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!
The number of contract and casual workers in Singapore increased by 12.1 per cent over the past seven years, from 59,400 in 2001 to 183,700 in 2007.
With this in mind, the NTUC Unit for Contract & Casual Workers (UCCW) has launched "U Train, U Gain", a training initiative aimed at assisting such workers upgrade their skills and help them with career progression as well as life-long employment.
With S$850,000 from the Job Re-creation Programme, the "U Train, U Gain" initiative will partner e2i and Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres like NTUC LearningHub.
This is to prepare selected workers from the UCCW membership base of 7,200 for career advancements.
For a start, the Unit aims to enhance the employability of 400 workers in four stages over one year.
First, the Unit will identify suitable workers to be screened by e2i for good work ethics and commitment in going through this pilot training initiative.
Following which, career consultants at e2i will tailor Training for Career Advancement Plans for every selected worker.
Selected workers will then be trained to improve their skills at CET Centres, which includes NTUC LearningHub.
Finally, these workers will undergo job matching or job placement.
Singaporean contract and casual workers with wages lower than S$1,000 can seek help from the Unit to gain access to course fee subsidies.
Several employers associations have jointly called on companies to grant the enhanced leave benefits to eligible employees on a voluntary basis before the relevant legislations are enacted in October.
The associations, which include the Singapore Business Federation, Singapore National Employers Federation, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Employer Alliance for Work-Life, said the move will be good for morale and will help to retain talent.
They added that the companies will also be able to claim the relevant salary costs from the government later.
It is hoped that employers will work with their staff to ensure that business operations are not affected.
Come September 3, the associations will hold a briefing for 1,500 employers on how to implement the new measures. - CNA/ms
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore is giving workers in the tourism sector a tune-up before tens of thousands of auto racing fans descend on the city-state for the world's first Formula One Grand Prix night race.
Up to 2,000 supervisors who work in shops, bars, restaurants and tourist attractions will receive the four-hour training, the Singapore Tourism Board said in a statement Friday.
The training is "specially designed to refresh participants on the finer points of providing good customer service as well as provide essential information on the race" and related events, it said.
Singapore is to host a Grand Prix street circuit race for the first time on September 28. It will also be the sport's first race held at night.
The government is hoping the event will boost its tourism coffers by 100 million dollars (70.6 million US) a year.
Plans have been laid out to make it easier for young entrepreneurs to go into business.
The Finance Ministry is proposing a delinking of the age of majority from the age of contractual capacity, reducing the age from 21 years to 18 years.
The move is the result of feedback received by the Pro-Enterprise Panel that legal barriers that prevent young people from starting and conducting a business should be removed.
To change will however require the amendment of a host of other laws, and Civil Law Act which the Finance and Law ministries have drafted amendments to.
Bosses, the next time one of your fresh out-of-school employees asks for travel leave or a couple of hours off from a regular work day, think twice before saying no.
Employees between the ages of 19 and 30 - otherwise known as the 'Generation Y' demographic - are likely to demand more flexibility, have unrealistic goals in work and life, and would normally job-hop.
These are some of the findings from a recent survey conducted by the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI). The study, titled 'Harnessing the Potential of Generation Y Workforce in Singapore', was designed to uncover the general characteristics of Generation Y in Singapore.
Based on the results of this survey, SHRI has put forward suggestions for keeping the fickle pool of Gen Y talent happy in the workforce.
'Remuneration packages may not be the best option to attract and retain Gen Y talents,' said SHRI's executive director David Ang. 'HR practitioners will need to explore and adopt differentiated HR practices and solutions to help them fit in with the employment landscape.'
Some of those practices include allowing travel leave and a flexi-time system.
A total of 245 respondents were involved in the month-long survey which started in May. About 42 per cent of them are Gen Y workers, and the remaining, their non-Gen Y parents, bosses and colleagues.
Currently, Gen Y-ers make up 20 per cent of the population and those economically active.
A summary of the study's key findings: Gen Y-ers are confident, tech-savvy, innovative and ambitious, but are also individualistic, proud and disloyal.
However, Mr Alvin Lim, 28, an online marketing executive, disagreed with the last description.
His current job is his fifth in three years, having entered the workforce as a graphic designer, then switching to become a freelance art director- cum-videographer, corporate communications executive and a portal manager.
He said: 'I like challenges, so if there are jobs that involve new targets and learning experiences, I will leave my old job.'
SHRI hopes that Singapore employers can accept change and not shy away from creative solutions that could accelerate young workers' performance.
But it may take some time before changes take root.
Mr Leslie Wa, 37, group chief executive officer and executive director of homegrown precision engineering company HLN Technologies, believes in rewarding older and younger workers alike.
He said: 'We believe in meritocracy. We have the same key performance indicators for all our key employees.'
The issue of foreign workers depressing local salaries has cropped up again in Parliament. Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong attempted to dismiss this view on Tuesday in his reply to a question from Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim.
Sylvia Lim had reiterated the point that wages for the lowest income earners for the last 10 years had stagnated, due to the presence of foreign workers. (ST, “Simplistic to say foreign workers depress local pay”, 27 Aug).
Given rapidly rising inflation, it is fair to say that real wages for the bottom earners have even outrightly declined.
Mr Gan attempted to discredit this idea by stating that foreign workers form a big and growing pool in the services industry, yet wages there are comparatively better.
He said, “In 2007, total wages went up by 5.9 per cent in the overall economy. Services sector wages went up by 6.5 per cent, and this is a sector with growing numbers of foreign workers in 2007.”
I think Mr Gan should pay careful attention to what Sylvia Lim was saying. She was referring to wages at the lower end of the pay scale, not to overall wages.
Mr Gan also claimed that during a recession, foreign workers would be retrenched faster than Singaporean workers, but his claim has yet to be empirically tested in a real life recession. Talk is cheap.
Why would there be an incentive for companies to retrench foreigners first during a recession, when there is no legislation governing this aspect of employment, and no monetary incentives awarded for such acts?
Foreigners, if they are without families in Singapore, would in fact be in a better position to bargain for less pay in exchange for keeping their jobs, as compared to local workers who might have mouths to feed in high-cost Singapore.
As usual, the government’s obsession with overall statistics clouds the real issue of the poor and lower-income households being the first to bear the brunt of rising inflation and an overly-liberal policy of importing large numbers of foreign workers, many of them unskilled.
This might be useful for those who don't use the Windows key much on their keybord.
Below are the shortcuts that you can use by combining the with Windows key:
Windows Key to Open the Start Menu Windows Key + D to Show Desktop Windows Key + E to Open My Computer Windows Key + F to Open Search Windows Key + F + Control Key to Open Search For Computers program Windows Key + F1 to Open Help Windows Key + L to Switch Between Users, or Lock desktop while unattended Windows Key + M to Minimize All Windows Windows Key + M + Shift Key to restore after Minimizing All Windows Windows Key + R to Open Run Dialog Windows Key + U to open Utility Manager Windows Key + Y to Open Yahoo Messenger (if loaded) Windows Key + Pause Key To Open System Properties Windows Key + Tab Key To Switch Between Active Programs Windows Key + X to enter Windows Mobility Center (Windows Vista+ only)
Child care centres are available at 37 workplaces across Singapore, with 21 located in government office premises.
In a written reply to questions from MP for Tampines GRC, Irene Ng, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan, said the 37 centres provide 4,300 childcare places, or about seven per cent of the total child care places in Singapore.
Ms Ng also asked about the availability of infant care centres.
Dr Balakrishnan said the number of child care centres providing infant care has risen from 38 centres in 2004 to 115 child care centres now. They provide more than 1,600 infant care places, and currently 933 babies are enrolled.
Dr Balakrishnan said there is no centre providing only infant care services because operators said it is not viable.
To promote a family-friendly working environment, the government encourages organisations to set up workplace child care centres by providing funding and tax incentives.
For example, for non-commercial and government organisations, the government provides funding for up to 20 per cent of the cost of converting part of the work-premises for childcare use. This is capped at 500 square metres.
Such commercial organisations also receive a grant to help pay the cost of furnishings and equipment for the workplace child care centres. They also receive funding for maintenance of the child care centre after every five years.
For commercial companies, the employer may be able to claim industrial building allowance on the capital expenditure for conversion of space to a child care centre. They are also eligible for the grant for furnishings and equipment.
