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DEMAND for Singapore offices is likely to fall to recession-level lows next year and in 2010, resulting in the biggest excess supply of office space in 20 years, said Credit Suisse yesterday.
It expects office vacancy rates to hit a high of 16.5 per cent in 2010 - up from an islandwide vacancy of about 2 per cent currently - as firms’ expansion plans are hit by the global financial turbulence.
Office rentals are also predicted to peak earlier than expected this year, and fall 50 per cent by 2011, said research analyst Shirley Wong, who has downgraded the Singapore office trusts sector to underweight.
After her report was released, office trusts CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) and Suntec Reit saw large drops in their unit prices that put them among the worst-performing property stocks yesterday. Property counters fell across the board as the wider stock market faltered.
CCT fell 17 cents to its lowest level in almost four years, while Wing Tai and Keppel Land each dropped more than 6 per cent to three-year lows.
‘Focus of the office sector has always been on supply, but actual demand is hurting, and repercussions from the US economic shocks could strain it further,’ Ms Wong said in the report. Tenants are resisting rent rises, while capital values have been flat for three quarters and vacancies have risen for two quarters.
But not all analysts are as bearish.
The supply of offices in the pipeline could be affected by construction delays, while property market sentiment and prices may start picking up at the end of next year when the integrated resorts take shape, said Kim Eng analyst Wilson Liew.
‘I do not foresee drastic cuts in the headcounts of financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific and, in fact, the private banking sector may provide some support.’
But Mr Liew conceded that the looming imbalance caused by more supply and less demand will ultimately lead to lower office rentals. He expects a moderate decline in rents of 10 to 15 per cent between now and the end of next year.
More broadly, property developers may soon be forced to write down their assets as real estate prices fall around the world, said another Credit Suisse research analyst in a separate report.
Developers were holding out for a recovery in sentiment, but ‘a confidence crisis from the recent near-collapse of global financial markets could hasten and steepen price falls’, said Ms Tricia Song.
Catalysts include the large upcoming supply of homes, a slower expatriate influx, potential job losses, and delays to the completion of the integrated resorts.
Ms Song noted that major write-downs in previous property downturns triggered developers’ stocks to plunge as much as 79 per cent in 1998 and up to 50 per cent in 2001.
‘CapitaLand and Keppel Land wrote down the most and could do so again due to aggressive acquisitions and revaluation gains in recent years,’ she added.
The only major property counters spared yesterday’s carnage were GuocoLand, up one cent at $1.85; CapitaMall Trust, up six cents at $2.31; and Bukit Sembawang, up 10 cents at $6.30.
Average monthly rent at Raffles Place slips 1.4% to $17.64 psf in Q3
GRADE A office rents in Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD) have declined for the first time since the office market troughed in 2004.
The average gross monthly Grade A rental value for the Raffles Place area slipped 1.4 per cent to $17.64 per square foot (psf) in the third quarter, from $17.89 psf in the preceding quarter, according to the latest data from Knight Frank.
The Suntec/Marina Centre/City Hall area led the declines in Grade A office rentals in Q3, with a 6.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall to $15.13 psf. In the Shenton Way/ Robinson Rd/Tanjong Pagar area, the drop was 2.8 per cent, followed by a 2.7 per cent decline along Orchard Road.
Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said that he expects office rentals to continue declining by 14-19 per cent islandwide in the next 12 months (from current levels) as the global financial turmoil and possible mergers and acquisitions contribute to consolidation and reduction in office demand.
Giving her take on weakening office demand, DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah said: ‘Most companies are in cost containment mode and would be looking for ways to manage the increase in their accommodation costs. There has also been quite a lot of leakage of CBD office demand to business parks and vacant state properties converted to offices.’
Mrs Ong reckoned that headline office rents may not come down much but noted that leasing incentives like rent-free periods have started to reappear. Agreeing, an analyst said: ‘Major landlords will try to maintain headline rents, because once rents come down, it affects their whole portfolio.’
Besides weaker demand for office space amid the financial turmoil, Knight Frank’s Mr Mak attributed the softening rentals in Q3 to the government’s efforts to increase office supply (including transitional office sites). ‘In addition, landlords are more cognisant of the substantial supply of office space that will be completed from 2010 and have become more realistic and flexible in their rental expectation when it comes to lease negotiations; they want to hold on to their tenants and maintain their buildings’ occupancy rates,’ Mr Mak said.
The fall in the average Grade A Raffles Place rental value in Q3 marks the first quarterly decline since Q2 2004. This incipient weakening follows a rapid escalation in office rentals over the past two years on the back of tightening supply and strong demand from occupiers, including global financial institutions expanding their operations in Singapore. Average Grade A Raffles Place rents surged 82 per cent last year and that was on top of the 67 per cent gain posted in 2006, according to Knight Frank.
But it’s a different story now. ‘Since Q1 2008, there appears to be a crack in the growth momentum for office demand in the Downtown Core area due to external factors such as the US sub-prime crisis that began in the second half of last year,’ said Mr Mak.
The slowdown in demand in the Downtown Core area - which includes the key office districts like Raffles Place/Marina Bay, Shenton Way and Marina Centre - and tapering off in rentals in Q3 does not come as a surprise, he adds. ‘The tenants in this area are primarily financial institutions, many of which had already completed their expansion or consolidation plans over the last 24 months and some are adopting a more cautious approach by putting any further expansion plans on hold,’ Mr Mak observed.
Knight Frank’s data showed that Grade B offices in Singapore also experienced downward pressure on rentals in Q3. The biggest fall was in the Orchard Road location, where the average rent decreased 7.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $10.70 psf a month in Q3. Raffles Place and Shenton Way/ Robinson Rd/Tanjong Pagar Grade B offices were less impacted by easing office rentals and dipped by 1.8 per cent and 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter respectively.
As a whole, offices in non-CBD locations also mirrored the general slowdown in rental in Q3. Rentals continued to weaken for the Beach Road/Middle Road area, with a 3.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter drop. Suburban areas too met a similar fate with quarter-on-quarter rental decreases ranging from 1-8 per cent.
Looking ahead, Knight Frank said that in the short term, the beleaguered financial markets are expected to lead to many firms either postponing their expansion plans or consolidating their space usage. Restructuring at some organisations could lead to sub-letting of excess space to ease cashflow problems.
IT IS known as the gap year for grown-ups - a breather from the rat race. And the best part is, you get to keep your job.
This is the time-out from work called a sabbatical - the holy grail of usually long-serving executives who crave a little perspective and a radically different life - for a while.
And no, it is not a religious holiday. But in many ways, a sabbatical can recharge your spiritual and physical batteries, break up the routine nature of your life, and empower you with more energy and motivation when you do return to your career.
Chances are, you've heard of it before, but have not seen it widely practised. The good news is, human resources (HR) consultancies in Singapore say there is a growing trend of employees seeking such sabbaticals, and firms granting them.
A sabbatical, essentially, is a mutual agreement between you and your employer, in which you are granted extended leave.
It could range from a couple of months to as long as a year, either paid or unpaid - and is outside of your normal annual leave entitlements.
Some common reasons for wanting the time off are a desire to travel, rest, pursue further education, spend time with the family, or just simply to re-evaluate life priorities, said Ms Joanne Chua, manager of Robert Walters' HR recruitment division.
While she notes that people who seek such time-outs are usually in their 30s, other consultants say it can be taken by someone of any age. What is more important is their years of service.
