An increasing number of people are making the decision to work and move abroad. For many of these people one of the big bonuses of doing so would be to reap the benefits of overseas tax systems and thus going a long way to preserving their individual wealth. One of Such place is Singapore. Consider working in Singapore as the country offers everything they could ask for – an efficient and a multicultural work environment, an attractive salary and a low tax regime.
For those working in Singapore, the country offers everything they could ask for – an efficient and a multicultural work environment, an attractive salary and a low tax regime. But it also comes with its share of challenges, the most important being the high cost of living.
Rohit Gandhi, senior vice president for Asia Pacific, India, Middle East and Africa, Tech Mahindra, has been with the company’s office in Singapore for the last nine years. What sets the city apart is its people and the work culture.
“The people of Singapore are well-structured in whatever they do and follow processes. The structured work environment contrasts with the complexity of India,” he says. Gandhi has been based in Singapore primarily from a logistics point of view.
“A flight to Australia takes eight hours, China six hours, Dubai eight hours, but India takes only five hours. It, therefore, becomes easier to manage the entire region out of Singapore. Most regional heads of multinationals who are our partners sit out of Singapore and that helps us in cementing our relationships,” he says.
As a senior executive, Gandhi gets to work in a truly multicultural environment. “We started off as a pure Indian company and over the years have hired local talent. One of our heads in Southeast Asia is from Norway. As global leaders we are managing global teams and it helps. We try and hire local talent and if we are not able to get the skills required by the customers for the project, we are forced to hire from India. We have a staff strength of 500, out of which 50% are Singaporean citizens or permanent residents and the remaining are from different nationalities – Indian, Filipinos and Malaysians,” he says.
But despite the structured life and high standards of professionalism, the biggest challenge in Singapore is the cost of living. “While most people may find their salaries and the tax structure attractive, the cost of living is very high and has gone up over the years,” he adds.
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