Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Bringing Employers and Job Seekers updates on Singapore Employment News. Productivity related Tech Toys & Web 2.0 Sites will also be covered. Singapore's 1st freelance / casual / part time / contract job blog. Visit http://www.jorbb.com to join today!
ChannelNewsAsia reports that more than 500 applicants turned up at a food and beverage (F&B) job fair organised by North West CDC on Monday.
Prior to this fair, 17 job seekers underwent a five-day preparation course. The course caters to those who have not completed their "O" levels or are older workers.
The job preparation package, called "GOING F&B - The Service Way", was conducted from June 23 to 27. It was targeted at those whose educational qualification is below "O" levels, but who aspire to join the F&B industry.
Ten employers from the F&B industry took part in North West CDC's job fair. Some of them said they will face an even greater shortage of workers when the upcoming integrated resort opens in Sentosa. But they hope to attract applicants to an industry where there is a flexible career path.
While there were more than 500 applicants at this job fair, not all were hired on the spot. The North West CDC said this is because most of the companies plan to conduct a second round of interviews with the applicants. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group.
DTZ reports at the average office occupancy rate for the second quarter of this year saw a dip of 0.2 percentage point. Office rental prices have also been flat - suggesting that the market is resistant to rising prices.
It said the slide was spurred by tenants seeking cheaper locations when their leases expired.
The report showed that businesses have been looking to alternative locations like business parks, and temporary office locations to tide them over until new office locations open up in 2010. At the moment, business park rentals cost about half, or a third of what can be found in the CBD.
Some companies may find it more cost-effective to stay in these alternative locations, but DTZ believes there will still be demand when the new supply comes on-stream. Source DTZ via Channelnewsasia. Image Source via Channelnewsasia. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group.
ZDNet Asia conducted a survey on the Internet between late-2007 and early-2008, to gain insights into Asia’s IT workforce and salary trends.
The best-paying IT jobs are in Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and Thailand.
Here are the findings for Singapore (US$).
IT Management $71,457 Project Management $46,344 Systems Development $35,245 Communication $39,884 Support $32,214 Image Source ZDNetAsia Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group.
During the remaining Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) period from 2008-2010, there will be a total of 625,000 new jobs for professionals, non-skilled and skilled workers. The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department said that they are expecting a high demand for knowledge workers in the coming years. The demand will then be met by improving the quality of education, training, as well as expansion of employment in the business sector.
The plan also include the revision of the wage method, improvements in facilities, and providing better benefits for the local talents. The government will also assess and evaluate existing labor laws and strategies associated with employment.
The contribution of women in the working society will also be increased to 50 percent in 2010 from 46.1 percent in 2007, said EPU.
The good news is, the joblessness rate dropped from 3.5 percent in 2005 to 3.2 percent in 2007 and employment in the country and abroad continues to rise.
ChannelNewsAsia reports that total wages - basic wages plus bonuses - of private sector employees rose by a seven-year high of 5.9 per cent in 2007, higher than the increase of 4.5 per cent the year before.
MOM's report can be found at this link. The 210-page Report provides information on salaries of over 300 occupations as well as wage changes and bonuses paid in various industries. It also includes information on the extent to which employers have restructured their wage systems.
The MasterCard Worldwide Consumer Confidence Index statistically measures consumer confidence towards the economy, income, stock market, quality of life as well as employment in Asia Pacific. The scaling system is 0 as most pessimistic, 50 neutral and 100 as most optimistic. This is done twice yearly in 13 Asia Pacific Markets.
In the survey, MasterCard found out that optimists in APAC region as a whole, dropped from 69.3 percent in the last quarter of 2007 to 56 percent in the second quarter of 2008. Notable regions are South Korea, Philippines and Thailand with an index score of 23.7 being the most pessimistic.
Primary reason why consumers are greatly affected is because of the unstable financial markets, surging food prices, and credit crunch globally.
Singapore, on the other hand, has the most optimistic attitude for the next six months with an index score of 87.3, followed by HongKong, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan.
In Singapore, MBA's are highly desired by working managers. With the development of a global economy, many students are seeking out programmes that offer international study. The UK Financial Times reports that one example of this newer style of MBA is the EMBA, a joint venture between Columbia Business School in New York and London Business School. Hong Kong University Business School will now be included in the EMBA as part of the EMBA Global Asia programme.
This new program will feature courses taught from all three locations, offering a new global perspective. Additionally, students will actually study in all three locations, as well as central Shanghai, China. However, many business schools have found that working with China to set up joint programmes has been extremely difficult and have pulled out.
Other similar EMBA educational programmes include a new teaming of Esade, Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and McDonough School of Business, a US-Spanish joint project.
Straits Times today reported that CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) report said the impact of the United States sub-prime crisis, rising inflation in Singapore and more modest economic growth have dampened the office sector and slowed rent rises.
Rents of top office buildings rose 9.6 per cent in the first half compared with 96.5 per cent in the whole of last year. Such Grade A rents averaged $18.80 psf a month in the second quarter, up from $18.65 in the first period. The vacancy of Grade A space - now 0.6 per cent - will remain tight as no new top-grade office developments will be completed before the second half of next year.
While office rents may have peaked, they will probably stay at the current levels for the next 12 months given tight supply. And the search for lower-cost space continues. There is heightened interest for upcoming space in the Alexandra and Harbourfront areas.
There will be about 10.2 million sq ft of new space coming on stream between now and 2012, with the bulk likely to be ready in 2010 to 2011, said CBRE. About 63 per cent of this will be in Grade A properties in the core downtown area.
Still, the supply should be viewed in context with the strong take-up rate, said CBRE. About 22 per cent of known supply from now to 2012 has already been pre-committed.
Business Times reported today that total investment sales of Singapore real estate, a gauge of developers' and investors' medium- to long-term confidence in the property sector, have dipped to $3.7 billion so far this quarter (up to June 20), or 58 per cent lower than the Q1 2008 figure of $8.9 billion, according to figures compiled by CB Richard Ellis.
"We'll continue to see the sale of office, retail and industrial income-producing assets and possibly hotels during second-half 2008 but the volume will be lower (than the first half) because of a price mismatch between sellers and buyers."
With tighter bank financing these days, smaller office blocks and industrial or business park buildings costing $20-200 million each are in greater demand among funds. Industrial property is also more in favour now because it offers higher yields than offices and is a better match for these funds' lower risk appetite in the current climate.
Ever had to look after a grandparent; Do you have an elderly person as home? A new course in training older workers on how to care for the elderly has been launched.
The Eldercare Training Programme is certified by the Workforce Development Agency under the Community and Social Services Workforce Skills Qualifications Programme.
The 35-day course will focus on hands-on experience. Participants will also be attached to an old aged home.
Those who are interested can call Hua Mei Training Academy at 6471-7740 or send an email to hmta@tsaofoundation.org.
Thanks for all the emails, requesting information on what Jorbb.com will be all about.
At the moment, we are finalising some bugs on the site and hope to launch mid July.
In the mean time, we have opened our landing page and would like you to submit your emails so that we can inform you when we have launched. We will be giving away 5 iPod Shuffles.