HR consultancy Robert Half's Singapore managing director Tim Hird points out that employees who have a good track record in performance and quantum of service tend to fare better in getting sabbaticals, where their job is kept for them while they are away.
'If someone has worked in a firm for say, 10 years, the sabbatical is generally approved. It's a good staff retention tool. It's a bit like getting a bonus - but you have to earn it,' he said.
Unpaid leave is the most common. Paid sabbaticals are rare but they do exist, he said. For example, US technology firms like Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk, do give executives paid leave of up to eight weeks, he added.
The benefits of taking a sabbatical are well-documented. Companies which have sabbatical policies - and they are usually multi-national companies (MNCs) - claim it is a great way to retain staff, boost productivity and provide opportunities for new challenges and growth for their employees.
Hewitt Singapore's compensation and benefits leader Samir Bedi said employees tend to come back to work with more well-rounded personalities, renewed enthusiasm and energy.
But taking unpaid leave is not all a bed of roses.
Some drawbacks that consultants highlight are: Missing out on developments in the industry, potential loss of business deals and revenue, and also, competition from rivals who will take the opportunity to build relationships with clients during your absence.
In addition, while some firms may be open-minded about sabbaticals, this is not true across all industries.
Robert Walters' Ms Chua says: 'I wouldn't say this is frowned upon in Singapore but neither is it generally accepted. It is more common in Europe and the States.'
Taking sabbatical leave is something fairly new in Asia, and challenging for employers as they have to find a replacement to take over someone's duties.
'Taking unpaid leave is particularly challenging in sales jobs,' she added. Also, the company may have evolved while you are away and the role may no longer exist.
Sabbaticals tend to be more common for certain professions, for example, in the academic field.
Lecturers, for example, are usually granted sabbaticals to further their own goals after a number of years in tenure.
One teacher, Ms Ng Yilan, 26, said she is already contemplating a sabbatical in a couple of years.
'Many of my colleagues have requested and got them. It's a way to prevent us teachers from burning out,' she said.
In other sectors, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there is more of a stigma attached to extended time-outs.
Senior HR manager Ko Lay Tin told The Straits Times that her firm - a mainboard- listed SME - does not approve unpaid leave unless there is a very strong reason, such as further education, to learn relevant skills, or for health reasons.
'For smaller firms, it's a challenge to find someone to take over certain duties. Even if we engage temporary staff, they face a steep learning curve,' she said.
Mr Darren Ellis, 34, who has worked in Singapore the last four years, also agrees that it is easier to take unpaid leave if you work in an MNC, which is more likely to have the resources to manage the absence of one member of staff.
'I do think sabbaticals are a great idea - provided they're not abused. They must be taken for the right reasons,' he added.
Some questions that consultants say employees should consider when thinking about sabbaticals are:
Can you afford to take unpaid leave? For how long?
Can your work be covered during your absence?
Will your long-term absence affect clients or suppliers?
Can you commit to coming back to the same job?
Then there is also the matter of what you should do on your sabbatical.
Travelling is a popular option, and many professionals may even experience life-changing encounters that equip them with a broader perspective on life and the business world when they return to work.
There are some websites, such as www.realgap.co.uk, which offer paid work abroad, or volunteer programmes where individuals can go to a foreign destination to do something radically different.
Of course, there is also the option of furthering the skills in your field, for example, by applying for a professional fellowship abroad related to your job.
The possibilities are endless and the world is your oyster. And the good news is, companies in today's world face a serious shortage of specialised talent, said Mr Hird.
'HR and employment policies can, and have to be, creative to suit the demands of the individuals,' he said.
People seeking sabbaticals are prepared to make sacrifices professionally, or take risks, to provide for their own long-term well-being, he added.
It is no wonder that many companies now realise that one way of keeping the brightest in their employ is to let go of them for a while.
SINCE the start of this year, about 262,000 people have claimed Workfare income supplements. The state has given out $272 million, which works out to an average of about $1,000 per claimant.
Amid global financial turmoil, and within Singapore declining real wages, a less rosy jobs outlook, talk of a technical recession and record-high inflation, there’s a distinct possibility that jobs will shrink or disappear, with wages eroded by loss of overtime pay, pay cuts, or entire jobs being lost.
Will there be more claims for Workfare payouts in the next one or two years? Given the existing criteria which limits Workfare to those aged above 35 who earn below $1,500 a month, chances are that if the economy slows, the number of claimants will go up.
But Workfare, as currently structured, potentially leaves out low-wage workers at their most vulnerable times: if they lose their jobs altogether. Before Singapore faces the prospect of job losses on the scale of what happened in the early 2000s, it’s timely to review Workfare to plug the glaring gap that now exists in this otherwise stout social safety net.
Workfare is an income supplement scheme targeted at low-wage workers. It is contingent on work - which means only those who are already working get to benefit from it. The payout ranges from about $80 to $1,600.
Workfare marks a significant development in the People’s Action Party’s welfare philosophy.
From giving payouts only to the indigent (the destitute sick on Public Assistance), in the 1990s, the Government extended welfare to the interim (three- month payouts for the temporarily unemployed).
In 2006, welfare became institutionalised via Workfare - which is not interim but permanent; and not for the indigent or destitute, but for able-bodied workers.
While laudable, Workfare’s design now leaves a big hole in the safety net by not covering the low-wage worker when he loses his job.
This is not a problem in a galloping economy with jobs galore. But if the economy slows and tens of thousands of job losses occur - as happened around 2000 - an ironic situation will arise where those who hold on to their jobs qualify for state handouts, while those who have lost even their $1,000-a-month job get little assistance. This gap has to be fixed, by tying Workfare payouts not only to paid work, but also to training.
There are two key advantages to such an approach. The first is that it allows those who lose their jobs to continue on Workfare, if they go for training to help them become employable again. This removes the perverse outcome of removing help for the jobless who most need it.
The second advantage of tying Workfare to training is that it helps tackle the root problem of low-wage workers, which is their low skills.
Consider that Workfare is given out to those aged above 35. As the policy now stands, there is nothing to prevent a 35-year-old from becoming a permanent low-wage worker, content with a low salary and getting annual top-ups from the state. In theory, someone could be on Workfare for a good 30 years of his or her life. In that sense, Workfare can reduce the incentive to upgrade skills and get a higher-paying job, if there is a risk a worker’s new salary tips him out of the Workfare net.
Here’s where the experience of Denmark comes in useful. It has bucked the trend of high tax, high spending, high unemployment that cripples European welfare states. Its high taxes have instead created a flexible, competitive economy with low unemployment.
The hallmark of its social security system is ‘flexicurity’ - which allows for flexible hiring and firing so companies can adjust work practices according to production needs, and ties welfare and unemployment payouts to work and training.
Key to the Danish system are government-sponsored training programmes which give workers the security of knowing they get paid while undergoing skills training to prepare for new jobs. At the same time, unemployment benefits give them the security to tide them over while searching for a new job.
The result is a highly flexible labour force willing to improve skills and try new jobs. One estimate indicated that 800,000 Danes, or about 30 per cent of the labour force, change jobs each year, mostly to better positions.
Some form of training-for-Workfare benefits can be introduced in Singapore’s Workfare system, to motivate today’s low-wage workers to get reskilled and graduate out of Workfare to become tomorrow’s middle-wage worker.