WITH so many new incentives for working women to have babies, one would expect it to be standing room only for mums-to-be in offices across Singapore.
But there are still some places where the stork fears to tread: places where stress levels can go sky-high, where schedules stretch past midnight, where standing or walking for hours is the order of the day, where suitcases sit ready for the next last-minute overseas assignment or where figure-hugging outfits are the office uniform.
Women who work in environments with one or more of these characteristics often have to take a time-out when the baby arrives.
As one male manager at a multinational company - who declined to be named as he was uncomfortable with being quoted on his views of pregnant women - points out: 'I have seen quite a few career women delay having kids till their mid-30s.
'When they decide to try for kids, some have difficulties conceiving - and their frequent travel and stressful work most probably make it tougher.'
Human resources (HR) executives and executive search firms note that there are indeed some jobs where pregnancy might be at risk, where the health of mother and unborn child might be in jeopardy.
Common jobs tossed up as tough environments for mothers-to-be - and wannabe mums - include investment banking, law and front-line sales, which involve running after clients.
Some other jobs are a no-no for pregnant mums because they are dangerous, such as accident and emergency medical work and laboratory tasks involving radiation or chemicals.
And then there is the job category where appearance and a svelte figure is paramount: models or air stewardesses who are required to fit into costumes like Singapore Airlines' sexy sarong kebayas.
While new rules will soon be enacted to protect pregnant employees from discrimination, there are also subtle push factors which put expectant mums off iffy job environments.
While stress and relatively long hours are common among many white-collar jobs, it is the unpredictable nature of work that can really get a pregnant woman or a new mum bluer in the face than baby blues.
As Singaporean Anne Lim, a former investment banker who quit her job in London attests, erratic schedules and frequent travelling can make it virtually impossible for an expectant mum or a mother with young kids to cope with parenthood.
Ms Lim, who recently gave birth to a baby boy, said: 'The equity markets were roaring back then, and it was a fabulous time for all the boys in the bank - except me, the sole woman on the mega project we were working on.
'I was getting morning sickness and not enough sleep. I never knew when the day's work may end, and the frequent changes made it difficult for my body to cope.'
Frequent travel overseas, tight deadlines and the high expectations of a demanding boss gave Ms Lim dizzy spells. Finally, she threw in the towel and quit six months into her pregnancy. She moved back to Singapore where her parents were waiting to pamper her.
So is quitting the only solution for women who are in 'toxic' jobs?
Yes and no, say HR experts, who give the following options for mums:
Take unpaid leave
FOR some high-octane jobs, the reality is that something has to give when juggling motherhood and career.
Sometimes, this may mean quitting because the job is just not conducive for mothers who have just given birth; sometimes a short period of unpaid leave may help you to recharge before jumping back in.
Taking on a less challenging project or role to spend more time at home with baby and hubby should be viewed as putting your best foot forward to improve your quality of life - rather than a step backward into the slower 'mummy track'. Your child's first step is definitely one you do not want to miss.
Talk to your boss early
AS WELL as discussing your career path and prospects without delay, voice your concerns clearly. Some women, especially those on the partnership track, may fear they will fall behind if they need to demonstrate certain skills or work experience to advance.
Show the boss how significantly you have contributed to the organisation, and explain how you can ramp up your productivity after giving birth. Put forward a tentative timeline - a period of stable hours and less travel and when you are likely to be able to return to a full workload.
Mr D M Arulraj, head of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, also encourages pregnant employees to discuss with their line managers how they can create a safe and suitable working environment.
StanChart uses a 'pregnancy checklist' with factors such as number of hours that a pregnant worker has to stand, exposure to nauseating smells, getting early shift work, posture and overtime or evening work.
Switch to a stable job that develops different skills
EXPLAIN clearly to your boss that you intend to hone other abilities in your new, less fast-paced, role. Demonstrate how this will help you perform even better when you return to your old job.
For instance, a front-line relationship manager may opt to move to human resources for a while to lift her skills in group management and organisation.
Find a supportive, large company
ALL things being equal, a larger company will have a lot more resources, ranging from technology support to manpower, to cover your duties during your pregnancy. You will also have more choices of different roles to switch to.
This consideration should obviously have been factored into your choice of job long before you became pregnant. Some baby perks to look out for: OCBC Bank has a childcare centre within its office building for staff to leave their babies and toddlers during the workday.
StanChart has lactation rooms with refrigerators, comfy armchairs, a Germitrol air steriliser and even the latest parenting magazines for breastfeeding mums.
Spend some time thinking deeply about these product positioning ideas, and how you can use them to your advantage. Your market share is predicated on how well you assimilate them, & apply them to the promotion of your business.
1. Unique Selling Proposition - Something unique, that you have to offer. Not necessarily entirely unique. You can appear unique by simply packaging your product or service in a unique way.
2. Risk Reversal - Differentiate yourself with outrageously bold guarantees, that you're competition don't have the guts for. Most people are genuinely honest, and if your service is what you say it is, you've got nothing to worry about. The increased sales volume will be well worth it.
3. Inordinate Value - Leverage your advertising, by offering to let complimentary businesses come along for the ride, in exchange for a free sample of their wares. Then bundle those into your offering.
4. Clear, Complete, & Concise Customer Education - Tell your full story. Don't make people try to figure out on their own why they should be doing business with you. Spell it out for them.
Fewer people quit from organisations which implement work-life balance practices, such as flexible work arrangements. That's the experience of many companies with work-life strategies in place.
At Tampines Primary, school starts at 8am and teachers are encouraged to leave by 1.30pm every Wednesday and Friday. This allows them to spend more time with their families.
Mrs Wong-Tan Bin Eng, Principal, Tampines Primary School, said: "I don't see the teachers rushing so much from meeting to meeting. I don't see them rushing to complete their work. I see that they look happier and in a sense, they are also able to contribute well.
The school's flexible arrangement can apply to any of the over 70 staff and the principal said the trust in her teachers prevents any abuse.
Having shorter teaching hours is actually a direct feedback from the staff themselves. This allows the teachers more free time to plan their lessons or attend meetings. And when they go to class, they will not feel stressed and can teach well.
For one catering company, it forces workers to stay out of the office as one of its work-life balance practices. And for those who have been with the company for three years, they are given a 10-day break as a reward.
Tony Seow, managing director, Purple Sage, said: "I used to work very long hours and I realise that's not a good balance and it's taking a toll on my health. And I realised that I think it's best to work with your team and let them have enough balance. Because when you're not at your best, you're not really focusing or giving the best to your customers."
The company's pro-family policies have helped increase its retention rate by four per cent, to 85 per cent last year. - CNA/vm
Asia remains a popular destination for c-level technology executives looking to relocate from Europe and the United States, according to HR recruiters.
CTPartners Chairman and CEO Brian Sullivan, said in a press statement: "Asia's growing economic power is attracting executives from all over the world as the United States and Europe face continuing uncertainty. At the same time, parts of the Middle East show signs of political stabilization and Latin America is an ongoing bright spot."
Employment visas are easy to obtain for c-level executives and their families [moving to] Hong Kong and Singapore. Salaries in Asia for c-level executives are higher than pay packages offered in Europe and the United States by at least 15 percent. However, the same does not apply for middle managers because there is more local talent in this segment to choose from in Asia, she said. As such, that could mean more competition and fewer attractive jobs for foreigners wanting to relocate to the region.
PREGNANT employees will be further protected from discrimination by bosses, from January next year.
Employers who fire them, for no good reason, within the last six months of their pregnancy will have to pay these woman their maternity leave benefits.
The same rules apply if they are laid off within the last three months of their pregnancy.
These changes will tighten the current rules, which hold the employer responsible only if the employee is fired in the last three months of her pregnancy.
These measures will help address a common apprehension among women in the wake of the Government decision to extend maternity leave from three to four months.
As Singapore gears up for re-employment laws which will come into force in 2012, one area is to develop various healthcare options for older workers, said Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong.
For one, the Government is exploring, with the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup, different ways of providing portable insurance for older workers.
Some of these workers may switch jobs and would not be covered by insurance during the period in transition, Mr Gan told Today.
The new company may not offer the same coverage, or the workers may become uninsurable if they develop an illness.
“So, portable medical insurance means that workers can carry (the policies) wherever they go and receive insurance cover,” he said.