On launch day, we will be also giving some prizes away for those who sign up on that day so stay tuned (hint - it'll be small, shiny, portable and so so useful).
Oh, we are also testing Zopim on our landing page, so don't be surprised if Jorbb sends you a chat request!
Julian Low from Zopim kindly granted us a beta test account. "Zopim is a company incubating under Garag3 from NUS that helps improve your visitors' experience on your website. Their product enables your visitors and clients to stay in touch with you through your website, using the most convenient form of communication, instant messages." - SgEntrepreneurs
Article from Straits Times highlighted that employers worry about brain drain.
One in five (22 per cent) of Singapore employers polled as part of a global survey is concerned about Singaporean talent leaving to work abroad, at a time when many vacancies need to be filled and talent is in short supply.
Within the Asia Pacific, employers in Taiwan were most concerned (64 per cent), while employers in China were least concerned (8 per cent).
The survey of 28,000 employers in 27 countries - done by United States-based employment services agency Manpower - found on average 31 per cent of employers worried about losing local talent to other countries.
Most worried were employers in Peru, Argentina and South Africa, with more than two in three concerned about talent outflow.
Employers in Switzerland and Japan were among the least concerned (12 per cent).
Of the 563 employers surveyed here, those in finance, manufacturing and transportation and utilities were most concerned (32 to 33 per cent), while those in public administration and education were least concerned (6 per cent).
A local blogger has started an online survey using Google Docs Forms function, to gather Singapore ISPsubscribers.
Jorbb recently cancelled a 3 year long broadband account and moved to another ISP. Although the advertised speed was the same, the actual surfing (browsing / download / youtubing) experience was a huge improvement, at a lower price (promotion).
It will be interesting to see the results of this survey so submit your speed test results at the jump.
An Australian-based social networking site for business owners and professionals has just been launched.
"Our aim is empower businesses, employees and self-employed to reach their full potential through a business network which is Australian based", said Michael Brecht, the founder, "whether you are looking for a job, an investment opportunity, a business partner or a new employee."
ZaaBiz is free to sign up, but they also have a membership scheme. TechNation Australia has a summary of features:
- Skype Integration - can show Skype status in your profile
- Shows connections from many degrees away (LinkedIn limits to 3 degrees by default)
- You list your "Haves" and "Wants" in your profile - could a matching engine be added for connecting businesses in a barter-like ecosystem?
- Business Groups (like Facebook / LinkedIn) - where like-minded members can connect and create and post to forums. Michael noted a lot of offline/online activity happening in the Groups.
"The focus on business owners and developing presence where LinkedIn and Xing haven't yet developed strong footprints is great. Could they become one of the "big three" professional social networks? LinkedIn - North America, Xing - Europe, ZaaBiz - Asia? With Xing and LinkedIn battling each other head-to-head, they may just have a shot.
Who wouldn’t want to trade their job for bigger and more stable salary? If you just recently graduated with flying colors and found out that there are more opportunities abroad, would you go? If your answer is yes, then you belong to the high percentage of people around the world that would want to leave their present jobs according to survey done by Manpower Inc.
Survey of 31,000 respondents says that 78 percent are willing to move, and 41 percent are willing to be move permanently in. That simply means more than a half of the people participated in the survey wanted to trade their present jobs for a work in any part of the world. A lot of these workers wanted to be relocated in the United States which is their primary choice, followed by United Kingdom, Spain, Australia and Canada. Career advancement plus higher pays are common reasons why they would want to relocate.
There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages though for both employers and employees. Since recruiting people is very easy for employers, they could care less for those people who are servicing them for decades. They should find ways on how to keep their good employees in order to get better workers for them. For employees on the fence, they need to assess first what career path they want. So it could lessen hopping around from one company to another.
TodayOnline reports that, despite last year's record addition of 235,000 new jobs in Singapore, growing international economic concerns are causing some workers to not see the benefits of employment growth. Unemployment rates and downsizing are starting to rise slightly in July and many are finding that their applications and salaries are being impacted.
Inflation is affecting the actual pay of many, especially those who haven't seen a pay increase in a year or more, and others are finding that they are applying for many positions-with no positive results.
Corporations are being more cautious about adding staff, taking a "wait and see" approach to the economy and taking more time in making their hiring choices.
From today, Jorbb will bring you real estate news related to office properties (rental / buying & selling).
We feel that covering this topic may be helpful for start-ups / entrepreneurs looking to rent / buy their own office and investors looking to sell in this bullish market.
Pacific Star recently reported that for the office sector in Singapore, the current demand-supply imbalance is expected to support rents till 2009. Office demand is still firm with leasing agents lamenting the lack of available space rather than a lack of enquiries, although the number of enquiries would have fallen somewhat.’
But an above-normal supply of office space will put pressure on rents from 2010, even if growing demand from the services sector prevents any excessive correction, it said.
Isn’t it stressful to see mountain of dirty laundry, overflowing trash in the garbage can, and piles of dirt? How about seeing it after your frustrating 9-5 job?
Worry no more.. Part-time maids are here! Companies that provide part-time maids for about $15 an hour, is one of the many blooming business in Singapore today. They do the laundry, clean your house, wash the dishes, even take care of your pets—just like what live-in maids normally do but without the hassle of accompanying them in your home and sacrificing your privacy.
Part-time maids are perfect for professionals, even if your single or newlyweds, they’re a must in every household nowadays. It is like servicing your house without the high cost. Just give the spare key to the maid, or let them arrive before you go out, leave some money in the table, and they will do the rest.
And since more and more are turning to get this help, not all company can service the demand of their customers. But of course, to those who would like to get their house serviced by part-timers, they need to be sure that the company is legitimate, and their maids are honest, sincere and reliable.
The mid-year Labor Force Survey is being conducted from May 23 to July 31, 2008 on 33,000 households by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Primary intention of this survey is to tally information about employment, joblessness, and other important data to help the population on how to plan, and get their desired jobs with the government on their side.
There are ways on how to take part in this survey; first is to wait for the interviewers visit you, or they will call you to conduct interview via telephone. Please take note that the interviewers have their Identification card being issued by the Ministry of Manpower. For those who have Internet access at home they can just access and submit their completed survey forms via the Internet Household Survey System (iHSS) for more secure and suitable way in participating. The people that will take part on this need not to worry since this survey are under the Statistics Act (Chapter 317).
All the information gathered is strictly confidential and solely used for statistics only. If you have doubts regarding the person interviewing you, or any question that arises, you can directly call MOM at (65)64385122 or visit their website at mom.gov.sg. Image Source Dreamstime.com.
Singapore employers must start filing employee tax information electronically or risk fines. This applies to companies with 100 employees or more who will no longer submit paper forms to employees, but will send it directly to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore via its Auto-Inclusion Scheme.
This allows the government to pre-print all of the necessary information onto the taxpayers' forms, making it easier for them and preventing entry errors (thus saving taxpayer dollars). This new compulsory filing will benefit up to 850,000 employees and will be required for tax year 2009.
Following the report that retail sales rose over 11 per cent from February to March 2008, the Singapore Retailers Association is reporting that the outlook in sales is favorable through the end of the year.