There are lessons to be drawn from the experience of the Skills Redevelopment Programme introduced in 1997. Workers could get trained during working hours, and employers were paid from a mix of government and employer funds for workers’ time spent on training.
When the economy slowed down after the Asian financial crisis, SRP-sponsored training became a win-win option for workers and employers.
Instead of retrenching, employers reduced their wage bill by sending workers for training, and clawing back some of their wages through state-sponsored training grants. Instead of losing their jobs or having a shorter work week, workers spent their excess time on productive training that gave them a leg up when the economy improved.
Workfare can be tied to a similar programme. Or benefits can be structured in such a way that it encourages workers to go for training, and incentivises employers to send their workers for training rather than retrench them.
Workfare was introduced about 21/2 years ago amid a booming economy. With an economic downturn not unlikely, it is timely to improve this safety net so it covers low-wage workers during bad times when job losses are feared.
Global energy demand is expected to double by 2050, with much of this driven by emerging Asian markets like China and India.
To meet these surging needs, Shell Global Solutions is looking to increase its manpower in Asia by over 10 per cent in the next two to three years.
Shell Global Solutions is the technical service and consulting arm of international oil giant Shell. It also works with other big players in the region including Petronas and Petro China.
China currently has nine refineries capable of producing 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
It plans to increase the number of refineries to 31 in the next 10 years.
To keep up with the fast pace of growth in Asia, Shell Global Solutions aims to beef up its almost 800 strong workforce to 900 in the next 1 to 2 years.
Vice-president of Business Development at Shell Global Solutions, Wayne Hutchinson, said, "Currently we service 70 per cent of this region (in Asia)... and we will be looking to get that to 100 per cent as soon as possible and also to look at servicing other regions from Asia."
As oil prices continue to rise on dwindling supplies, Shell is also continuing to pursue alternatives to cope with growing energy demand.
Hutchinson said, "Shell Global Solutions is working with Shell on a wider aspect of research and development in a number of technical areas, examples being bio-fuels where we (are) looking at developing second generation bio-fuels - creation of bio-fuels using the waste products from bio-production."
Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still enjoying global demand for their products and services despite the ongoing financial turmoil that has hit some of the biggest companies in the world.
While exports to the United States are slowing, some of the slack is being taken up by demand from Asia, Europe and as far away as Latin America and Russia, said Mr Png Cheong Boon, the new head of Spring Singapore.
'For our SMEs, there are still growth opportunities in different parts of the world and in different sectors,' said Mr Png, 38, in his first media interview since assuming the position of chief executive officer on Sept1. He had been deputy CEO since July 2003.
He said that despite the global slowdown, Spring has not seen a significant drop in business from local SMEs which have export operations.
In fact, the order books of smaller firms from industry sectors such as offshore and marine, oil and gas, transport and aerospace remain strong.
'The complaint from SMEs now is that they can't find enough manpower to fulfil those orders,' he said.
Even traditional sectors like furniture and textile production are reporting healthy sales.
'SMEs will also continue to play a very important role in anchoring a lot of the foreign multinational corporations (MNC) here,' he said.
'In particular, MNCs with IP-intensive products and services prefer to work with Singapore companies because of our strong respect...for IP,' added Mr Png, who was previously with the Economic Development Board, at which he spent 10 years.
SMEs are everywhere but their low profile means their role in the economy is 'historically' underestimated.
'One will find that it is always an SME that is either the supplier, distributor or even the manufacturer,' he said.
'The fact that they are able to produce good products and at competitive prices is proof that our SMEs have been doing a pretty good job.'
Official figures show that SMEs here account for 48per cent, or $107billion, of Singapore's gross domestic product.
They also employ 1.7million workers, or six out of every 10 in the local workforce.
Last year alone, SMEs added about 145,000 new jobs to the market.
According to Mr Png, the key to maintaining the solid performance is for local SMEs to stay competitive - something he said Spring would continue to focus on under his leadership.
He told The Straits Times that Spring would adopt a four-pronged strategy to help SMEs here become more innovative and competitive.
The first is to ensure that the local business environment continues to support 'enterprise formation and growth'.
This includes increasing the ease of doing business, such as reducing regulatory burdens and red tape, as well as providing easy access to business advice and support services.
'To this end, EnterpriseOne is a key initiative where SMEs...can access information pertaining to government services and programmes,' said Mr Png.
Second, to address different needs of SMEs from different sectors, Spring will work with industry associations to 'help propel the industries' growth'.
This will involve training specialised manpower, setting up technology infrastructure, and upgrading specific capabilities within different sectors.
'Through the Lead programme...we will support industry associations that are willing to take the lead to drive their industry growth,' said Mr Png, referring to Spring's Local Enterprise and Association Development.
Third, Spring will continue to provide funding or assistance to nurture technologically-savvy and innovative start-ups so that they can compete globally.
'Hopefully, some of them will grow to be the next Hyflux or our own Google.
'But these are long-term initiatives and we are likely to see some results only in seven to 10 years.'
Lastly, Spring will groom promising SMEs into innovative global businesses.
It has already taken 500 to 600 SMEs under its wing with the goal of helping them bump up their yearly turnovers from $10-20million, to $50-100million.
'At that size, they will be able to compete more effectively and tap on various sources of financing...to fund their growth.'
Spring aims to achieve that result by offering the SMEs more assistance in financing, markets exploration, management and technical know-how.
Mr Png said the pro-enterprise agency's plan is to ultimately expand the number of firms under the programme to about 1,000 SMEs within three years.
Social Networking sites can be much more than fun distractions and a way to keep track of your friends. Used correctly they can be very powerful List building tools.
Websites like Twitter, Stumbleupon, Hubpages, Squidoo and Facebook are excellent tools for networking with and marketing to others in your niche. They are also great ways to drive traffic to your websites. If you want to build a niche list they are an invaluable resource.
The Micro-blogging site Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to follow one another through posts of 140 characters or less. It is a great place for posting small bits of information and for directing people to blogs or squeeze pages.
Stumbleupon is a social bookmarking site that works from a tool bar downloaded to your browser. It allows users to discover and rate web pages and ultimately functions to give social validity to some sites over others. The more your site is liked the higher value it is given by search engines. Stumbleupon is also a great tool for finding others in your niche.
Social Networking sites are extremely valuable tools for building niche lists. You don’t want to send spam or blatant advertising through these sites, but you can drive prospects to your squeeze page or your website where you can give them an incentive to share their contact information with you through an opt-in box.
The goal with using any of these sites is to build up your list. If you can attract people in your niche market, drive them to your site and have them sign up for your mailings, suddenly you have a growing list of people who are interested in the products you are offering.
Twelve companies in the tourism industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today as part of their commitment in addressing the perennial concerns of staff retention and turnover.
They have pledged their commitment to a new programme called Advance with Skills (ASP) under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) system, which will provide a clear pathway to promotion for staff.
The ASP is a $1.5 million collaboration between the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), the Tourism Management Institute of Singapore (TMIS) and industry partners.
It comprises two key components - skills upgrading through training under the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) system; and the adoption of WSQ into the company's HR system. Workers employed by participating companies can receive full scholarships to upgrade and professionalise their skills thus enjoying a clear promotion pathway in the company.
WDA and TMIS (a Continuing Education and Training centre appointed by WDA for the Tourism sector) will also work with companies to set aside 500 WSQ scholarships for new or existing staff under the ASP.