Currently, the insurable age cap for mature workers stands at 64, but some insurers have agreed to raise this by one year.
“But bear in mind, the Medi-shield plan is a key factor that provides basic healthcare for everyone in Singapore already,” added Mr Gan, stressing that flexibility is the key to making re-employment work.
Employees and employers should come to a mutual agreement on the terms of employment, he said. Sometimes workers will have their own insurance; sometimes the company will provide it, “so there are many different alternatives, and options to address the issue of workers’ healthcare”.
Mr Gan was speaking at the sidelines of the Chua Chu Kang Community Club open house yesterday, which attracted some 5,000 residents and participants.
Addressing the issue of workplace safety — there was another shipyard fatality last Friday — he said that Singaporeans can expect “more guidelines and advisory, especially in the offshore and marine industry”, and for those working in confined spaces or at heights. Safety in other industries, for instance, the construction sector, is also important.
The national 2018 target of1.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers “requires us to rethink our framework and introduce new measures and help industries inculcate this culture of safety”, he said, adding that many of the accidents are “avoidable and unnecessary”.
Touching on concerns about job losses — an issue also addressed by other leaders in recent days —Mr Gan encouraged workers to upgrade themselves to remain relevant and employable. “We will continue to create new jobs, so the key is to ensure workers who are affected will be able to find new jobs as soon as possible,” he said.
Certain sectors, especially hospitality and construction, will continue to expand in the coming months, he added.
We had to post this, hopefully more people will forward this around and some rich Samaritan with a few million to spare will help buy over the collection.
At over 3 million records, it's the largest in the world. He's trying to sell it due to his advancing age and health problems. Unfortunately, as he puts it, "no one gives a damn." Paul Mawhinney's record collection is appraised at US$50 Million but he only wants $3 Million for it.
Paul's been building his collection for most of his life. He used to run a record store, and while running it he never sold the last copy of any album or single, instead keeping it for his archives. Over the years, those really added up.
Now, at an advancing age, stricken with diabetes and legally blind, Paul wants to sell the collection. It's been appraised at about $50 million, but Paul is asking a mere $3 million. He's had no serious offers, and an eBay auction back in February fell through.
In a time when you can access pretty much whatever music you want online, hard copies of albums are declining in value, both monetary and sentimentally. But to see such a mind blowing collection as this sitting in a basement, unwanted, is really heartbreaking. This is historic, no matter that we live in the iPod era or not, and it belongs in a museum. If only one cared enough to buy it. [World's Greatest Music Collection via Nah Right]
Additional data usage charged at 1cent for each 2KB extra. These plans also come with 3 value added services free (Voicemail, roaming and Caller ID)
Handset Price
iFlexi Value
8GB: SGD$348
16GB: SGD$508
iFlexi Plus
8GB: SGD$49
8GB: SGD$208
iFlexi Premium
8GB: Free
16GB: Free
Existing Singtel Plan With Broadband Mobile
You may use your existing voice only plan and add the mobile on broadband plans, then the handset price will be more expensive and you will have to sign either a 24 month or 30 month contract.
Handset Price
8GB: SGD$568
16GB: SGD$728
Note
You cannot get the handset without any contract from Singtel.
(Unofficial - Jorbb.com accepts no responsibility for this information) Article source theyoungbusinessman.blogspot.com and Image Source Unwired. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group. Now on Mobile/iPhone!
The simple matter of an ad in a local paper, a few applicants and a handful of interviews began to get more complex 20 years ago.
Personal mobility, employees’ desires to change not just companies but countries, and employers’ tighter job specifications all led to a need for better job markets and faster information. There was another factor at work, too. Company culture became recognised as a reality. It had always existed, of course. Great patriarchal families such as Cadbury or Mars and early enlightened employers such as Marks and Spencer had attracted the cream of the available talent for generations. In Japan, the company was often an employee’s whole life, taking precedence over family and personal ambition.
Then, quite quickly, the picture changed. One cause was the recognition of the value and scarcity of real talent. The wage gap between the “average” employee and the top widened. Systematic training started, partly because of technology spreading its tentacles from factory into office and partly because employment costs demanded that every ounce of productivity had to be achieved to make a job viable.
This soon led to a recognition that the cost of an employee was not the wages and perks but the accumulated investment the company had made in his or her job and, subsequently, the maintenance of that asset in a changing technological world.
It was these influences that led to the rise of job portals and companies such as Monster and to the growing awareness that hyperbole in a CV plays a very little part in securing a job. My experience is it often turns off an employer because he has read it all before and is not prepared to do so again. Time spent reading copy-written CVs is resented, as is the carbon footprint involved in travel to interview overseas talent or the cost of bringing candidates long distances only to find out they in no way fit the bill.
So poor is the quality of many CVs that a simpler style is long overdue. At least one new service is shortly going to provide an online format for this. Meanwhile, if you are concerned about your CV and you care to send it to me, I will let you have a comment on it together with a content checklist to ensure what you are presenting is useful. I do not charge for this and all information sent to me will be held in strict confidence.
Technology now allows employee/job matching to move into a new era where “essential fact CVs” coupled with a short video provide a desktop way of searching through the credentials of many potential employees and producing a short list in a fraction of the time it used to take and at a tenth of the cost. All this can initially be done without revealing the employee’s identity until she or he is ready to do so.
New services such as SeeMeCV display enough information for an employer to make the decision to interview with twice the chance the employee might be hired than any other system provides. Candidates will still need skills in the preparation of their one-page CV and in filming their video clip. They will require excellent interview performance and all the emotional intelligence that face-to-face meetings always demand. But at least they will be reviewed faster, called to fewer wasted interviews and confronted by fewer frustrated employers wondering how to fill the half hour they know will not lead to a job offer.
The age of the useable CV has arrived. Is yours up to date and up to scratch?I suggest you review it now.
John Bittleston mentors people in business, career and their personal lives at www.TerrificMentors.com.TODAY/ra
Have you ever used Youtube videos for a presentation and wish there was a way to annotate the videos. Youtube has an annotate feature but only for owners of the videos, which means you cannot annotate someone else's video.
Summarised from Mashable - TubePopper is also limited to the videos available on YouTubejust enter the URL for the YouTube video you’d like to annotate, or perform a YouTube video search directly on TubePopper’s site.
Beyond this, TubePopper has the expected networking features: embedding options, commenting, related clips, and one-click sharing across various social networks and bookmarking sites, which is a feature powered by Gigya.
Here's a sample, does remind me of Mei Mei Watches MTV on Chinese MTV Channel.
Since it's the weekend, here's something you saw first on Jorbb.com/blog :)
The Waboba ball, which is about the size of a golf ball, has taken off around the world after videos were posted on YouTube.
Made of a combination of plastics with a Lycra coating, it is described as having the consistency of a breast implant.
The ball is about the same density as water and floats when at rest, but bounces high and true when thrown. It continues to bounce until it is caught or runs out of steam.
The ball took Swedish inventor Jan vonHeland several years to perfect, but it is now being sold around the world after first taking off on the beaches of Australia.
“I first got the idea when I was throwing a Frisbee upside down on the water trying to get it to bounce,” he said.
“I thought it would be good to get something that used the water to bounce off and began to experiment.”
Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower & Health) delivered this speech at JobsCentral Career & Learning Fair 2008 today.
The speech covered 2 main topics: Opportunities amidst economic uncertainty and Fair Employment Practices.
The economic outlook continues to be uncertain, with concerns over the impact of the US credit crisis, rising inflation, and weaker demand from our external markets. Some employers have become more selective and cautious in hiring. As a result, some jobseekers might find it more challenging to land their dream jobs. However, while the labour market outlook is not as rosy as before, our fundamentals remain strong.
We will continue to create many good jobs in sectors such as finance, aerospace, logistics, interactive digital media and tourism. Many employers are still actively looking to hire and invest in new talents.
Jobseekers who need more information on the opportunities in the wider economy can refer to the Career Compass and Labour Market Highlights. They provide a comprehensive overview of the developments in the current and future job market, including information on upcoming manpower demand and occupational requirements.
Years of education and training have equipped us with skills to fulfil our career aspirations. However, we must bear in mind that the final leap to secure our desired job is possible only because there is fair employment practices. We are fortunate that in Singapore, we do not have a serious problem with workplace discrimination. This is the result of our firm belief in meritocracy, which extends into fair employment practices.