ChannelNewsAsia reports that, despite the strong outlook, retail consultants are reminding retailers to offer diverse ways to lure shoppers in: one size does not fit all.
Cutting prices is only one way. Knowing your markets and offering great customer service are equally important.
Retailers are more concerned about improving customer service than any economic downturn, according to Retail Asia Online. They report that "the Customer-Centric Store, a survey conducted by RSR (Retail Systems Research), has identified “the need to improve customer service while keeping down costs” as the number one concern of industry players, with 56% of the respondents finding this a challenge." Image Source GreatSingaporeSale. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook.
The Ministry of Manpower is introducing new ways to prevent Singapore firms from receiving additional payment for employing foreign workers. The new Work Permit and S Pass hope to help end profiteering of employing foreign workers and to recover some of the government costs when employers do so.
Starting July 14, 2008 it will be an offense to receive any form of payment (including non-monetary "gifts") from Work Permit holders or agencies when employing someone from outside Singapore. The fine is up to S$5000 and/or six months in jail and they will no longer be allowed to employ foreign workers in the future. Additionally agencies will be prohibited from offering these payments or their licenses can be revoked. Foreign workers can find more information here. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook.
Hiring a tuition teacher in Singapore is becoming standard practice and seen by many parents and students as a necessity to excel in their studies. The Sunday Times reports that, of 100 students polled, 97 receive tutoring, either at a centre or privately. Many students have a variety of tutors for various subjects, especially Math and English, spending an average of two hours on these subjects. Trends show that tutoring isn't just for students who are struggling or for older students. Strong students seek out tuition training to give them a competitve edge and students are receiving tutoring when they are younger.
Many parents are referring to this as "tuition syndrome" and some students are enrolled at more than one centre like Gradtutors, which reports that parents are spending 10-15 per cent more for tutoring on top of educational fees. Gradtutors states that advantages include one-on-one attention versus large classrooms, flexible times and that tutors have the time to inspire students that traditional educators don't.
Some tuition teachers who are extremely in demand are making as much as S$20,000 per month but have 80-90 students and may employ other tutors as part of this income. They also write study guides, educational articles and operate Web sites on their subject. Image Source Gradtutors.com Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook.
PCWorld reports that a survey conducted by Cyber-Ark reveals that nearly half of IT workers have admitted to snooping around networks to look at confidential information.
"It's easy -- all you need is access to the right passwords or privileged accounts and you're privy to everything that's going on within your company," said Mark Fullbrook, U.K. director of Cyber-Ark.
1. Notify the recipient of trade secrets, preferably in writing, that the information is proprietary and that the information is not to be disclosed or used by the recipient for the recipient's benefit or the benefit of others without the express consent of the trade secret owner.
2. Enter confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with employees and third-parties.
3. Establish and maintain written confidentiality policies to be distributed to all employees.
4. Establish and maintain oversight policies and procedures to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of trade secrets in written publications, seminars, speaking engagements, or at trade shows, by employees.
5. Institute overall plant physical security precautions, such as fencing the perimeter of the Company premises, limiting the number of entrances and exists, using alarmed or self-locking doors, hiring after-hours security personnel.
6. Install visitor control systems.
7. Maintain access to trade secrets on a "need-to know" basis only.
8. Establish secretly coded ingredients or data.
9. Separate departments of the Company.
10. Separate components of a trade secret between or among departments and/or company personnel so that each has only "a piece of the puzzle."
11. Keep drawers or areas for secret documents and drawings separated and locked.
12. Stamp documents and drawings "CONFIDENTIAL" or "PROPRIETARY."
13. Enter vendor secrecy agreements.
14. Establish physical barriers to prevent unauthorized viewing of proprietary process technology.
15. Install "KEEP OUT" or "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" signs at the access points to sensitive areas of the plant, and have a policy of enforcement.
16. Establish and maintain written rules and regulations prohibiting employees from remaining in the plant after hours without express permission from properly authorized personnel.
17. Establish and maintain rules and regulations requiring employees to stay in controlled areas about their work stations.
18. Require employees to wear identification badges or carry identification cards.
19. Require sign out/sign in procedures for access to and return of sensitive materials.
20. Reproduce only a limited number of sensitive documents and maintain procedures for collecting all copies after use.
21. Require authorized codes or passwords for access to copying machines and computers. Use key and encrypted computer data access to control theft of secret computer-stored information.
22. Establish and maintain policies and procedures for destruction of documents (shredders).
23. Establish and maintain a policy and practice for advising company employees, on a regular basis, regarding the Company's trade secrets and confidential business information.
24. Hold "exit interviews" to obtain return of company documents and to remind ex-employees of their obligation not to use confidential information of the Company for their own benefit or the benefit of others.
Channelnewsasia report today that only 6% of unionised companies have given the one-off special bonus as recommended by the tripartite National Wages Council.
"NTUC Secretary General, Lim Swee Say explained that not every company is having wage negotiations at this time.
For now some 40,000 workers from the 60 unionised companies will be benefiting from the special payout."
You can find the official press release at NTUC's website. The Public Service Division's press release can be found here, reports that Singapore's economy grew by 6.7% in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 5.4% in the last quarter of 2007. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced that the Singapore economy is expected to grow by 4 to 6% in 2008.
If you (and your friends, family and colleagues) are all over the Internet on social networking sites like Facebook and twitter, photo sites like flickr or SmugMug, music sites like LastFM, or they blog on Blogger, or have their favorite books listed on GoodReads...how the heck do you keep up with them?
Enter FriendFeed: nearly a perfect solution. In 5 easy minutes you can register, link all of your own stuff together (the above PLUS Amazon.com wish lists, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, digg, LibraryThing, Linkedin, YouTube and much more) and invite friends from Facebook and your email accounts. Now, when someone signs in to your profile on FriendFeed they see all of your updates on one page: new photos, new songs, new twitter posts. It's fantastic!
There's a lot of muscle behind FriendFeed: folks who helped develop Google Maps and Gmail. Co-founder Bret Taylor, in an interview on Fast Company magazine's site, says they developed FriendFeed to be something other than a social networking site. "We come at it from the approach of solving an information problem, as opposed to creating a social network and solving people’s social problems." And, they seem to have succeeded.
If you've longed for a way to combine your friends' social sites into one easy to read, entertaining feed, it appears you've found it.
It's faster, safer and comes with more than 15,000 improvements. Create history by downloading Firefox 3 today and help break the record for the most downloaded software in one day. At time of posting, 2.6 million people have downloaded already.
The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their Employees, Retain Talent, and Drive Performance is authors' Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton's exploration of employee motivation, primarily in the form of praise and rewards. The book is based on an expansive study by the Jackson Organization of 200,000 people over the course of ten years in various companies and what the outcome of certain incentive programs were over time.
There is a lot of business discussion about productivity and employee engagement. Most studies show that money is not the primary element in workplace satisfaction. In fact, the study cited in The Carrot Principle indicates that nearly 95% of employees who report being happiest say their managers are great at recognizing them.
