases while hiring stalls. This isn’t a cyclical slowdown. It’s a structural shift. The implication? Employment volatility won’t be an exception — it will be a feature of the next decade. The question isn’t whether this will happen. It’s whether individuals, companies, and governments adapt fast enough to a world where value creation and employment are no longer tightly linked. The next few years won’t just be uncertain. They’ll redefine how work, security, and opportunity actually function. https://lnkd.in/gN5wCftM
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Jeffrey Ng, CA (Singapore)
One clear message I hear from leaders in Singapore: workforce flexibility is now central to business strategy. Contract hiring is no longer seen as a temporary fix. I’ve observed companies use it to: 🔹 Accelerate delivery of transformation projects 🔹 Secure in-demand skills in tech and banking that are near-impossible to hire permanently 🔹 Lower exposure to rising fixed costs while keeping teams resilient 👉 Discover 7 ways contract hiring is helping your business to stay competitive: https://lnkd.in/gY99tsuU 👉 Explore how our solutions can support your workforce strategy: https://lnkd.in/g8xUhnpB #ContractHiring #SingaporeBusiness #MichaelPageContracting #WorkforceStrategy #Banking #FinancialServices #GoAgilewithContractHiring
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Daren Tan
For me, “continuously review and adapt” is the most critical — and most overlooked step. Employee needs don’t stay still. Workforce demographics shift, costs change, and what mattered last year may not matter today. A benefits programme that isn’t reviewed regularly quickly becomes outdated, underutilised, or misaligned with business goals. The strongest benefits strategies treat flexibility as an ongoing process, not a one-off rollout. Measure usage, listen to feedback, adjust deliberately — that’s how benefits stay relevant, cost-effective, and valued by employees.
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Matthew Beath
Headlines vs Reality Are we too distracted to read beyond a headline or even the summary of a survey these days? Yesterday’s news shouted: “Singapore drops to 7th in the global talent ranking.” And right on cue, a series of posts appeared online bemoaning the drop. But the very same “survey” also says: · Singapore ranks #2 globally in overall competitiveness, and #1 across all four pillars: Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency, and Infrastructure. · It ranks #1 worldwide for GDP per capita (PPP) at US$150,689, and #5 for unemployment at 2%. · Singapore is #2 in current account balance (17.5% of GDP) and #1 in inward investment flows (31.6% of GDP). · The “low education spend” metric ignores Singapore’s heavy investment in lifelong learning — SkillsFuture, WSG, NTUC, and mid-career training. · And on international talent, MOM’s framework helps ensure that new entrants are properly qualified and able to contribute quickly. At RMI, we’ve supported over 40,000 Employment Pass education verifications. From our perspective, the system is holding up well - focused on competitiveness, trust, and long-term stability. Hooks are there to drag you in. The details often show a more balanced picture.
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