Think the issue is not just with foreigners. in the government sector where my husband works at (where there are very few PRs/foreigners, mostly Singaporean) the engineers are also leaving in doves. The issue is there is no good transition plan with the retiring, older Singaporean, and young people feel leftout/dejected when they're not learning anything. engineering is a mentoring process. That's why they left for the "easier" financial sector which also pays more.