Despite efforts to boost the number of locals with skills which are in high demand, the need is still outstripping supply, so companies have to turn to foreigners to fill some of these positions.

Experts said this is especially so in niche technology areas such as fintech, biotech, robotics software engineering or specialised applications of machine learning. Other areas foreigners feature more prominently are in jobs involving a foreign firm's proprietary technology, or senior business leadership in foreign multinational companies.