While discrimination might be low, small pockets of our workforce could be facing challenges in employment search because of their age, gender, marital status, etc. Both workers and employers lose when there is workplace discrimination. While the worker is denied a fair opportunity, the employer limits his pool of possible talent and the chance of recruiting the best person for the job. More importantly, treating employees fairly and with respect creates a harmonious environment that better motivates and retains valued employees. This is critical for any business that seeks continuity and growth.
Yesterday we posted an article regarding the launch of Re-employment.sg, the government's initiative to assist employers in hiring older workers.
We are glad that Today's article reported that measures are also being made to help with insurance coverage for older workers. "WITHOUT steps to correct the situation, mature workers who wish to stay on the job once re-employment laws kick in could find a crucial element missing from their contract — medical insurance coverage.
Right now, the last entry age cap practised by the market to insure mature employees stands at 64.
Yesterday, the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup revealed it will soon release a list of insurers that have agreed to raise it to 65. And it hopes they can be persuaded to set the bar even higher.
“At 64 and 65, we are still okay. But we are talking to the insurance agencies about raising this cap,” said Mr Koh Jun Kiat, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation (Snef), at a forum to launch a new re-employment Web portal and guidebook.
He also raised the issue of allowing a mature worker to take a break before he starts his re-employment term.
“If the break is too long, there is a problem with continued medical insurance,” he said, explaining that the current standard for insurers to continue coverage without re-evaluation is up to a month.
He added: “We are also talking with insurance agents about lengthening this gap a little bit.”
At the same time, Mr Koh said, the 2012 legislation will be shaped so as to allow companies the option to let employees begin their re-employment term immediately.
“We will take this up to see whether the law can be crafted in such a way he can be re-employed the day after. So, there is no need to go for a break.”
Applauding these moves as a “natural progression forward”, Mr David Ang, executive director, Singapore Human Resource Institute (Shri), told Today: “Life expectancy has gone up. It would be good for insurers to review past practices which might have been based on parameters that have undergone some transformation.”
But he also proposed that companies consider a portable medical insurance scheme, with coverage at work tied not to companies but individuals.
To this end, he said, the Shri — along with some insurers — will next month launch such products.
Meanwhile, Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, warned of the costs of raising the last entry age cap beyond 65. “The older they are, the higher would be their insurance claim. So there will be higher premiums set for mature workers. Are employers willing to pay the higher premium?”
He suggested that the Government make it compulsory for every Singaporean to take up a national basic health insurance plan."
As more Singaporeans start to shop online, SMEs have to better equip themselves with IT innovation in order to get a slice of the market. This according to Senior Minister of State for Education and Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, who was speaking at the annual Infocomm Commerce Conference on Thursday.
According to a survey by the Infocomm Development Authority, the proportion of users who shop online has more than doubled from 17 per cent in 2003 to 35 per cent last year.
So, to help SMEs, a second infocomm resource centre (SIRC) is being set up to help SMEs learn more about IT and its applications to specific businesses.
Also in the pipeline is an i-directory which will be a one-stop portal housing an extensive list of infocomm products and services offered by SMEs in Singapore.
And with cyberspace, companies must always take into account online safety.
So, in addition to the new initiatives, a Cyber Security Awareness Alliance will help raise awareness and adoption of cyber security measures among businesses and even individuals.
During WWDC when Jobs launched the new iPhone 3G and everyone gasped at the "low" price, I was more interested in the Apps Store. At 5am, when I was listening to the keynote on a Qik stream, I had the "Eureka!" moment.
I used to work at a Research and Innovation Centre which did research work in Experience Design (XD) - an area of study popularised by Shedroff / Pines & Gilmore. In a nutshell, XD speaks about how every brand / product / service can be commoditized and there's a limit to profits you make from any brand / product / service.
There is more money to be made by selling the "experience cloud" around your brand / product / service especially AFTER consumers have purchased your product / service. You do this by introducing moments of engagement or touch points, so that the consumer will continually be reminded of your brand / product / service throughout their daily activities. The more "moments of truth" you can embed between your offerings and the consumer, the more successful your offering will be.
Apple are masters at doing this. Think iPod, iPhone, Macbook, iMac, iTunes Music Store, Apple TV, Apple accessories to complement your Apple products, and now Apps and MobileMe. They do this with heavy engagement between Ethnographers and Users of their products.
When I was at P&G, "Moments of Truth" are firmly etched in their brand philosophy. HP is another company to lookout for (reaching out to bloggers, marketing their PCs as a lifestyle necessity instead of a PC). Locally, I might also add that Singtel is slowly and steadily adopting this strategy.
The new iPhone 3G / iPhone 2.0 software really hit the nail. At a micro-level, how much profit can Apple make from selling an iPhone, after sharing with AT&T and overseas cellular providers?
Now fast forward to the Apps store and MobileMe. Sure, they have made a profit off you buying the device / call plan etc, but in order to generate continuous income, tadah! Apple presented the Apps store / MobileMe.
Either way, Apple earns. Selling the phones (Friggin' 1 million sold in 74 days) and selling the apps (10 million downloads) / pushing the convenience of the cloud.
Before I do the summary of TechCrunch's post, here's something you / your business should keep in mind.
Do not just sell products / services. Because products / services can be replicated, cheaper, faster, better than what you provide. There has to be an "sticky" factor for people to want to keep using your offering and more importantly, willing to pay more to enhance the initial investment they've made in the first place because they want to, not because they need to.
Back to the main reason for this post:
Development house taptaptap has just publish sale figures of their iPhone app. WhereTo retails for US$2.99 in the store and 24,094 copies were sold in the first month - netting the company just over US$50,000 in revenue after Apple took their cut (it currently ranks #69 on the top paid application list). Tipulator retails for US$0.99, and sold 3,168 copies which resulted in just over US$2,200 of revenue (it is currently unranked).
So question - If their products are ranked #69 and Unranked, how much are the top paid apps developers making? The current list can be found here.
NETS together with SingTel and United Overseas Bank announced the launch of a six-month trial which will enable Singaporeans to make payments using their mobile phones. The trial using Near Field Communications (NFC) commences immediately.
This public trial, involving 250 specially invited SingTel-UOB credit cardholders, aims to provide customers with smart, savvy and innovative solutions, allowing NETS and SingTel to be at the forefront of the mobile payment technology revolution. The aim of the trial is to allow NETS and SingTel to assess how consumers will use and adapt to this technology.
This public trial is a follow up of the September 2007 staff trial by SingTel and NETS that introduced the mNETS payment application (mNETS Wallet) and the mNETS Coupon application on NFC-enabled mobile handsets.
Participants of the public trial will also be able to make payments at more than 500 participating merchants island-wide who accept mNETS for payments. Users pay for goods and services easily by flashing their mobile phones at the NETS FlashPay readers at participating shops.
Participation in the NFC public trial is free-of-charge. SingTel and NETS will loan customers an NFC-enabled Nokia 6131 phone that functions as an mNETS Wallet. The SingTel-UOB credit card will be the default mode for topping up the stored value in the trial phone. There are no transaction fees or surcharges for purchases, and for top-ups using the SingTel-UOB credit card.
The key highlight of this trial is the innovative and convenient way for the participants to redeem coupons. Users simply open the coupon on their phones and flash it on a NETS FlashPay reader for the coupon to be automatically redeemed. NETS is the first in Asia to offer such an intuitive way of redeeming a coupon. The patent for this real-time coupon redemption feature by NETS is pending.
Thanks to Jems, I decided to sign up mobile broadband, with Singtel.
I spend 60% of my work hours using Wireless@SG and although the national initiative is commendable, the service is not reliable. I'm sure you have experienced network problems although connected into a full bar SSID. I also noted that sometimes POP / SMTP / MSN is blocked.
So far I've tested Orange's service and I couldn't even get it running consistently (Orange staff said it was something about Vista and my HP notebook not compatible with the Huawei modem). As for Green, well, go on... keep up the throttling and you'll see more customers leave.
The plan I got was the 1mbps plan, since you can upgrade (not downgrade) without penalty.
So being the Geek, here's the unboxing and also the speedtest (which was a little disappointing). By the way, installation was a breeze, plug in, install software, click connect and w00t!
So based on the website, I should be getting up to 1mbps downloads and 384mbps uploads right.... let's see how it goes (end of blog post).