Ms Chan Guat Cheng, Executive Director of Chan Brothers Travel Pte Ltd said, 'With the tight labour market, the ASP is a timely programme to help companies adopt a holistic approach to attract, train, develop and retain talent. Through a structured progression pathway, our staff can look forward to better development opportunities and even better prospects of promotion as they advance with skills under the WSQ system.'
Apart from the provision of full WSQ scholarships, companies will also be incorporating the WSQ framework into their HR practices, specifically in the areas of recruitment, performance management and talent development. This means staff can have a clearer understanding of the competencies they should possess in order to perform well at their current job level or even at the next job level.
'We hope that the ASP will benefit at least 500 Tourism workers over the next three years. By providing the means for new and existing workers to upgrade their skills and rise up within the sector through WSQ training, the programme aims to reduce staff turnover for companies and raise the quality of the Tourism workforce by allowing workers to advance in their career with skills', commented Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive of WDA.
THE proposed changes to the Employment Act may see more local workers coming under its umbrella, but two non-government organisations (NGOs) want the protection extended to domestic workers too — including the provision of the latest maternity benefits.
Describing them as the “poorest of poor workers in Singapore in terms of wages, legal protection, occupational mobility and other conditions of employment”, the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (Home) and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) have urged the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to ensure that these workers get “full and equal protection” under the Act.
These would include a minimum salary, hours of work, rest days, paid annual leave and sick leave as well as maternity protection and benefits.
Domestic workers here, most of whom are women, number about 180,000, and the NGOs said that Singapore should take the cue from Hong Kong in ensuring that these workers have a statutory weekly rest day, public holidays, maternity leave and the right to a minimum wage.
Asked if domestic helpers should be allowed to give birth here, Home’s executive director Jolovan Wham told Today: “We don’t have a view on that yet. But we are suggesting that they be given the 12-week maternity leave currently available toeither deliver their babies here or back in their home country.”
Work permit and security bond conditions prohibit female work permit holders, including maids, from getting pregnant.
Another reason to bring domestic workers under the Employment Act: An employer would not be able to terminate her without the required notice period or payment in lieu of notice, or sack her immediately without the due process of an inquiry, said Home and TWC2.
The two groups also argued that the current standard contract agreed by the accreditation bodies, CaseTrust and the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), does not provide for paid sick leave, annual leave and public holidays. Nor does it specify expected work hours and payment for overtime work. These should be brought in line with current labour legislation, they argued.
The submission is part of a broader feedback to the MOM, which is reviewing the Employment Act. The MOM has expressed the need to “take a balanced approach between employment protection for workers and maintaining Singapore’s labour market flexibility and competitiveness” in updating the Act, which covers about 1.4 million workers. It was last reviewed in 1995.
The NGOs, in supporting the MOM initiative, said the proposed amendments to the Act should also reflect the interests of migrant workers, who form a significant proportion of low wage workers in Singapore. There are about 600,000 work permit holders here (excluding domestic workers), they said.
Alexandra Hospital, SingHealth are theonly winners from Asia.
THEY have been the pin-up organisations for re-employment in Singapore, retaining between 80 and 90 per cent of their staff who turn 62.
But numbers alone do not make Alexandra Hospital and SingHealth progressive employers. It takes positive workplace policies such as employee benefits and opportunities for career development.
Yesterday, the health organisations measured up on these counts and more, not only in Singapore but on the world stage, when they bagged two of the 10 International Innovative Employer Awards.
The accolade, in its inaugural year, is given by the American Association of Retired Persons, a United States-based non-profit organisation representing 40 million members aged 50 and over.
Alexandra Hospital and SingHealth were two of 14 organisations here that were nominated, and ended up the only two winners from Asia, with the other eight coming from Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.
So, what sets the pair apart?
“Their holistic and proactive approach toward employability and ageing,” said Mr Gerard Ee, chairman of the Council for Third Age (C3A), which worked with the labour movement, the employers’ federation and the Workforce Development Agency to select the Singapore representatives.
For example, at Alexandra Hospital, where 14 per cent of staff are over 50, there are programmes such as HOP@Work to help mature workers manage their health and lifestyle better.
“We get staff over 40 to have their health checked, and if a medical condition is found, we get them on medical intervention. It’s not enough to retrain employees. If you want your staff to work into their golden years, they need to be fit,” said acting director of human resource M K Fatimah.
“Ultimately, patients benefit when staff are happy and are able to give their best.”
Meanwhile, SingHealth’s Silver Connection Movement — in place since 2006 to hire matured workers and enhance their employability through retraining, job re-design and flexi-work arrangements — certainly seems to be well received.
For instance, retired nurse Lau Gek Boon, 66, is happy in her new role as patient relations ambassador.
“Working from home allows me to look after my grandchildren as well as contribute to the health industry. My job is to ring up discharged patients, get feedback from them on how they’re doing as well as the quality of hospital service. I enjoy working and hope to continue for as long as I can,” she said.
While there is a labour shortage in the healthcare sector, it is not the main reason for re-hiring matured workers, say the organisations.
“Mature staff are an asset. They don’t just take care of patients; they give advice and because they are more experienced and older, they’re able to empathise with patients better and this is important in patient care,” said SingHealth’s group HR director Geraldine Lee.
Mdm Lau, for instance, can tap on 42 years of experience.
With re-employment legislation due to take effect in 2012, the likes of Alexandra Hospital has teamed up with the Association of Small Medium Enterprises and the Enterprise Development Centre on a programme called Prepare (Programme for Re-employment Practices: A Roadmap for Employers) to provide workshops and mentoring assistance to employers.
Next up, though, for the restructured hospital and SingHealth: A date withMr Lim Boon Heng, Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office and chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Ageing, who will present them their awards on Oct 17. Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
As a result of globalization, the government of Singapore is offering many opportunities for starting a business at ease. You can become a sole proprietor of your business provided you know the procedures and steps involved in the start up stages. Sole proprietorship is the most simple and flexible business structure that has only one owner. Profits from this business are liable for tax at personal income tax rates.
Almost anybody can register with Singapore government for opening a company as a sole proprietor. Generally there are no restrictions for anyone to become a sole proprietor of a company. There are certain exceptions and these exceptions address those people who are not logically eligible for starting a business. Anybody who has an undischarged bankruptcy cannot apply as a sole proprietor.
The next step involves the appointment of a local manager who has a local address. This is essential for non Singaporeans for starting a business. The local manager that you appoint for your business should have completed 21 years of age at the time of application. The local manager that you appoint should be either a Singapore citizen or a Permanent resident of Singapore or a person holding employment pass or a person holding a dependent pass. If the person you are appointing satisfies any of the above criteria, then he or she will be approved as a local manager.
All businesses that are opened by a sole proprietor should be approved by ACRA. This requires further additional steps for completing the registration process.
A SSIC code is essential for any business in Singapore. This code identifies your business based on the business activity. You can search for this code in the official website.
Then you have to choose your place of business. This information has to be provided while you apply for the registration. Then you need to top up your medisave so that all your liabilities are settled down.
The next step is crucial requiring approval of the Singpass. You need to get this pass for your company if you want to open a business as a sole proprietor. This is a password that enables transactions with the government offices.
The registration can also be done online using the BizFile. After downloading the file, you have to login using your Singpass. There you have to pay the registration fee which includes the fee for your business name and for your business registration. As you are a sole proprietor, you have to pay $65 ($15 for business name + $50 for business).
Now for the online registration, you can self register as you are the sole owner. You can also get the required help from legal firms to complete the process.