Effective managers must have established themselves in four key areas for employees to trust and want their recognition: goal setting, communication, trust and accountability. If a manager has these four qualities, some of the recognitions that are effective include
"day-to-day recognitions"-the authors say not to underestimate the small but frequent gesture: a handwritten note or even email, a visit to the employee to say thanks or very small gifts
"above and beyond recognitions" - these are for more significant successes and should be personalized and presented in front of co-workers
"career recognition" - these are based more on longevity and an acknowledgment of the employee's loyalty to the company, say every two - five years
"celebration events" - on-site or off-site corporate events to celebrate employee and company success are additional ways to build employee esteem
It's important to be a manager who motivates through altruism vs. intimidation. To be a respected leader, you must genuinely care about your team. Rewards do not have to be expensive and the one least used (day to day recognition) is the one that is least expensive-or free.26 Amazon reviewers give The Carrot Principle more than 4 out of 5 stars and say that it "opened my mind up to some big ideas" and that it "should be required reading for ALL managers".
Todayonline.com reports that that outlook for executive positions, particularly in the service and education sectors, is strong. This is good news in the midst of some small dips in the employment outlook. Fewer employers are expecting to add employees and alightly more are looking to reduce their staff.
More good news is in the finance sector where a survey by Robert Half International shows that 40 per cent of 300 companies are expecting to add to their financial teams. Overall, the job market remains strong in Singapore and no major slow downs are anticipated.
Living the 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More by Richard Koch was published in 2005 following the success of The 80/20 Principle in 1999. The 80/20 principle is based on an economic theory by Vilfredo Pareto which states, essentially that 20 per cent of action (stuff) produces 80 per cent of results. The flip side is that 80 per cent of what we work on or do doesn't result in much. However, this is a serious simplification and Koch helps readers understand how to use this rule to improve their lives in his more simple follow-up.
In Living the 80/20 way, Koch helps us "cut the fat" and define the efforts that are yielding the results so we can focus our energies there. This takes continual reexamination of you, your relationships (to people, to work), your life. Some of the questions to ask are "what am I passionate about and, of those things, what comes easiest to me?", "who do I want to be?", "what things am I doing that I struggle with or don't bring me joy?".
Koch rightfully insists that you cannot just think about your 80/20 plan, you must continually review and revise it, carry it with you, asking continually "Can I find easier, more pleasant, richer ways to achieve my goals?". Once you start identifying some of these things, the author encourages you to slow down and enjoy your "happiness islands", those areas that you really enjoy, and to start expanding them so you are spending more and more time on them.
Twenty Amazon.com reviewers give the book 4+ out of 5. Reviews include "the material in this book can be much more valuable than an MBA", "practical and easy to implement", "finally a book that offers solutions that are achievable and take pressure off."
Dice Holdings, which operates the largest technical recruiting site on the Internet, surveyed 1500 technology workers and more than a third said they'd take a ten per cent pay cut if allowed to work from home and not commute. A greater per cent chose the pay cut than those that refused a pay cut altogether.
The results substanstiate a similar study from 2002 by the Winston Group where workers would ask if they would forego a pay raise to work from home. One third said they would. But, as importantly, 54% felt their quality of life would improve significantly and was even higher for those that commute an hour or more daily. They also felt it would improve their relationships. Additionally, Marketing and Communications Strategies called telecommuting a trend to watch in 2004.
If you are interested in telecommuting, Telecommute Connecticut! from the US has a great site with questions to ask yourself when considering switching from working at the office site to home. These include "do you have the right job?", "do you have a good performance record?" and "do you have the right manager and organizational culture?".
RTT News is reporting that S'pore's jobless rate rose 2% in the first quarter of 2008over the previous quarter, primarily due to international economical uncertainty. The good news is that, overall, S'pore's employment increased on a yearly basis due to economic growth in the past twelve months.
Manufacturing saw the largest layoffs followed by the service sector. Again, however, overall employment is on the rise in Singapore, from 62,500 to 73,200 employed persons from the previous quarter. The unemployment rate in the first quarter was 2% compared to 2.8% the previous year.
Strong areas of employment continue to be service, construction and manufacturing. Wages rose (adjusted for inflation) 3.6% in the first quarter.
Freelance Switch has a great article on protecting yourself on projects here. They point out 8 key areas you should be sure to cover in your service agreement before starting a project, particularly with a new client.
*Billing structure: what is your rate? how do you bill (by hour or project?)
*Late payment: Determine/state your grace period (usually 30 days) and late fees
*Interim charge caps: Put a cap on how much debt a client can carry before you stop working (for example, with a $500 cap, the client has to pay something to bring it below $500 before you continue with the project). Especially important for large projects.
*Scheduling: Are you on call 24/7 or Monday-Friday 8am-5pm? Can clients call you after hours in an emergency? Do you work weekends or holidays?
*Spec work: Working on speculation is essentially doing free work so that a client can judge your services and determine if they want to continue. Gary Horsman of Freelance Switch recommends NOT taking spec work and spelling that out in the service agreement.
*Termination of services by client: If your work is refused or your services rejected after you've already done part of the project work, state in your service agreement that work not paid for cannot be used in whole or part.
*Ownership rights: Establish who owns the work: you or the client. If you want to retain the work for use in a portfolio, state that in the agreement.
*Unforeseen or sudden termination of a project: If you are unable to continue due to illness, accident or for another reason, clients deserve protection. The best thing to do is have an agreement with a backup (or two).
By being clear and upfront, you establish yourself as a professional and prevent unnecessary miscommunication that could hamper your reputation.
Stephen Covey stands as one of the industry leaders in personal and professional development training. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was published in 1990 and has since sold more than 10 million copies. The 8th Habit (From Effectiveness to Greatness) is the follow up, published in 2006, meant to acknowledge and explore how the 7 Habits have been affected by the advent of the Internet.
The 8th Habit is "find your voice and inspire others to find theirs", a mantra repeated in many current business books (Marcus Buckingham's Now Discover Your Strengths and Tim Sanders' Love is the Killer App). Covey believes management is still operating under old Industrial Age thinking instead of moving into the Knowledge age. Employees are treated more as objects than people and for organizations to excel, they have to move towards seeing their employees holistically.
Covey believes that most extraordinarily accomplished people have four traits: vision, discipline, passion and moral conscience and that the best way to find your own "voice" is to help someone else find theirs. Most of the book is spent in discussing how you can help others find their own voices and how you can keep people engaged at work.
Amazon readers give the book 3.5 stars out of 5 with most negative reviews pointing towards the writing and not the message. The book can be a bit "business-y", loaded with jargon and at times hard to understand. However, the message is still relevant.
Compliments of Mahalo.com, we have Steve Jobs' keynote on the upcoming iPhone 3G in 60 seconds. Why go through the 107 mins version when you can get all the highlights in a minute.
Quoted from their website - "Mahalo is a human-powered search engine that creates organized, comprehensive, and spam free search results for the most popular search terms. Our search results only include great links."