The unboxing begins...
The results... Hmmm, not exactly as advertised huh. Around 1/4 of the maximum download speed. As usual, I'm sure the standard "depends on current location and surrounding conditions blah blah blah" disclaimer applies. I will test again and post an update when I'm at a public location - I shall hunt for a cellular tower! (Updated - new test at a public location yielded surprising results)
14 August 12pm - I've just tested at a public location. Nice!
Nonetheless, IMHO, the convenience it offers does surpass the download speeds it is capable of. After all I don't download torrents, mp3s, nor animes.
Did you know that there are 4 schemes which help employers offset any costs (re-training, offering flexible work hours and more) of hiring older workers?
The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) have launched a new website to guide employers and employees on the re-employment of older workers.
The website, www.re-employment.sg, is a one-stop information and resource centre to help employers and employees get started on re-employment before legislation is enforced in 2012.
The site has useful information like how Employers can implement re-employment:
Teens are getting more wired these days, and it seems that gossip, as a hallmark of teen social life, has also made its way online.
A Straits Times survey of 100 teens here revealed that almost all, or 94 per cent of respondents said they had a profile on at least one social networking site. Some teens have their profiles on as many as seven of these sites.
More than half the respondents said they visited Friendster or Facebook at least once a day. Some said they check their online profiles more than 10 times a day.
These teens spend hours online finding out the latest about their friends, chatting, sharing photos and updating their profiles with details of their lives - where they hang out, what they eat and whom they are dating.
"It's an addictive habit," Secondary 3 student Sofia Akram told The Straits Times. She also told the English daily that users on such social neteworking sites can add people they don't know, and that others can add them likewise. "As long as they look interesting, I want to find out more about them."
The Straits Times reported that studies confirm that this rapid and widespread adoption of profiles on social networking sites is a worldwide trend.
Experts say teens who use such social networking sites usually fall into two groups, according to The Straits Times.
The first group are the "deep" users whose lives exist largely online through chat applications, forums and blogs. They usually create well-designed profiles that prominently showcase their "friends", who can number in the hundreds or thousands.
Their profiles are also heavy on content, with details such as the user's preference for flowers and so on.
On the other hand, "shallow" users have profiles that are light on content. They only spend a few minutes updating their profiles and do so only two or three times a week.
In Singapore, teens usually fall into the first category, The Straits Times reported.
Mr Alan Rambam, a senior vice-president at Fleishman-Hillard, told The Straits Times, "In Singapore, both parents tend to be working. These kids may be the loneliest generation ever. Naturally, they will reach out for friends at every opportunity."
Dr Chung Wai Kung, a professor of sociology at the Singapore Management University also told the English daily that popularity of social networking sites may be because of the accessibility of technology here.
Parents have a right to be worried, as social networking sites can invite unwanted attention, The Straits Times reported. Drawing data from its survey, the newspaper said that 84 per cent of respondents said they received messages from strangers, of which 34 per cent wanted to meet in person.
Check out these 2 links for resume samples / templates. Some are definitely eye-catching, which does help differentiate in the clutter of resumes the recruiter might receive.
Here and here. As bonus, here's one that's really... extravagant and another that you can wear.
Demand for security guards growing as tourism industry booms - The number of newly trained private security guards in Singapore has tripled over the past year to 7,360, and demand is set to grow over the next few years.
The demand for security officers has gone up so much that companies are taking in untrained staff and sending them for training programmes.
Industry players said due to tourism growth and the development of mega retail and entertainment outlets, some companies have secured large contracts to supply security officers and have to fill up the shortfall in a short time.
It is estimated that the industry will need another 4,000 guards over the next three years.
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore said Monday its economy expanded at its slowest quarterly pace in five years and said it now expects exports to contract from year-earlier levels.
Gross domestic product expanded 2.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from a 6.9% expansion in the first quarter, according to a statement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The ministry lowered its export outlook, saying it now expects a contraction of 2% to 4% this year, compared with its previous forecast for an expansion of between 2% to 4%.
Singapore last week reduced its economic growth forecast for the year, saying it expects growth in the range of 4% to 5%, down from its earlier target of 4% to 6% growth.
Singapore's full year economic growth is likely to come in at the lower end of the revised four to five per cent range, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
The Ministry warned on Monday that Singapore is in for a rough ride ahead, although it will stay above water.
The second half of the year is also likely to look like the first half, which saw weaknesses in pharmaceuticals and electronics weighing down on growth.
Electronics will remain soft due to weak semiconductor demand, while biomedical manufacturing will see strong competition from generic drugs and approval delays.
Strengths remain the construction and services sector.
The Ministry also noted that labour productivity has continued to dip, especially in sectors like hotels and restaurants.
MTI said it expects to see job losses in sectors like manufacturing by year end due to a dip in labour productivity, reminiscent of cycles before.
However, the Ministry said that it is unsure of the magnitude of the job losses.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.1 per cent on year in the second quarter, down from 6.9 per cent in the first.
Techcrunch posted a posting from Jason's mailing list (CEO Mahalo.com) who has sat through 200 company demos in 10 days. Great advice / tips on how to deliver a killer pitch / demo. Thanks Jason.
"For the past 10 days I’ve sat through 200 company demos for the TechCrunch50 conference. These demos are mostly done over the phone for 10 minutes using the phone and web conferencing software like WebEx or Adobe’s wonderful new “Connect” service.
After doing 2,500 minutes of demos (40 hours) this year and many more last year for the conference, I’ve learned a lot about what makes for a great demo and what makes for a horrible demo. Since demoing your idea is a key to your success as an entrepreneur, I thought I would share everything I know in a few simple bullet points.
These tips are applicable to presenting in front of an investor, a partner as well as a demo style conference. Of course, every situation is different so consider these loose guidelines.
Background: The TechCrunch50 conference is taking places on September 8-10th in San Francisco and you can find more information here: www.techcrunch50.com. Mike Arrington of TechCrunch.com and I started the event last year as a place where fifty startup companies could launch their products without having to pay a fee (i.e. the incumbent conference called DEMO charges $18,500 to launch a startup company–that’s really low/abusive in my book). Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Sequoia Capital and a bunch of other fine partners have joined us in hosting the event.
1. Show your product within the first 60 seconds ——————————————- Most folks start their presentations with information like the size of the market they are tackling (tens of billions, we only need 1%!), their inflated corporate bios, the philosophical approach they’re taking, and boring Powerpoint graphics explaining some convoluted workflow of their product.
The longer it takes for you to show your product, the worse your product is. Folks who have a kick-ass product don’t spend five or ten minutes “setting the stage” or “giving the background.” Folks with killer products CAN’T WAIT to show you their product. Their demos start with their homepage and quickly jump into the users experience. If a picture tells a thousand stories, then a product demo tells a million.
Show your product immediately, and if you don’t have a product to show don’t take the meeting.
2. The best products take less than five minutes to demo ——————————————- The greatest tech products over the past 10 years would take no more than five minutes each to demo. For example:
a) Larry and Sergey could demo Google search in less than five minutes. Here’s a box, type something in and you get a huge reward.
b) Steve Jobs could demo the iPod in less than five minutes. Plug it in, put in your CDs and it syncs your music. Turn it on and use the wheel to select what songs you want to listen to.
c) Chris DeWolfe could demo MySpace in less than five minutes. Sign up, fill out your profile, and add your friends. For bonus points add some widgets to your page.
I think you get the idea: the better the product the LESS time it takes to demo. If your product demo takes more than five minutes to demo, it probably sucks. All the tiny little features that matter to you are of course important–God is in the details–however, when presenting your company, you don’t have to show them. Larry and Sergey wouldn’t open up the advanced search tab and the list of operators you can use in Google during a demo.
Steve Jobs does take the demo details to a fairly detailed level, but you and I are not Steve Jobs. There is only one Steve Jobs and there is only one Apple. You’re never going to build something as cool as Steve, and as such there is no need for you to talk about your product for five or ten minutes.
3. Leave people wanting more. ——————————————- If you take my advice in point two, then folks should be either blown away or intrigued by your core product. If they are not somewhere in that spectrum, you need to rebuild your core product.
When I pitched Mahalo to investors, I had five sheets of paper with different search results on each. I put them on a table and said which one is the best. Obviously I knew my result was the best, and that simple demonstration lead to MASSIVE discussion: how was the page built? how long did it take to build? what would it cost to make that page? how often do you need to update it? how can you scale that business? how many pages can you create before it breaks even?