If your business name is not approved, you have to reapply with a new name. If the business requires further approval from other government authorities, your application will be moved to them automatically. For any clarifications, you will be contacted and the business will be approved in about 15 days.
To get an edge in the hunt for talent, many employers are using short-term contracts to evaluate job candidates before committing to hiring them full-time, a new survey finds.
Among the 600 finance and HR managers recently surveyed by Accountemps, 38 percent said they liked to bring in candidates on a temporary basis before making a hiring decision. Another 38 percent said an interview was the best way to judge an applicant, while only six percent said they relied on a resume or cover letter, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing firm reported.
Seventeen percent of respondents also stressed the importance of checking out an applicant’s references.
Azerbaijan and Albania lead the world in pro-business reforms, while Singapore remains the best place to start a business, according to the World Bank.
In an annual global report, Central Asia and Eastern Europe ranked highest in terms of business-friendly regulatory reforms. Last year, a total of 113 countries implemented 239 pro-business reforms, the most recorded in a single year since the report was launched in 2004. Two-thirds of East Asia's economies instituted reforms, up from less than 50 percent last year.
Azerbaijan began a one-stop shop for startups early this year, increasing business registrations by 40 percent between January and June, the report found. The government also made employment regulation more flexible, eased restrictions on working hours and sped up property transfers. Azerbaijan's credit registry also eliminated its old loan cutoff rate, doubling the number of borrowers, researchers said.
Facilitating the process and reducing the costs of starting a business continued to be the most commonly implemented reform, followed by simplified tax codes and administration.
WAGE growth in Singapore will probably halve to 2 to 2.5 per cent in 2009 from around 4 to 5 per cent this year if the country slides into a recession in the third quarter, a top labour union official said on Monday.
Halimah Yacob, deputy head of Singapore's dominant National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) - which represents about 500,000 workers across 1,200 firms - also said a wage-price spiral in Singapore was unlikely as employees curb salary expectations with the slowing global economy.
'A recession may temper negotiations. 2 percent, 2.5 percent - that is about the standard we see in bad times,' Mdm Halimah, who is also a member of parliament, said in an interview.
Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said yesterday that economic growth may dip below 4 per cent this year, even as global financial markets try to turn the corner.
Mr Lim also addressed how the United States financial fallout has hit - and could further affect - Singapore.
'The financial difficulties in the US have led to de-leveraging and credit contractions, therefore slowing global growth,' said the minister, who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Latin Asia Business Forum 2008.
'That means more difficult export markets for Singapore companies and for our economy...later this year and going into next year.'
He added that he expects economic growth to be 'closer to 4 per cent, maybe even a bit below 4 per cent, depending on how the financial crisis pans out over the next few weeks and months'.
His forecast comes on the back of the Government's revision of its full-year forecast from 4 to 6 per cent previously to 4 to 5 per cent last month.
'We expect the economy to slow down - it's inevitable but we are confident...we are well-placed to ride this cycle,' said Mr Lim.
He said Singapore is 'as well-prepared for these difficulties as we can ever be' because of a well-diversified economy.
'We have our domestic economy to hold us up and we are also looking for other growth opportunities in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
'So we hope that with our exposures in different markets and diversification of different sectors...we will be able to ride through the difficulties.'
He also dismissed the notion that Singapore would slide into a technical recession - two consecutive quarters of negative growth. 'What is important for Singaporeans is whether we can keep the jobs going,' he said, adding that the Republic's 'very steady pipeline' of investments and different projects will keep generating jobs.
He also pointed to the possible benefits that could arise out of the ongoing financial system troubles: 'In every crisis, there will be opportunities but I wouldn't overplay the opportunities.
'Our first priority is to make sure we ride through this; that our ship is steady and that we continue to generate employment and Singaporeans are not too hard- pressed because of these difficulties.'
Mr Lim said that it was also fortunate for Singapore that China, India and the rest of South-east Asia are still 'holding up reasonably well'. 'And in Latin America, they are having fairly good growth at more than 5 per cent, so we should hitch on those opportunities there,' he added.
Working together with Singapore was one of the two key themes that dominated yesterday's main plenary discussion between government officials from Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Panama and Mexico. The other was the strong desire of the delegates to emulate Singapore's success as a gateway to Asia.
'We have already signed 57 free trade agreements and 97 per cent of our exports flow to those countries,' said the Chilean Vice-Minister for Finance, Ms Maria Olivia Recart Herrera. 'So like Singapore in Asia, Chile can be an open door to Latin and South America.'
Panama's Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, Mr Severo Sousa, agreed: 'Yes, we too are often referred to as the Singapore of Latin America and that's because with our Panama Canal, we are really the gateway to the Americas.'
Peru, the latest Latin American nation to sign a free trade deal with Singapore - after Panama - cited similarities between Singapore and Peru in terms of how easy it is to run a business. 'Like Singapore, we give the same treatment to both foreign and local businessmen so as to facilitate more opportunities,' said the nation's Foreign Commerce and Tourism Minister, Ms Mercedes Araoz Fernandez.
The comments struck a chord with Mr Lim: 'That's our job in Government: To provide these opportunities to as many Singaporean companies as possible, be it in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.'
New jobs can be found in sectors like aerospace, petrochemicals and tourism, says minister.
Job Seekers in Singapore received comforting words of reassurance from Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
Despite the global financial crisis, he said there were enough new jobs and pointed out the sectors where they could be found. They are: construction, aerospace, petrochemicals and tourism.
More specifically, he highlighted the job opportunities provided by the two giant petrochemical complexes coming up on Jurong Island, and the two integrated resorts.
The petrochemical plants being built by Shell and ExxonMobil will start operating by 2011.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil is hiring up to 10,000 people to build the plant, and Shell, between 8,000 and 9,000.
The doors of the integrated resorts will start opening from 2010 and they will need about 20,000 workers. Also, they will generate other spin-offs for the economy, said Mr Gan when he opened a job and skills training fair.
The Power Up Your Career roadshow, which ends tomorrow, is aimed at people keen on working in manufacturing, logistics and real estate management.
Held at VivoCity, about 450 jobs are on offer at the fair, which is organised by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
The agency, set up five years ago to tackle high unemployment, yesterday marked its anniversary with a new vision statement: 'A competitive workforce, with workers learning for life, and advancing with skills'.
Speaking to reporters later, Mr Gan said the turmoil in the world's financial markets may cause employers to be more cautious and slow their hirings. Some of Singapore's export industries could be hit and it might even lead to layoffs.
But workers can rise to the occasion by doing two things, he said.
One, have realistic expectations about salary or the jobs being sought. Two, continually upgrade their skills.
Taking these steps will improve a worker's employability and job mobility, he added.
'If the recession comes or the economy slows down further, they will be able to look for better or new jobs.'
A record 144,600 jobs were created in the first half of this year, compared to 113,800 in the same period last year. Unemployment remains at 2.3 per cent, as it did last year, when 234,900 jobs were created.
The minister also expressed confidence in the WDA keeping the workforce competitive and resilient.
Its chief executive, Mr Ong Ye Kung, said the agency has helped to train 180,000 workers (10 per cent of the local workforce) under the Workforce Skills Qualifications system.
Next year, it expects another 100,000 workers to be trained.
Mr Ong believes the upgrading will make the workforce more flexible and agile and better able to respond to a slowing economy.
Mr Koh Juan Kiat, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation, agreed.