Singapore jumped 17 places to land at number 13 of the most expensive places for expatriates to live in Asia! Tokyo is currently the most expensive city according to the survey conducted by consultancy firm ECA International. However, Singapore continues to attract many foreign-nationals for a variety of reasons. It is safe, clean, cultured and English speaking. Some refer to it as Asia-lite because you don't have to struggle with the language barrier found in most of Asia.
The site ExpatSingapore provides a great deal of information including documentation, how to manage moving with pets, your car, your appliances, housing, work for a spouse and more. The site points out that 85% of Singaporeans live in public housing (which they own, unlike public housing in other countries). For expatriates, renting one of the public housing flats is that they are less expensive and were designed to be close to services like public transportation and shopping. Renting an apartment or home can range from $1500 for a HBD flat to $30,000 for a fully-furnished bungalow.
Amid discussion and concerns over how the European Union's labor rules would affect British employees, the UK has mainted the right to opt out of the EU's mandatory 48 hour work week limit. People in the UK work the longest hours in Europe and, though there is a 48 hour per week cap, they are allowed to "opt out" of this protection, which a large number do out of pressure or hope for career gains. Employers are not forced to adhere to the Working Time Regulations, which have made little difference in the number of hours UK employees routinely put in.
Despite this disappointment for UK workers, John Hutton, the Business Secretary for the EU, stated "I believe the agreements we have reached provide the right way forward for Europe. They deal fairly with the long-standing concern of many member states, including the UK, and they represent the best obtainable balance between the need for fair treatment for employees and flexibilities for employees.”
The Trades Union Congress says that the new EU ruling is better for temporary workers and an improvement for all permanent UK employees. Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary says 'While we are disappointed that the UK opt-out on the 48 hour working week remains, there has been real progress on other working time issues." Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
Recruiters love social network sites and so do candidates. A recent article on Fast Company magazine's Web site indicates it may be a way for employees to build a safety net for tough economic times and National Public Radio's site quotes recruiter Maureen Crawford-Hentz as saying "Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting -- ever."
Of course, there is reason for concern when mixing your professional and personal life. Singapore Today ran an article titled The Boss Wants to be Your Online Buddy, which begs the question...should you let her? Things as innocent as your screen name can raise an eyebrow when seen by recruiters or upper management where you work. Dr. Jennifer Jarman, assistant professor of Sociology, National University of Singapore, warns "if people put information about themselves up on social networking sites, then they can expect all manner of people to look at it, so they should consider carefully what they reveal before they publish."
Regardless, recruiting for niche jobs is easier when working with sites like LinkedIn which has 20 million users or Facebook. By entering keywords you can find members who perhaps work or have worked in the field you are recruiting for. This helps recruiters find the "passive candidate", those potential employees who are not actively looking for a new position. Non-traditional sourcing techniques are becoming commonplace, according to John Challenger, the CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. in Chicago.
Candidates get the opportunity to expand their network for future opportunities by getting in touch with "a friend of a friend" or requesting online introductions. In addition, you can join online communities based around your career field (OpenReq for recruiters is one on LinkedIn) or personal interests. This allows you to build your personal brand online, making you more memorable when a recruiter has a need. Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
Google "how to look busy at work" (without really working) and the number and variety of hits will surprise you, or maybe not. It's no secret to a lot of corporate employees that they really don't have enough to keep them truly busy and engaged during the work day.
Visit the site Read At Work, you'll find a faux Microsoft desktop and books, short stories, articles, presented in PowerPoint presentations so you can read on the job. Funny? Funnier still is that it's presented by the New Zealand Book Council, not some work hack who is spreading the word to other slackers.
Parkinson's Law states that the "work expands to fill the time available for its completion", meaning that if you have a project and you are given five days to complete it, it will take those five days. But if you are given only 24 hours, you will likely get it done in that time frame. Thus, we probably are working at our cubicle jobs, but not as effectively as possible.
In step Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, HR consultants and the authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it. Former Best Buy consultants, they've developed an organizational style called ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) which is used successfully at Best Buy's corporate offices. Cali and Jody contend that the workplace is broken, that we are wasting much of our time (and, thus, our lives) sitting in an office place for a predetermined 8+ hours daily.
Instead they propose, like Daniel H. Pink (Free Agent Nation), that you don't owe your employer your time, you owe them results. At Best Buy, ROWE employees have no fixed schedules, are only in the office when they have to be or want to be and are reviewed based on work results and not how busy they look or late they stay. Essentially, you are a corporate "free-agent" with full benefits and predictable pay.
Best Buy reports that productivity has risen approximately 35 per cent and voluntary turnover has dropped by as much as 90 per cent in certain divisions. They are poised to try ROWE at the retail level next. In a recent teleseminar, Cali and Jody acknowledge that this is Phase 1 of ROWE and Phase 2 will investigate how ALL workers including front-desk receptionists, human resources generalists and other direct service positions can benefit from ROWE. In the meantime, the concept has taken the business world by storm.
With fuel costs prodding businesses to consider more work place flexibility, this could be a prime moment for ROWE type thinking to infiltrate the old school way of thinking about work. Jody Thompson sums it up this way: "Basically, we're rewiring people's brains, getting rid of an old belief system from the 1950s that is no longer relevant to the technologically advanced business world we have now. We want people to stop thinking of work as someplace you go to, five days a week from 8 to 5, and start thinking of work as something you do."
While the US and other major economic centres report hiring downturns, the Manpower Employment Outlook survey reports that Singapore and India continue to have some of the strongest job markets, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. India ranks number one globally this quarter in terms of hiring outlook this year with an increase of 45 per cent, with Singapore following at number two. Unemployment remains low in Singapore at 2 per cent.
After the news that subscribers could switch carriers but retain their existing phone numbers, Singapore telcos are attempting to lure subscribers by offering new packages and, for SingTel, the iPhone. StarHub, MobileOne and SingTel are all presenting new plans including all-for-one services, roaming flat rates, unlimited same service calls and music jukeboxes.
Customers who choose their carriers based on price will find that there isn't much difference. Customers are more likely to switch based on their customer service experience or the coverage than special promotions and packages. Of all the packages, analysts say all-in-one packaging of various media including pay-TV, fixed line, mobile and Internet could prove the most popular of the new packages.
MasterCard Worldwide Research released its 2008 report (PDF file), ranking Singapore as the second centre of commerce in Asia and fourth in the world. Singapore bypassed Hong Kong which moved to sixth this year. MasterCard's research is designed to provide information on how leading cities influence the global economy.
London remains in first place and the report indicates that Europe and Asia are the strongest areas now, and for the future. Singapore ranks high due to factors like political stability and ease of doing business. S'pore business analysts warn that, despite its strong showing, it cannot rest on its laurels because other Asian cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong are all very close on the list.
Some of the key findings of the report are that Asian countries occupy 8 of the 25 top spots and that Shanghai leapt eight places into the top 25 as well. Outside of Asia, Madrid rose to the top five in Europe and Amsterdam gained momentum as a key city centre of commerce.
Singapore Minister of Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, says that, though there will be some economic discomfort, he does not believe Singapore is headed for a recession. As it is for most countries, fuel costs are spurring speculation that the S'pore economy may take a downturn, a fact that Shanmugaratnam doesn't deny "Unfortunately, the fuel price increase in Malaysia does mean that vegetable, poultry and some other prices will go up. We can't avoid that." He points out that rice prices are falling across the world.