It’s best for folks to discover the merits of your product for themselves, and it’s up to you to make such a compelling core product that they are intrigued enough to explore it.
4. Talk about what you’ve done, not what you’re going to do. ——————————————- Weak startups and their leaders seem to immediately start talk about “what’s next,” as opposed to focusing on the core product. Anyone can say we’re going to add: a mobile version, collaborative filtering, an advertising network, visualizations, a marketplace, a browser plugin, a browser and a social network to their product. In fact, given the amount of open source and off the shelf software out there, combined with the large number of developers in the world, anyone can bolt these things on to their service in a week or three.
Who cares what you’re going to bolt on to your startup? What really matters is the core functionality of your startup.
Steve Jobs has become at once the world’s greatest salesman and product developer because he only announces Apple’s achievements. He doesn’t waste time on what Apple’s going to do: he talks about the here and now. Microsoft’s old strategy was to talk about products that were coming and that put them in the horrible position of having to backpedal when they changed their mind about a product.
5. Understand your competitive landscape–current and historical. ——————————————- This year I’ve had three companies show me group SMS messaging products, and most of them did not know what UPOC.com was (Gordon Gould’s group SMS messaging service that was five years ahead of its time). I’ve had three or four companies over the past two years of TechCrunch50 conferences pitch me on Third Voice–the controversial “web annotation” service from Web 1.0. [Side note: I loved the concept of Third Voice so much I considered starting a company like it and even bought the domain name annotated.com.]
When I pitched the idea for Weblogs, Inc. to Mark Cuban, Yossi Vardi and Jeff Bezos, I understood all the niche email marketing and newsletter companies from the early and mid-nineties cold. I researched why they worked and why they failed, and I knew which ones were sold and bought and by whom. When I pitched Mahalo to Sequoia Capital, I knew the history of human-powered search and directories from DMOZ to Yahoo Directory to LookSmart.
If you don’t know the competitive landscape, and the shoulder’s you’re standing on, folks are not going to be comfortable giving you their money, time or attention.
6. Short answers are best. ——————————————- When taking questions about your product answer questions shortly. This is a very challenging thing for many people–including myself–to do. If you’re like me, you’ve probably thought out your startup’s issues a thousand different ways. When I sit at the poker table I play a game where I think out every possible scenario for not only my hands, but the hands of my opponents (this is fairly standard among advanced poker players from what I understand).
Say I have Ace King and I raised out of position and the button called my raise pre-flop. Then they re-raised me on the flop, which had an Ace. What does that tell me? They could have an ace, they could have two aces and have slow played me, they could have a medium pocket pair and they want to see if I have an ace, maybe they are on a flush or straight draw or maybe they suck at poker. Who the hell knows?!?! You can go insane trying to figure all these things out–that’s why poker becomes very addictive.
The point is all that inner thinking is chaos when you try to explain it to another person. It’s pure madness after 60 seconds of talking. The best thing to do is answer the question with the most concise answer. For example, when asked “what happens if Google enters your market?” answer quickly and with confidence:
a) Google has entered many markets, but they are only #1 in search and search advertising. They trail in social networking to MySpace and Facebook, in classifieds to Craigslist, in news to Yahoo and AOL, in email to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, and in instant messaging to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo.
b) We’re not sure if Google will enter our market, but hopefully we’ll have developed our product enough that it will be a real sustainable business by that time.
c) We think Google might enter our market at some point, and if they do they and their competitors will certainly consider buying us–creating a bidding war for our entrenched position.
d) Google is a very big company right now with a very big cash machine that they have to focus on and protect–they will never do our business with our level of focus. We will out execute them on all fronts.
These are all amazing answers (I did, after all, come up with them), and you can say them in around a minute. However, if you cram all four of these sentences together you’ve spoken for five minutes.
7. PowerPoint bullet slides are death ——————————————- Do not make slide after slide explaining your business in bullet points, because it’s really, really boring. Powerpoint/Keynote slides that are not boring include charts, product shots, feature set tables and the like. Things that explain big concepts with ease and grace are great, but bullet points of obvious facts show that:
a) you don’t have the ability to create a compelling story with data
b) you don’t think that much of the person being presented the information
I’m not a huge fan of “funny slides” or lots of graphics for graphics sake. You’re not pitching your company to get laughs–unless you’re on stage–you’re doing it to raise capital, close a partnership or get on stage at a conference. Keep it focused and to the point.
8. How to use this new device called the phone. ——————————————- When presenting over the phone use a handset and a land-line… only!
It’s amazing to me that any person doing a business call would conduct it on their mobile phone. Mobile phones sound horrible 95% of the time, and they frequently cut out. If you are presenting your company take it seriously and get yourself to a landline. You have limited time and don’t want folks to miss a single word.
Speakerphones are horrible, and putting the person receiving the demo on speaker phone during a demo is just disrespectful. You can hear all the rustling, side conversations and horrible echos when you’re on speaker phone. When doing a demo pick up the handset and speak. If you go to a Q&A session then use speaker phone. That’s why it exists.
Only use a headset if it is very, very high-fidelity and you have the microphone right up to your mouth. Also, don’t eat, drink or breath heavy into the microphone or you run the risk of sounding like an animal. I use an amazing Plantronics headset, and I like me some Green Matcha tea, but I hit the mute key when I sip!
I know it sounds crazy to have a discussion about how to use the phone, but the majority of these young people actually think it’s acceptable to have two or three drop offs in a call–it’s not. Grow up and get a land line.
9. How to handle questions you don’t know the answer to ——————————————- After you do your concise presentation you’re hopefully going to get a lot of questions. Here are some important tips to consider when you don’t know the answer cold:
a) take a moment to think about the question. You can even say “Hmmm… that’s a good question. Let me think about that for a second.” Folks appreciate a little consideration when someone takes a question.
b) if you don’t have an answer be honest and say you don’t. There are many ways to say this including: “I’m not really sure, I’m going to have to think about that for a bit and get back to you,” or “I’m not sure to be honest. What do you think?”
c) feel free to think out loud and brainstorm with the person. You can do this by saying “I’ve never really considered that. Perhaps you can expand the question a little and we can explore it right now.”
d) if you’re not sure of the answer you can always say you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. “I’m not sure how we would deal with a sudden spike in the cost of bandwidth, we would have to collect more information and answer that question down the road. It is a manageable risk factor I suppose. ”
The worst thing to do when you don’t have an answer is b.s. the person. No one has an answer for everything, except a b.s. artists. So, feel free to say you don’t know–folks find it refreshingly humble and honest.
10. Always confirm the time of your meeting/call, and always be 15 minutes early. ——————————————- People are really busy and meetings get mixed up. Every meeting or phone call I do is confirmed twice: once by email, and once on the day before the meeting. Reconfirming meetings makes you look like a true player and it costs you nothing. You do this by sending a simple email saying “Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at your offices at 123 Main Street at 3pm. If anything changes you can reach me on my mobile at 310-555-1212.”
Also, be early. Come on. If you’re doing a meeting with someone who might invest in your company, do a business deal with you, etc., you can show a lot of respect by being in their lobby or on hold on the conference call five to 15 minutes ahead of time. Don’t show up more than 15 minutes ahead of time or you’ll look like a stalker. If you get to your meeting 45 minutes ahead of time go to the Starbucks and buy yourself a treat for being so on top of things.
What are your best tips for giving a proper demo of your company on the phone or in person?
In your mind, what are the worst things folks have done during a presentation?"
Earning money for the family is the main reason why mothers want to return to the workforce. But they said on average, their paycheck has to be at least S$1,200 a month to make it worth their while.
These are some of the findings from a survey of 1,000 mothers by the support network, Working Mothers Forum, in April.
The pool of respondents was made up of 560 working mothers and 440 stay-at-home mothers who intend to re-enter the workforce.
37 per cent of the respondents said their main reason for stopping work was because they did not want to leave their children in childcare centres or with maids.
71 per cent of the stay-at-home mums said they wanted to work to earn money for the family. But 63 per cent of them said they were unable to find jobs that offer family-friendly working hours.
Whether it is pay or flexible working conditions, most of the mothers surveyed said employers and the government are in the best position to help them attain work-life balance.