He also said the effects of the financial crisis would be confined to the banking and insurance industries here. 'There will be moderation in job growth,' he added.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers is set to hit Asian office rental rates.
Banks are traditionally the largest users of Grade A office space in the region, and they are likely to cut back on expansion plans and even consolidate current operations in the year ahead.
In the region’s major office markets, Tokyo’s prime rentals are leading the decline.
Others are expected to follow suit over the next 12 to 18 months.
In Tokyo, the cost of each tsubo - or 3.3 square metres - of office space fell for the first time in 35 months in July.
And office rents in similar financial hubs like Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore are likely to go down this road, as the banking industry continues to stumble in this uncertain period.
Colin Tan, Head of Research and Consultancy, Chesterton, said: “There may be more mergers and some banks may actually fold up. And I think this (would have an impact) in the sense that banks are usually the largest user of office space.”
Rental cycles across the region have already been peaking in key cities.
And analysts said a larger-than-expected fall in demand will exacerbate declines.
Grade A office rents in Singapore have fallen from a peak of about S$18 per square foot per month to about S$14. And analysts said it is likely to fall further to S$10 in 2010, which is when the first phase of the Marina Bay Financial Centre is expected to be completed.
Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch analysts expect rents to fall to S$8 by 2011.
Donald Hang, managing director, Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We will probably see developers and landlords trying to activate tenancies on a quicker basis rather than a delayed basis. Last year, a vacant space (would have seen) a rental increase of 5 to 6 per cent, which is why rents went up almost double. But this year, rentals have peaked; it pays to get the premises let out rather than keep it vacant.”
This means companies can expect a tenant’s market ahead.
And with the major support for office space demand weakened, analysts said local firms will be the ones keeping the market afloat.
Mr Han said: “If we look at the last six months, if you asked me the same question, I will be looking into the continued growth in the financial, services sector. But with the recent bankruptcy news we have seen from the US, I think the growth from the financial sector will probably be muted for the time being. And the continued growth…will be more focused on local companies.
“For instance, in Japan and China, we see more Japanese and Chinese corporates looking to consolidate their offices under one building.”
US office REITs in the centre of the storm took a dive on Monday before recovering slightly over the past few days.
For the first time, Singapore has clinched top spot as the best place for meetings and businesses, beating global players such as Paris and Vienna.
The Union of International Associations (UIA) Global Rankings also gave Singapore top billing as the number one Asian country for meetings, a position Singapore has held for the past 24 years.
The Singapore Tourism Board said the country accounted for 22.5 per cent of the meetings held in Asia in 2007.
Over the past ten years, Singapore has also seen a whopping 256 per cent growth in international meetings staged here.
Last year, Singapore hosted 465 international meetings that met UIA’s qualifying criteria, representing a significant 56 per cent growth over 2006.
Most notable among the meetings were the 3rd Hague International Model of United Nations, the 27th International Epilepsy Congress, the 2nd World Glaucoma Congress & Exhibition, the 18th Wonca World Conference 2007 and International Bar Association Conference 2007 which cumulatively drew close to 12,700 delegates to converge in Singapore.
Singtel recently launched a new plan specially catered for the needs of foreigners working in Singapore. They call it the SIMple plan. It’s a postpaid SIM only plan with a 1-year contract.
The plan is rather straight forward. It offers the lowest price for all the services commonly required by any foreigner staying in Singapore. Such as:
Free Global SMS
Unlimited IDD Calls (Value Added Service)
Free Incoming Calls
Free Oversea Missed Call Alert
These new plans will allow them to manage their overseas cost while granting the convenience of mobile communications locally and connectivity to their home abroad.
Who Can Apply
3G iOne Plus (SIMple), 3G iTwo Value (SIMple),3G iTwo Plus (SIMple) are open to all foreigners in Singapore with a valid Employment Pass, S Pass or Dependent Pass (minimum of 6 months validity).
SIMple Student Plan is available for foreigners with a valid Student Pass only.
SingTel SIMple Price Plans are open to new line connections only and not applicable to recontracting customers.
The price plans are not applicable with handset bundle promotions.
Documents & Deposit
Customers will need to present their valid work pass at point of sign-up.
$300 deposit is required for Dependant Pass and Foreigner with a valid Student Pass.
Dependant Pass and Student Pass holders below the age of 21 years are not eligible for IDD calls.
Contractual Commitments
Early termination or downgrade penalty charge of $160.50 applies.
Monthly subscription will revert to national promotion rate after 12 months from sign-up.
The plan is not applicable to mio plan, mio supplementary plan, Corporate Individual Scheme, BRN customers and any other promotions/schemes.
More Info On Charges
Excess local airtime is charged at 16.05¢/minute.
Excess SMS is charged at 5.35¢ per local SMS and 16.05¢ per global SMS
Free Incoming calls until 31 December 2010.
Free unlimited v019 calls are only applicable for voice calls made to any residential and mobile line in the listed destinations.
Monthly charges of $5.35/month are required to enjoy free unlimited v019 calls to 15 listed destinations of Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Puerto Rico,Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and USA. Another monthly charge of $5.35/month is required to enjoy Free unlimited v019 calls to either Indonesia or to only fixed line termination in Philippines. Local voice call rate applies to all v019 calls made and the calls are deductible from the free local outgoing voice bundle.
Experienced professionals, recent and prospective college graduates and others interested in career opportunities with the KPMG network of professional firms, providing audit, tax and advisory services, can participate in the September 24 - 26 "KPMG World Jobs Fair," a live, 48-hour global virtual recruiting fair.
The "KPMG World Jobs Fair," taking place online from 9 a.m. GMT, Wednesday, September 24, to 9 a.m. GMT, Friday, September 26, aims to provide qualified, interested candidates with information on hundreds of job opportunities, particularly in tax, advisory and specialized audit services, with KPMG member firms worldwide. More than 10,000 interested applicants have already registered for the online event through KPMG's global website at http://www.kpmg.com.
During the event, KPMG's first external virtual job fair, participants will have the opportunity to chat with KPMG recruiters and network with KPMG professionals, particularly in high growth markets where KPMG expects to substantially expand its operations over the next several years.
"As an increasing number of companies conduct business internationally, there are growing opportunities for professionals in many KPMG member firms - especially in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China," said Timothy P. Flynn, KPMG chairman. "We're also focused on adding thousands of jobs to support KPMG member firms' continued growth in developed markets such as United States and Europe, including drawing specialists from around the world experienced in IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) as the world moves to that global accounting standard."
"The KPMG World Jobs Fair reflects a remarkable transformation in how KPMG member firms are attracting talent in a global economy - and a transformation in the way that professionals are seeking employment," said Flynn. "This event allows interested job candidates to easily explore opportunities and a potential career with KPMG, and it gives us an opportunity to tap into a global workforce. We expect it will attract thousands of qualified professionals and recent graduates worldwide."
The World Jobs Fair follows the success of a similar internal online event that 12 KPMG member firms held in May for employees and partners interested in exploring international rotation opportunities. The internal event attracted nearly 5,000 KPMG employees and partners, representing 104 countries, with the highest percentage of participants from the U.K., followed by the U.S., Germany, and China. The largest groups of participants by level were associates and senior associates, at 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively.
45 Member Firms
The global, virtual event this month will include an exhibition hall that features booths covering 45 participating KPMG member firms. Job seekers will be able to learn more about available opportunities in specific countries, and information on KPMG's culture, values, corporate citizenship goals, training and development and work/life programs.