He adds that government initiatives like Growth Dividends, GST credits, and community action plans are helping the country avoid a full-blown recession. Shanmugaratnam spoke at the Entrepreneur-in-You carnival at Republic Polytechnic that 7000 would-be entrepreneurs attended.
In the introduction to Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business can Become a Leader of the Pack, author Donna Fenn (Inc. magazine) recounts her first time meeting entrepreneur Chris Zane in 1995. Zane owned a bike shop, Fenn was not excited about the interview. But what she found was, despite the size of the business and Zane's age (30), he had an instinct for great business development: "stellar customer service, one-to-one marketing, continuous learning, employee development, and cause-related marketing".
Zane now has 65% of his market share, 4 competitors vs. the 16 he started with, and $6.1 million in sales. Zane is just one example of many in this realistic read of the successful small business experience.
Focusing on very small, mostly unknown businesses that serve niche markets and utilize creative, passionate marketing strategies, the book succeeds in inspiring and providing a road map for both those with a new idea and the CEO of well established companies. One Amazon reader says it will "energize your entrepreneurial spirit" and 29 reviewers give it 5 out of 5 stars.
In 2007's The Dip, Godin challenges the notion of "winners never quit" by saying it is untrue, they are just more selective about what they do quit, making sure it is things that are detracting from their success. He advocates pursuing your one main goal versus being distracted by side projects. "The dip" is that point of giving up, when you realize how much energy must be invested to master your craft, your skill, your niche. Godin says most people don't push past this point-due to lack of funds, time, people. It's what makes the difference between success and failure...pushing past the dip.
To avoid this point in your journey, Godin insists you have to be clear on your goals from the start and have a way to measure success and progress, no matter how small. Defining that end goal requires examining the payoff of many options. What's your payoff? More time, more money, more fame. Define which goals will provide which payoffs and continue to measure your progress, says Godin in this slim book of less than 100 pages. Amazon readers say things like: "this was exactly what I needed to hear", "this is one of the best quick to read business books ever!", "definitely worth it if you have fallen from the path...". Many readers suggest reading it through, putting it away and reading it again. The message is simple but doesn't always stick easily. 111Amazon readers give The Dip 4 out of 5 stars.
Channel NewsAsia, Yahoo News, the blog The OilDrum, The Christian Science Monitor and more are all reporting that United States employers, both public and private, are considering offering more flexible scheduling, including 4 day work weeks and/or telecommuting to help employees defray increased fuel expenses. Each week, sometimes almost daily, US news agencies report gas prices at new record highs, straining the US (and world) economy.
Employee pressure is cited as the number one reason employers are reconsidering the long tradition of a Monday-Friday, 8 hour work week. When Ohio's Kent State University offered their custodial staff of 94 employees the option to reduce their work week, 78 accepted. In Birmingham, Alabama, the schedule is being offered to 2400 public employees and estimates are it could save 500,000 to one million US dollars annually for employees.
The US Society for Human Resources Management found that 26% of private businesses polled were offering a flexible schedule to help employees with increased fuel expenses. The reduced work week can benefit the businesses as well as employees when they are able to shut down for one extra business day per week, reducing air conditioning and other utility expenses. Gas prices are up 30 per cent in the US this year which hit a record $4 per gallon this weekend.
8GB iPhone started at $599, went to $399, and now is going to sell at $199. (Steve makes a BOOM sound not with his mouth, but with the video). The 8GB model is going to be $199, 16GB will be $299. There’s also going to be a white model.
In my own opinion, this is a great move. Sell the iPhones cheap so that more people (56% said cost was a factor in not buying) can buy (sold 6 million sets so far in 7 countries officially- to reach 70 countries this year), and rake in profits from iTunes and Apps Store.
On the productivity front - MobileMe at Me.com will be "Exchange" for the rest of us. Everything stays in sync between iPhone, Mac, and PC. Data gets synced automatically both ways. A web 2.0 site will synchronise Mail, iCal, and Address Book on Mac and with Outlook on Windows. Email received on your iPhone will also appear in your Mac / Desktop. A photo taken on iPhone will be synced to your Me.com account immediately. A meeting added to your desktop, will be updated to your iPhone. All for US$99 a year with 20GB of space.
With iPhone SDK released, Apps store will allow developers to put their apps for sale. They set their own price and take 70%, with 30% going to Apple. No other extra charges.
TVC Screenshots:
More details / pics after the jump - Macrumours Images - Macrumours and Gizmodo
Being a public servant in Singapore has some advantages. Civil servants do not compete against foreign talent, some are guaranteed at least five years of job security, and their salaries are less likely to be performance based, per a parliamentary speech by Low Thia Khiang on April 9, 2007. Singapore has some of the highest paid civl servants in the world according to a 2005 report by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. There is debate as to whether these higher salaries ensure a better quality of life for Singapore, but it still makes a career as a public servant a great career choice for many.
Starting salaries for civil servants in areas like management, education, accounting, engineering and more saw increases of 7-14% annually (which does not include bonuses) in 2007 based on whether they graduated with Good Honours or an iPass degree. Thus, the starting salary for someone in the Education sector with Good Honours jumped from S$2560 to S$2820 that year.
150 countries were ranked for business safety by credit insurance firm Coface S.A. out of France on two points: risks in that country's business climate and a broader rating on economic and financial prospects and general payment history of companies in that country. Singapore was at the top with an A1 rating, along with Germany, Australia and Japan, indicating the lowest category of risk in business operations.
To determine the ratings, things like accuracy and availability of financial information, whether transactions between companies are reliable, and whether the legal system of the country is fair and efficient are taken into account. Additionally, quality of life, including transportation, energy and telecommunications are examined and helped establish Singapore as one of the safest places to do business in the world.
Want to broadcast your event / meeting / discussion live? With a webcam / pc / good internet connection, Ustream lets you broadcast LIVE to anyone with an internet connection for FREE!
Apple products do change the way we do things, from home entertainment to office productivity. Every time Steve Jobs launches new products, the public often does not know until the minute he stands on the stage and unveils the product/s. In this day and age of emails / sms / blogging, it is an industry mystery how Apple keep things under wrap.
World Wide Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco, will kick off in less than 12 hours so if you want to be one of the millions tuning in to Steve Jobs' keynote (and new product announcements) bookmark these blog sites with live updates: (direct WWDC links) Engadget, Gizmodo, Macworld, TechCrunch. Engadget has an RSS and Twitter feed as well (I wouldn't recommend Twitter since it has been having performance issues lately).
For those with FireFox, download RELOAD EVERY add-on, and auto-refresh your pages at preset intervals. Saves you having to click REFRESH every few seconds.Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
If you're a small business owner and haven't yet thought about hiring a virtual assistant, you're missing the boat?not to mention a chance to earn significantly more than you are now. That's because working with a top virtual assistant could easily free up 10 hours or more every week for you to focus on what's really important - growing your business.