Getting the right work-life balance could help boost Singapore's flagging birth rate.
"Work your tail off," keep a high profile, and find a mentor, veteran job coaches say.
While it is uncertain times for the job market in the US, are cutting staff as financial pressures mount. And while the U.S. unemployment rate has held steady at 5.5% for the last two months, there are no guarantees that workers—especially those between ages 50 and 60—will be able to avoid further cutbacks.
Older workers have experience and knowledge they can leverage to keep their jobs. But with staffing budgets increasingly under scrutiny, it may pay to be proactive. The first and most important move workers should make: Look for new experiences with their current employer.
Some tips:
"Be Visible"
Employees can raise their profiles when they make the effort to join special committees or even help organize a companywide social engagement.
"Cultivate a Mentor"
Workers who are more engaged with the day-to-day operations at their companies have a distinct advantage over those clock-punchers who focus solely on the tasks in their job descriptions. But staying in a job is also about building relationships. While it's advisable to work well with your peers, it never hurts to develop a close relationship with a mentor, particularly with someone higher up who can help keep you out of harm's way when the axman cometh.
"The main element in your career plan has to change from doing what you have to do to impress your superiors to doing what you have to do to impress yourself," says Haberfeld. Article Source BusinessWeek, Image Source Dreamstime. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group. Now on Mobile!
Mashable has come up with a list of 5 books that can help improve your thinking about the value of social media to the enterprise.
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it s unstoppable, it affects every industry and it s utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now.
When consumers you ve never met are rating your company s products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
"How do trends emerge and opinions form? The answer used to be something vague about word of mouth, but now it's a highly measurable science, and nobody understands it better than Clay Shirky. In this delightfully readable book, practically every page has an insight that will change the way you think about the new era of social media. Highly recommended." -Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail
Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
Written by an in-the-trenches practitioner, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement a successful Web analytics strategy. Web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company’s bottom line.
The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media
"As word of mouth loses opinion-forming power to word of blog, companies are faced with a revolution in how their brands and corporate image will be shaped in the future. Paul Gillin provides a very insightful and well-written guide on how to effectively benefit from these dramatic changes. A must read!" --Patrick J. McGovern, founder and chairman, International Data Group (IDG)
The Art of Strategic Listening
Listening To Your Customers’ Conversations Can Provide Big Dividends
Do you know what your customers or bloggers are saying about your company and your products? Marketers used to be able to assess the perception of their company or their products by simply monitoring the media and reading any letters of complaint that came by mail, but that was pre-internet and social networking.
Now there are more than 80 million blogs, as well as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, video aggregators like YouTube and EveryZing and thousands of other social media sites on the web where customers talk with each other and make all kinds of comments, good and bad about your firm, your competitors, and your industry.
Singapore's Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, cautioned on Thursday that the country's economic growth may remain weak for some time.
The minister was speaking at ST Aerospace's National Day observance ceremony.
Mr Tharman said that these are challenging times, with growth slowing down around the world, and Singapore should be prepared for weakness in its own economy for several quarters.
Economic planners around the world are closely watching the American economy, Mr Tharman continued to say.
"It is still moving down - the cycle," he said. "Some people say it will take as much as another year before the bottom is reached.
"We have to expect continued weakness in the global economy, which might extend into next year and we won't be able to avoid a slowdown if that happens."
"The situation now is different from what it was three months ago. The American economy is in a much more perilous state now and the risks facing the financial system, which is a global system and not just an American system, are still very substantial."
Mr Tharman also said he expects inflation to ease towards the end of the year, not just because of declining oil prices.
"Food prices have also somewhat levelled off. So our expectation is we should be within our latest inflation forecast of six to seven per cent - lower inflation at the end of the year compared to what we saw in the first half of the year.
"Singaporeans can expect to hear more about the state of the economy in the next few days. The Prime Minister is expected, in his televised National Day message, to give an update on growth forecasts for the year."
Meanwhile, Mr Tharman said he is confident that Singapore still remains a strong and fit economy, with investments still coming into the country.
The self-employed and informal workers are due to receive their first payment of Workfare on October 1.
But before that, they have to make Medisave contributions by August 31.
The CPF Board is urging those who have yet to do so to contribute to Medisave.
They can do so with cash or through NETS, or make out a cheque payable to the CPF Board or through an e-payment.
The self employed and informal workers stand to receive up to S$1600 in Workfare for work done for the whole of this year, of which up to S$800 will be paid out during the October 1 payment.
Meanwhile, employees who meet the Workfare Income Supplement criteria will also get their payment on the 1st of October.
Mint, the highly reviewed finance management site, just posted an interesting article on how you can establish your goals and work toward a day when you have enough money or alternative income to quit. Do visit the link above for full article.
Here's an extract:
Tip 1: Diversify your income sources - In addition to increasing your income, diversification can ensure that if one source of money dries up, you haven’t lost everything. Losing your job won’t mean the end of your income, and you will be in a position to ramp up one of the other sources to replace the lost salary.
Tip 2: Develop passive income streams - Even as you diversify your income sources, you’ll realize that there are only so many hours in the day. The beauty of passive, semi-passive and residual income is that these streams continue to generate money even while you are occupied at your regular job, meaning that you can increase your income exponentially without being limited to how much you can actively accomplish during working hours.
Tip 3: Pay yourself first - Make saving money a priority, and set aside a percentage of your income as savings.
Tip 4: Avoid debt and high interest rates - Huge credit card balances and car loans are two of the biggest pitfalls on the way to wealth.
Tip 5: Live like a millionaire - The Millionaire Next Door, that is. Mimic the frugal habits of self-made millionaires if you wish to join their ranks. They spend less than what they earn, research large purchases, avoid debt and pay cash for their vehicles. The very wealthy tend not to have especially expensive taste.
Tip 6: Invest wisely and regularly - Don’t invest in things you don’t understand, and make sure you diversify your investments to minimize your risk. Set up automatic investment contributions, and participate in any employer-matching plans available to you.
Tip 7: Stay married - Divorce is one of the leading destroyers of wealth in American families. The cost of divorce, legal counsel, child support and alimony add up to severely limit your ability to save money and grow wealth.
Tip 8: Track your finances - A written budget, whether it’s in your notebook or online at Mint.com, keeps you on track and gives you a visual representation of your overall financial picture.
Tip 9: Borrow carefully - Look for the lowest interest rates available, and only take out loans that make sense for your financial situation.
Early retirement or the opportunity to pursue your dream job? The choice is yours. Follow these easy tips and pretty soon the millionaire might not just be next door, he or she might just be living in your house.
Asia's workforce is becoming more individual-focused, with employees changing jobs more frequently and constantly searching for better opportunities, a study has found.
This shifting set of cultural norms and changing value of employees is expected to lead to "a significiant turnover rate" in critical talent roles, especially at the managerial and entry levels in the next three to five years, said the study commissioned by the Ministry of Manpower.
The study, carried out by Hewitt Associates, also showed that organisations have replaced seniority-based employment, with an emphasis on results and performance and identified three critical talent challenges that organisations in the region need to overcome.
The study found that the relatively small talent pool in Asia has resulted in a leadership crisis in many organisations, which may impede its future growth.
The greater emphasis on performance and customer orientation also means that employers will have to provide their staff with greater independence, empowerment, flexibility and challenging work, if they want to attract, motivate and retain the best workers, said the study.
'We are now seeing a 'supercharging' of these issues - shortage of talent and lack of experienced leaders - in environments where companies are trying to grow 10 to 50 per cent," said Mr Andrew Bell, Hewitt Associates, Global Leader for Talent and Organisation Consulting.
"The rapid flow of capital from West to East, where more than a billion dollars a week, for instance, flows in to China to establish new businesses, continues to sustain these challenges.'
Commenting on the Hewitt study findings, Mr Leo Yip, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower, said: 'Companies operating in Asia, the largest emerging market in the world, will face people challenges that are unique to the region.
"Adopting effective people strategies to address these challenges will be critical to leveraging the full potential of the region's workforce, and to sustained corporate competitiveness."
Underscoring the importance of effective people strategies for the growth and success of a company, Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive, of Singapore Workforce Development Agency, said: 'Many companies have realised that HR work no longer comprise traditional functions like payroll processing and staff welfare. It is much more than that - including talent development, organisational excellence, and moulding the culture of the organisation.