Participants will also have the opportunity to watch live webcasts, chat with KPMG audit, tax and advisory professionals about a career with KPMG and apply for positions directly from the event.
"Clients are global and they need professionals with global audit, tax and advisory skills," said Flynn. "Taking advantage of global opportunities through an event like the KPMG World Jobs Fair helps people expand their skills and cultural perspective. At the same time, it gives KPMG a chance to help our member firms better serve their clients. It's what helps make KPMG an employer of choice."
In addition to KPMG member firms in Brazil, Russia, India and China, other KPMG member firms participating in the KPMG World Jobs Fair include Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, U.K., U.S., United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based software maker Unisfair is providing the technology KPMG is using to power its virtual career fair event.
Tim Brown from IDEO poses an interesting question about this Bodum mug. I actually have the Bodum Beer mug so my experiences are "opposite" of his. He felt that with a normal cup, the experience of his morning latte degrades with each sip, as it gets colder and colder. When I drink from the can, the beer gets warmer and warmer. But in the Bodum mug, the last sip is still as frosty as the first. Hmmmm.
Back to the topic, in my other post about Apple Apps Store and Experience Design, I wrote about up selling of a product and the potential monetary value of experiences which then come with owning the product.
Tim's ending paragraph resonates with how we are and will continue to mould the Jorbb Experience.
"In my opinion, the only products that deserve to succeed are ones that are key components of a valuable experience. If they are not designed to achieve that they will be irrelevant. If they are not marketed as an experience then consumers will miss their value and categorize them with every other product that has the same physical characteristics. Manufacturers must see themselves as experience curators not product makers. This is something I am reminded of every time I take a sip of coffee."
Most managers, if asked, would probably say they still prefer to be able to see the team they are managing. But, in an increasingly wired and global environment, the days of insisting workers are physically present in the office do look numbered, according to new research.
The number of people “teleworking” from home has risen dramatically over the past few years, the survey by the UK Confederation of British Industry and recruiter Pertemps has concluded.
Almost half of the more than 500 employers polled said they now offered teleworking to staff, a dramatic increase from the 14 per cent reported two years ago and 11 per cent in 2004.
The snapshot echoes the experience of employers in the U.S and Canada, where a survey of 2,700 employers earlier this month by World at Work found that teleworking had soared in popularity over the past 12 months.
More than four out of 10 U.S firms and a similar percentage in Canada now offered teleworking, though how many workers actually took the offer up remained a moot point.
Here's a great productivity tip. Add mtbot@hotmail.com to your MSN IM and you can translate to/from Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Translation Bot or mtbot is powered by Windows Live Translator - "Please know that I am only a robot and do not have human translation skills. However, I might be able to just help you understand what your international buddies are saying. You can also help get better translation results by using simple sentence structures and by avoiding typos."
Here's a sample screenshot. It may not be 100% accurate, but I guess it gets the message across somehow.
Dell expects "further softening" in global demand of its computers and other information technology products, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
In late August, when Dell reported a 17 per cent drop in second quarter earnings, it said the "continued conservatism" for IT products in the US had spread to Western Europe and several Asian countries.
Dell financial director Brian Gladden, in a conference call with analysts Tuesday, explained "the places where things have slowed down the most have not snapped back in September."
But despite the lull in overall demand, the company says it gained market shares in all product lines and in all regions of the world in the first half of the year.
"We still intend to gain shares, and that will depend on what the underlying market growth," said Gladden.
While sales in the US have generally been good, European sales are weak, especially those in Britain and southern Europe, Gladden said. He added the company will work on returning European business to profitability over the next two quarters.
Gladden confirmed Dell's intentions, announced last month, to try to rein in manufacturing costs by selling some plants, without going into details.
Workers who are keen to upgrade their skills and improve their career prospects can find out more at an upcoming "Power Up Your Career" roadshow.
Organised by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), it is being held from September 19 to 21 at VivoCity.
WDA said 16 training providers will be showcasing their training and conversion programmes in sectors like precision engineering, aerospace and logistics.
There are also opportunities to sign on to jobs at the roadshow.
Keppel Offshore and Marine is offering over 200 positions - from storekeepers, trainee marine supervisors to graduate engineers.
Furthermore, at least 300 Class 4 drivers are needed by the manufacturing and logistics providers in Singapore.
And to ride on the current interest in the Formula One Race, there will also be an F1 car to help visitors better understand the manufacturing value chain to produce it.
The Asia Pacific lags behind some European countries in recruitment-based social networking, according to a survey conducted by Aquent, the leading global staffing firm specialising in marketing, communications and creative talent.
The Aquent Orange Book 2008-2009, a salary survey and industry monitor of key Asia Pacific and European markets, revealed a minimal uptake of social networking websites in the Asia Pacific by candidates and employers for recruitment purposes.
"The contrast between its use in the Asia Pacific region and some parts of Europe is stark and cannot be ignored," said Aquent International CEO, Greg Savage.
"Europe is a highly sophisticated labour market and it's clear some employers and many job seekers have found a way to extract value from social media, which is clearly demonstrated in the latest Aquent research."
In Germany (39 percent), France (34 percent), Poland (30 percent), and the Netherlands (23 percent), candidates rated social networking sites as a preferred method of job seeking, as did 13 to 18 percent of employers as a tool for sourcing talent.
Meanwhile, no greater than nine percent of both employers and candidates across Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore utilised social networking sites as a sourcing technique.
But Savage warns that recruitment-based social networking is not without risk.
"As a new tool for talent acquisition, social media has yet to be fully tested or quantified in the Asia Pacific region - and almost all feedback is anecdotal," he said.
"For employers, it remains hugely labour intensive, can be frustrating, and poses very real risks of brand damage and internal misuse.
"Candidates, on the other hand, expose themselves to potential discrimination and can also damage their employment prospects because their online footprint may not come across very favorably at all."
However, Savage believes that despite its flaws, social media may prove helpful in the ongoing access to quality talent, a factor critical to the competitiveness of Asia Pacific companies.
"The next wave of technology that supports talent acquisition is worth exploration and investment, especially as avenues like job boards and print media are becoming less effective and more expensive," he said.
"I suspect employers, both recruiters and corporate, who can blend social networking into a fully integrated recruitment plan, will be the ultimate winners."
Employment growth remains strong with retrenchment down but unemployment continues to rise. In summary, employment has continued to expand strongly, supported by record gains in construction. Retrenchment has also eased following increases in the preceding two quarters. However, productivity has contracted for the third consecutive quarter, as growth in employment outpaced output growth. Unemployment also rose for the second consecutive quarter amid the economic uncertainties.
Total employment growth remained strong in the second quarter (71,400) declining slightly from Q1 08 (73,200), but it is still higher than a year ago (64,400). This brought employment growth in the first half of 2008 to a record 144,600, compared with 113,800 in the same period last year.
Amid the economic uncertainties, the unemployment rate rose for the second consecutive quarter, after improving to pre-Asian crisis levels in the second half of 2007. The overall unemployment rate rose from a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in Dec 07 to 2.0% in Mar 08 and further to 2.3%p in Jun 08. An estimated 77,800p residents were unemployed in Jun 08.
After rising for two consecutive quarters, the number of retrenched workers1 fell to 1,798 in Q2 08 from 2,274 in Q1 08.