What is a virtual assistant? In the simplest terms, a virtual assistant is a professional who's an expert in any of a wide variety of tasks - from simple administrative work to more specialized fields such as copywriting or graphic design. A virtual assistant makes sense if you feel that you're "wasting time" doing tasks that would better be left to someone else.
Virtual assistants have many advantages over hiring full- or part-time staff, including not dealing with the headaches of maintaining a payroll, not having to provide office space, and more. But working with a virtual assistant isn't foolproof.
Here are three ways to find and recruit the best virtual assistant for your small business:
* Use virtual assistants that have been pre-screened. Companies that know the virtual assistance industry inside and out can help you pre-qualify virtual assistant candidates by assessing their skills and abilities ahead of time. And this means more than just getting a read on their "hard" skills. It also means assessing "soft" skills such as communication style and rapport, which are critical in matching small business owners with the right virtual assistant. This can take a lot of the work out of hiring the right person. Check out www.Top100VirtualAssistants.com for an example of a service that pre-screens virtual assistants.
* Decide on your specific needs. Where do you need the most help? What are the tasks that need to get done, but that you can't or don't want to do yourself? Knowing exactly what you want before you start interviewing potential virtual assistants is crucial. You don't want to hire someone with a set of skills that, while they may be impressive, aren't right for your particular job.
* Budget wisely. Do a self-assessment and determine how much money you might typically make for an hour's worth of work. Then decide how much a virtual assistant is worth to you. For example, if you make $100 an hour, and you hire a virtual assistant for $40 an hour, by outsourcing just 10 hours worth of work a week, you would give yourself the ability to earn an extra $2,400 per month (or about $30,000 per year). It's also important to remember that a skilled virtual assistant can often do the same task in about half the time it takes the average small business owner (simply because they are a master of the technology, systems or other expertise that makes the task hard for someone not familiar with it). When this is the case, the right virtual assistant could wind up saving you more than $3,000 every month.A successful small business owner, Rebecca Trelfa runs a network of websites dedicated to the virtual assistance industry, including http://www.VirtualDynamos.com, http://www.Work-the-Web.com and http://www.Top100VirtualAssistants.com.
Luckily, there are legitimate ways to make extra money working from home or from a college dorm.
Students who are proficient in using a computer can make extra money several ways. Many small businesses or independent professionals need assistance but not a full time employee. Therefore they will hire virtual assistants for a few administrative jobs or for ongoing support. Students who can create webpages can help people gettheir business online. Alternately, students can create their own websites and earn money through affiliate marketing programs. All in all there are quite a few ways that students can make money using their computer.
Finding opportunities is easier than ever now when using the internet. There are many job boards that can provide information such as careerbuilder.com or elance.com.
Students maybe able to findodd jobs around their campus or city. Mystery shopping is one fun way that students can earn extra money by dining out or shopping. More information on mystery shopping can be found atvolition.com. Students should always check the job boards on campus as they will often have temporary job opportunities posted.
Whether college students make extra money from their home, on campus or off, it can be a big help to a student who is in need of just a little extra cash. Students who are creative and resourceful will find the extra income that they need.
Hot on the heels of the HP launch, MSI has revealed their 10" screen mini notebook series - U100 Wind Notebook. CPU is Intel latest Atom N270 processor with 1.6Ghz core frequency, 512KB L2 Cache, 533Mhz FSB, and support Hyper Threading technology. Chipset used is Intel G945GSE north bridge with ICH7 south bridge, built in with Intel GMA950 display.
As you can see, it's slightly larger compared to the HP 2133 and the Asus EEE PC.
Battery-wise, MSI Wind Notebook uses 3 Cells 11.1v 2200mAh battery which will last for 3 hours. The Wind comes preloaded with Windows XP Home, on an 80GB HDD. Available in angel white, empire black and romantic pink for estimated US$610.
Watch a side-by-side comparison between the Wind and the EEE.
It'll be a lot easier to explain if you clicked on the video below (it has to popup to Youtube's site) and try it yourself. It's an interactive video "guessing game".
Playing an embedded video won't work (Beta version for now).
From Youtube's site - Video Annotations are a new way for you to add interactive commentary to your videos! Use them to:
* Add background information about the video. * Create stories with multiple possibilities (viewers click to choose the next scene) * Link to related YouTube videos, channels, or search results from within a video * All of the above!
You control what the annotations say, where they appear on the video, and when they appear and disappear.
This will be a cool feature for adding subtitles / tips to your videos, or doing product placement with Youtube videos.
If you have not been following the issue, a Singapore registered company, Vuestar, has a patent which has been blogged about in many sites / forums. Activist website - RefuteVueStarPatent.biz reports that "Vuestar owns the patent to the technology that enables “Internet searching via visual images”, and has sent out notification letters to several companies demanding to be paid licensing fees."
IPOS has responded to the issue and here is the response to an email, which was sent via an MP to IPOS.
"3. Whilst the proprietor of a patent can consider using licensing of his patent rights to secure income, this is subject to entering into license agreements with parties who may be interested in using the invention, and is not done arbitrarily. A proprietor usually demands payment from companies on the basis that the companies ought to have entered into licensing agreements with it in the first place."
So has anyone asked you what's the point of Twitter and why does he/she need to know what you are doing every 5 mins (I'm heading to the office. Watching IRON MAN. Thanks for the invite @Jorbb).
Here's a superb video by Common Craft. Their "product is explanation". Common Craft uses video and paper to make complex ideas easy to understand.
With hand drawn cartoon paper cut-outs (which they coin Paperworks), they present subjects "in plain English" using short, unique and understandable videos.
We are great fans of Firefox and if you still have not heard, Firefox 3 will be released very very soon and the folks at Mozilla are banking that Firefox 3 will clock the most number of downloads in a single day - hence DOWNLOAD DAY 2008.
Firefox 3 will have a "snazzy design update and stability improvements to smart folders and bookmark tagging, you won't be disappointed with what you're getting. The most notable updates to Firefox in version 3 include the snazzy new Places Organizer, where you can do traditional bookmark organization as well as create saved searches. Beyond that, the idea of bookmarks as starred favorites works its way into your address bar and tagging has found its way to your traditional bookmarking. Sounds interesting?" - Lifehacker.
There are about 2900 submissions from Singapore so pledge your download, and be part of the Guinness Record, by submitting your email at the jump.
The global economy and Internet communities are evolving so quickly that current language has to evolve with them. "Crowdsourcing" is a new social phenomenon where tasks that were generally performed in-house or contracted out are now being offered up to the public, in an open call forum. These types of tasks can be scientific, technological, creative, political or retail oriented but don't stop there. An example that doesn't fit the above categories is the State of Texas which is installing cameras along the Texas/Mexico border and allowing anyone with an Internet connection to monitor the border and report possible immigrants to agents. Wikipedia offers numerous examples of crowdsourcing here.