"This also means that HR work is no longer the job of just HR executives, but the job of everyone in the company, especially the bosses.'
The findings of the study will be presented and discussed at the upcoming inaugural Singapore Human Capital Summit (SHCS) on 'People Strategies for Asia', to be held From 22 to 24 Oct.
The summit will bring together global and regional industry and thought leaders, as well as government leaders from the region, to share and deliberate on leading ideas and practices in human capital management, and their application to businesses and organisations operating in Asia.
Come January 1 next year, businesses in Singapore will have a Unique Entity Number (UEN) to identify themselves when dealing with all government agencies.
This single identification number will be issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) to all entities registered in Singapore in a move that is aimed at streamlining processes.
Under the new system, a UEN will be issued by ACRA to all entities that have multiple interactions with government agencies by October this year.
About 330,000 or 85 per cent of companies and businesses here will use their current ACRA company registration number as their UEN, while 55,000 entities or 15 per cent of all companies in Singapore will be issued a new number.
These entities include Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), foreign companies, societies and management corporations.
Businesses have welcomed the move saying that this would simplify and reduce possible errors caused by the use of multiple numbers. Other government agencies have also echoed the same view.
Jim Stroud has a 2 parts article on how to "mine" resumes from Scribd.com, the User Generated Content - Online document repository site.
Scribd is like a YouTube for documents. on any given month, 17 million people research Scribd for documents of all types. Since Scribd launched in March 2007, it has become one of the top 300 websites on the Internet, receiving over 20 million monthly visitors. It has also accumulated over 17 billion words in its library, making it five times the size of Wikipedia!!!
A post on TheStar website highlighted his experience at a job interview in Singapore.
"I see the resurfacing of advertisements for non-existent overseas postings by a foreign company. A very simple job description is given. The salary and job positions seem very attractive.
A few years ago, I attended such an interview with a Singapore company, purportedly for a vacancy in a Pacific island. The interview was held at a hotel room.
The interviewee will be asked to fill up a simple form and to wait for the result. Later, a phone call will inform the interviewee of his success, but he will have pay the air fare to the Pacific island, which cost a few thousand ringgit, to a middleman.
The reason? This is to prove the applicant’s sincerity in wanting the job. It is claimed that in the past, some applicants who were not sincere returned after the company paid their air fare.
Is there some form of vetting or checks in place to weed out bogus job vacancy ads meant to cheat unsuspecting victims?
Just like “Scratch & Win” schemes and bogus pyramid schemes, the job scam has to be exposed.
I'm sure you have seen cleaners using pressure-water-sprays to clean the floors in public areas. Here's a great idea to leverage on their efforts, albeit probably not legal.
GreenGraffiti creates advertising on dirty city streets and walls using the clean, green power of plain water. Armed with just a template and a high-pressure water sprayer, the company has “cleaned” advertising messages out of the dirt on behalf of clients including Elle, Telfort and Universal Music.
No paper, no ink, no printing process—GreenGraffiti’s ads are completely carbon-neutral, it says.
They last up to six months, depending on foot traffic, and cost a fraction of the price of traditional outdoor media, the company asserts.
CurdBee is a safe and secure web-based billing application from Vesess. Use it to send clients invoices and then collect payments via PayPal or Google Checkout, billing them easily in the currency you choose.
2009 Outlook: Mr Beh Swan Gin, the Economic Development Board's (EDB) new managing director advised that Singapore is still on track for record manufacturing investments this year, the outlook for 2009 is 'murky' - no thanks to the fallout from the global credit crisis.
'There is no question that large investments being decided this year and 2009 will take into account the changing economic conditions,' said Dr Beh, who assumes the hot seat at EDB effective today. 'I think we need to see how the situation unfolds over the next few months.'
While he said that it's too early for EDB to give a guidance for 2009 - something usually done around January - Dr Beh nevertheless conceded in an interview with local media that 'I must say that this year, the picture is murkier than usual because of the US situation'.
EDB is 'reinforcing' or shoring up Singapore's economic pillars, Dr Beh said, by infusing knowledge-intensive aspects or activities within the various sectors like biomedical, semiconductors, or chemicals.
He also stressed there was a critical need for talent, both local and foreign. 'In the past, capital was critical for success, and attracting investments was key to that. Now, with knowledge and innovation, talent is critical - and that is an important challenge for Singapore.'
Dr Beh said the relatively new industry of water solutions is one example of what the EDB will focus on.
The sector falls under urban solutions, which, together with personal wellness and healthcare, and lifestyle products and services, are the three areas the board will emphasise on.
For example, for personal wellness and healthcare, it could look at how to make the systems more effective.
Dr Beh, incoming managing director, EDB, said: "It's important for Singapore but equally important is what companies in the region and all over the world will be looking for. So we can develop this solution through things like process re-engineering - maybe through better use of tech or IT."
AsiaOne reports that valued workers feel they have stake in company.
It is a sad fact that one in three Singapore workers is uncertain about his career (my paper, July 31).
Many have not received vocational guidance after completing their studies, and they just grab any job opportunity which comes their way.
Some are now unhappy and discontented with their work, after they realise that their qualifications are not relevant to their jobs.
Career uncertainty can adversely affect a worker's job performance, and it is imperative for managers to help employees chart their career paths.
It would be beneficial for a company to deploy its employees to different sections so that they will learn new skills, apart from gaining a better insight into the organisation?s operations.
Training and retraining as well as job-redesign can enhance an employee's loyalty to the company and his job satisfaction, thus minimising staff turnover.
I agree that one essential aspect of good management is understanding the aspirations and strengths of employees. They need guidance as to how they can contribute more to the organisation and what the future holds for them.
A worker who knows that his boss values his contribution will be an asset to the company, because such a worker believes that he has a stake in the business.
Pushing wages up to fully offset inflation is a risky move, as workers will end up paying ever-higher prices.
Labour chief Lim Swee Say highlighted this vicious circle on Thursday in a message for National Day, calling on workers to moderate wage expectations.
'Instead of pushing wages up to fully offset inflation, we must continue to link built-in wage increase to productivity gain and help our people through various non-wage measures', he said.
This will prevent a 'price-wage spiral'.
His message came as the second-quarter jobs figures released by the Mnistry of Manpower on Thursday showed job creation moderated to 70,600 from April to June and the unemployment rate creeping up to 2.3 per cent.
Singaporeans seeking jobs in the months ahead face the prospect of a slowing labour market.
The reason: the shrinking pool of new jobs in two sectors, manufacturing and services.
It would have been worse if not for the golden performance of the construction sector, judging from new figures from the Manpower Ministry.
These show that employment in the sector increased by 22,100 jobs in the second quarter this year. This is double the 10,900 new construction jobs added in the same quarter last year.
However, the overall job market is less buoyant.
'Outside of construction, employment growth has moderated from the previous quarter,' said the ministry yesterday when it released the second quarter's job data.
New jobs rose by 70,600, which it notes is 'slightly lower' than the 73,200 in the first three months of this year.
Analysts see this shift as signalling a possible slowdown in jobs, with employers now more cautious about hiring.
'We feel a bit more caution in the air,' said regional economist Song Seng Wun of CIMB-GK Research.
It's no longer just real estate, even virtual estate can be undervalued. NYTimes article reported that Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was “very, very poorly done,” and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000.
Mr. Hermansen, 30, is among the latest wave of entrepreneurs who, like the day traders and real estate investors before them, are looking to make a lot of money without much effort.
They use little more than home computers and free software to buy Web sites that appeal to a small and specific niche. Then they fix up the sites with hopes of reselling them for far more than they paid.
The changing economics of the Web have made it easier to find and exploit niche communities on the Internet. The Internet boom of the 1990s spawned companies like Pets.com that were Web versions of brick-and-mortar stores. They required stockpiling products and shipping them to customers. But that model came crashing down with the Web bust of 2000.
Since then, building niche Web sites and small-scale online stores has become cheap and easy. Free software, advertising systems like Google’s, and “drop shipping” services that allow Web site owners to handle products through a third-party supplier, have lowered the cost of doing business.
Instead of selling goods and services, analysts said most flippers are looking into the easiest way to make a quick buck, by tapping into specialized advertising.
The number of contract and casual workers in Singapore increased by 12.1 per cent over the past seven years, from 59,400 in 2001 to 183,700 in 2007.