Crowdsourcing is similar in some ways to "open source" (which Wikipedia itself is) which is defined here as "the creative practice of appropriation and free sharing of found and created content". It takes it to the next, more human level. Crowdsourcing allows the task managers to tap into an endless pool of human intelligence and creativity, but it isn't without it's controversy. The projects, due to size, can become unwieldy and more expensive than expected, OR crowdsourced volunteers may not be compensated at all. There are no contracts, thus expectations that volunteers follow through or won't share information with competitors should be kept to a minimum.
Crowdfunding is what it sounds like. A project is funded, through relatively small donations, by a large group of like-minded individuals. My Football Club, is 50,000 football fans who are purchasing a football club and will give "owners" input into the management of the team via democratic process. Or, take another example, Beer Bankroll which explains their idea like this:
"We've become fascinated with the concept of crowd funding. The idea that people can come together in a community based format and create a company sounded like an exciting concept. We also enjoy beer, so the choice was clear...we've decided to create an online community for beer lovers to share their ideas and at the same time create a brewing company.
How do we start on this journey you may ask? Well, the first step is to raise enough capital to start a brewing company. We are not looking to become huge right away or even within several years. The smart way to attack a project like this is to start relatively small and build into something special. Within a few years, with the power of people like you backing our company, we want to compete with breweries like Dogfish Head Brewery and Pyramid Brewery among others. Eventually, down the road, we hope to become a brewery with a name that is recognized worldwide."
Both crowdsourcing and crowdfunding are spin-offs of the huge social networking advances that have take hold of the Internet and will likely morph into something completely different and unexpected in the next few years.
Ah. A tool for those of us who are a bit of everywhere in the social networking world. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, various IM sites and more can be managed with a new Firefox add-on called Yoono. Similar to Flock, but requiring less hard drive space, Yoono allows you to manage your relationships in a left-hand widget on your browser. It's free, with drag and drop capabilities and offers suggestions of your friends' photos, music and sites...plus it has a very slick design.
Sadly, Yoono is in private beta mode but you can sign up for the announcement of when it is available for everyone. Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that South Korea is the hardest working nation in the world, a country where 12+ hours, 6 or more days per work are common and management level employees get 3 days of annual vacation! South Korean log an estimated 2357 hours per year, Greece is the second hardest working country at about 2052. The country working the least hours with the most leisure time are the Netherlands with nearly 1000 more hours of free time than South Koreans.
One of the key factors in the disparity between countries and their number of hours worked is cultural. Koreans are proud to be seen working as hard as they do, are discouraged from speaking up against authority and identify themselves strongly with the work they do (often being referred to as "office worker Kim" or "accountant Park" even when not at work). It takes time to change societal norms, but the good news is that current economic conditions and the exploding Asian economies are affecting those harder working countries positively and work hours are gradually being reduced.
Heidi Khoo reports in The Electric New Paper that middle-class students from countries like Indonesia and the Phillipines who were lured by six month work attachments in Singapore are finding disappointing situations upon arrival. The work positions are often sales clerks or waitstaff, not the higher level roles they were led to expect. Additionally, living situations in the dormitories are often unbelievably crowded.
Recruiters are misleading students and luring them without making living conditions clear. Some students are living in dorms crammed with 11 bunk beds that are riddled with bed bugs. Additionally some of the students are working an incredible number of hours. One female student interviewed in the piece is working 60 hour weeks. According to the article, recruiting agents were unable to find affordable, better accomodations for the students and many would be sent back.
Salary negotiation is one of the most unnerving pieces of the employment puzzle. Salary.com has a ten-step program to make the process easier.
Step one involves making sure you have as accurate of a job description of your current role as possible. It's a great idea to always save your current job description in a file as soon as you take a new position...this gives you information to refer back to when it is time to update your resume or start negotiating your salary for a new job or an increase at your current company.
Second, compare your title and job description to a few similar descriptions on Salary.com. Because job titles and descriptions are not consistent across companies, focus more on responsibilities than titles. Find the best fit before comparing salaries. Salary.com recommends using its Salary Wizard to compare jobs.
Once you find the best fit (it should be at least a 70% match), be sure to factor in your industry, the organization's size and your location. Step 4 is to review the other benefits offered by a company: health care, work/life balance, room for advancement, bonus structure, culture, flexible scheduling, and transportation access and costs (especially with gas prices out of control). Be sure that you are prepared to negotiate for things like flexible scheduling, remote work situations, and paid time off in addition to salary.
Next, review your performance and your own value in the marketplace. Review your feedback and performance reviews, any high profile projects you've completed or clients you've pleased, and what leadership opportunities you've been provided. Salary.com has a Performance Self Test to help you make this determination.
It's time to review the information and decide if you only want to negotiate salary and, if so, what your target is and what the minimum is you will settle for.
Now comes the hard part and why most of us falter at the point of salary negotiation. It's time to bolster confidence! Keep several things in mind while doing this: YOU and your work are of value, to the customer and to your boss; recruiting new staff is expensive and time-consuming and your company does not want to do this; costs of living are rising (though never use "I need the money" as part of your negotiation script); you don't get anything if you never ask. Be well-prepared and breathe deep...and go discuss your performance, the marketplace and your job description with your manager.
Maintain eye contact, do not begin negotiating lower (i.e. "I'd like this increase, but I'm willing to settle for this") until necessary, and be prepared to listen calmly. Your manager may have real information you don't have or a strict increase budget (very common in larger corporations) that she has little control over.
Finally, be prepared to discuss what this increase will bring to the company-what new contributions you are prepared to make, what your objectives are for the following review period. If, at this point, you were unable to secure an increase, you should at least have very concrete steps for what is necessary to do so the next time you approach management. Take notes of your progress so you are prepared, in advance, for the next discussion.
Lastly, be prepared on some level to leave your existing company, particularly if pay increases are chronically small or difficult to come by.
Unfortunately, pay progress is often made by joining a new company than by staying with your existing one. Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
A Singaporean named Kien has developed a new Facebook application, "MySingapore", with features that include discussion boards, quizzes, movie ratings, videos, various tools (like maps and slideshows), and the group shout feature. Checking the MySingapore community of 595 members today turns up Singapore Grand Prix event information, Singapore campaign videos, the ability to rate current features like Sex and the City and Kung Fu Panda (both currently receiving 8 out of 10 points) and various service offerings.
The application is fun and friendly. Check it out!
Channel NewsAsia is reporting that, to help attract and retain housekeeping staff in the competitive Singapore market, the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has implemented new technology to assist it's housekeepers in bed making. An electronic device lifts beds and reduces changing time by half as well as reducing risk of injury and fatigue.
Housekeeping staff at the Crowne Plaza average 15 bed changes per day at 15-20 minutes per change. The new apparatus costs S$500 per bed (Ezi-Maid solution from Australia) but will allow for a wider pool of candidates (who might be physically challenged by age or disability) to recruit from for the industry.
Due to the increase in hotel construction and tourism in Singapore, attracting and retaining housekeeping staff is extremely challenging. Mr. Lim, NTUC's Secretary General and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, believes most hotels will be compelled to retrofit their existing beds with the mechanism. 80% of the local workers in the industry are mature workers, 40 years and older.
ChannelNewsAsia reports that more than 500 applicants turned up at a food and beverage (F&B) job fair organised by North West CDC on Monday. 