There were 40,100 job vacancies in Jun 08, after increasing 5.0% over the quarter and 7.1% over the year. These unfilled posts represented 2.5% of manpower demand, unchanged from the preceding two quarters, but was slightly lower than 2.6% in Jun 07. With the rise in job seekers, the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons fell from 115 job openings for every 100 job seekers in Mar 08 to 87P per 100 in Jun 08, same as a year ago.
Nominal earnings rose over the year by 3.1% in Q2 08, moderating from the growth of 11% in the previous quarter and 8.5% in Q2 07.
Labour productivity declined further in Q2 08 (-7.5%), following two consecutive quarters of contraction in Q1 08 (-2.7%) and Q4 07 (-3.7%). Except for wholesale & retail trade (0.5%), labour productivity growth was negative across all industries as the strong pace of employment creation in these sectors outweighed output growth.
Gothere.sg has just integrated a "before / after" fare price into their interface.
"...you can check and find out if you are one of the lucky 43% of commuters who will see no change or a reduction in your weekly public transport expenditure, or one of the 21% who will see an average increase of 18 cents per week, or worse still, one of the unfortunate 36% who will see an average increase of 23 cents per week."
It has been 13 days since we launched the site to public and we have received some feedback from users.
Comments (we edited some of them as some were in Singlish :p): 1. Jorbb.com! Your frontpage looks a little empty. There's a lot of empty space. SELL more AD SPACE! Earn more money! 2. There's Featured Jobs / Featured Jorbbers and Jorbbees, I think you should put latest jobs somewhere so I don't need to click search jobs to see. 3. I like VISUAL SEARCH, it's very convenient to see what jobs are around my area. But I think many users miss it as it is only available through the VISUAL SEARCH icon on right side.
Answer: We had to wait for more users to start using the site to add more content to it as we did not want to add placeholder / fake jobs to the live site. We have just released the new home page which includes some improvements.
VISUAL SEARCH preview is now shown on the Home Page so users can easily "eye ball" jobs around their area. To search jobs, SEARCH JOBS button goes direct to VISUAL SEARCH page now. To search in more detail, users can click on ADVANCED SEARCH.
We have also included a new section to show the LATEST 20 JOBS POSTED.
Hope the Home page provides a lot more information now :)
Keep your comments coming, we welcome your feedback / criticisms.
A 200-STRONG queue of jobless people snaked around the circumference of a small room at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Redhill from 1.30pm on Tuesday.
Outside, banners - from employers like Carrefour and Sakae Sushi - shouted out job placements for everything from sous chefs to golf assistants. Photographs of lush golf courses at Orchid Country Club lined the walls of the educational institute.
Inside the sparsely furnished rooms, job hunters - mostly N level graduates - clutched folders stuffed with their CVs and other papers as they fervently filled up forms.
Many had been trained on the Certified Service Professional programme developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency - which means they have attended classes to improve their service.
It seemed tranquil on the surface. But when this reporter dug a little deeper, what she found was quiet desperation.
“Why did you decide to come here today uncle,” I asked job-seeker Mr Anthony Seah, who was filling up an application form for a sous-chef position at Orchid Country Club.
“Aiyah,” he said, sighing. “Nowadays, so many youngsters give you pressure. They are so fast, we are so old. We cannot compete. So now I am here to look for a job. I don't want to miss anything.”
He has been jobless for a year - quite a long time considering that he has to foot medical bills for his diabetic wife and bring up four children.
His hope: To clinch a job that pays a stable wage of $1,500 a month.
Another, admitted that it was inflation that did her in.
Last time, said Ms Rani John, who is a part-time mail sorter at the post office for $4.50 an hour for four hours a day, it brought in sufficient to feed her family.
“Now its not enough since grocery bills have tripled,” said the 44-year-old. “We have no choice.”
One hour into the job fair and Carrefour has employed three people.
There are about 300 spots available in all - one of the organisers, an enthusiastic man in a black polo t-shirt, reckons that at least 30 per cent of the jobs will be filled up by the end of the day.
On the way out, I bumped into another job-seeker.
With just a Secondary 2 education and having been out of a job for the past 20 years, she said she was finding it next to impossible to get re-hired.
What are you doing anyway, she asked me.
“I'm a journalist for a newspaper,” I replied, a trifle embarrassed to be the only gainfully employed person there. “I write stories.”
But all she did was pat me on the shoulder and nod before telling me how lucky I was to have a job.
She was right: I should thank my lucky stars to be pulling a decent wage in these difficult times.
Singapore is the world's easiest place to do business, ahead of New Zealand and the U.S., according to a World Bank report.
Hong Kong, Denmark, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Norway were also among the top 10 most business-friendly economies, according to the World Bank and the International Finance Corp.'s Doing Business 2009 report released Wednesday. It ranks 181 economies based on the ease of conducting business, including starting a company, hiring workers, taxes and investor protection. Azerbaijan, Albania and Kyrgyz Republic were the top three reformers as they eased business rules. China was the leader among large emerging markets in making it easier for businesses.
"Among the large emerging markets, China led the way -- reforms there made it easier to access credit, pay taxes and enforce contracts," the report said.
The lucky draw will be conducted at the end of Sept and we will be giving out these prizes:
1. 1 Acer Aspire One Mini-Notebook 2. 1 Sony PSP Slim 3. 1 Nintendo DS Lite 4. 5 sets of Apple Ipod Shuffles 5. 10 Pairs of Golden Village Movie Tickets
Here's the good news, ALL registered Jorbbers / Jorbbees at the time of the draw will qualify for the lucky draw as well.
We will release the results on 1st Oct, and add the winners' names to this post. We were waiting for last night's Apple event to see if there would be new Ipod Shuffles, however, the new ones only had cosmetic changes.
Winners will be notified via email. Lucky draw is open to Singaporeeans / PRs only. Judges reserve rights to replace prizes of similar value. Judges decision is final. We adhere to anti-spam policies and will not redistribute / resell your email to external parties. Jorbb.com is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of the listed products or retailers. Trademarks, service marks, logos, (including, without limitation, the individual names of products and retailers) are the property of their respective owners. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
As the first phase of Fusionopolis approaches its official opening next month, more than 50 per cent of retail space in the development has been taken up.
The upcoming research and development (R&D) hotspot, comprising two towers and a podium in phase one, has around 183,000 sq ft of retail space. With seven tenants already secured, some 86,100 sq ft are left.
Cold Storage and Fitness First are two of the largest tenants. Fitness First @ Fusionopolis, with a rooftop swimming pool, will occupy 30,000 sq ft. According to JTC Corporation, the fitness club’s members have been able to use the facilities starting yesterday.
Starbucks Coffee, Harry’s Bistro & Bar, food and beverage (F&B) outlet Black Canyon, Raffles Medical Group and Frames & Lenses (Optical) will also be moving into the first phase of Fusionopolis.
Rents for the retail space range from $4.50 to $12 per sq ft, depending on how the units are used. Larger units also enjoy a lower psf rent.
‘We are heartened by the enthusiastic response from our business partners in locating their retail and F&B outlets at Fusionopolis,’ said JTC Corp’s assistant CEO, Philip Su.
‘It is an endorsement of what the vibrant Fusionopolis stands for, as the first integrated development within one-north which embraces all four work-live-play-learn elements.’
Frasers Hospitality will also be launching its brand of serviced apartments in Fusionopolis, comprising 50 work loft units.
JTC Corp is in talks with more retail and F&B businesses to take up the remaining space. ‘We welcome all other like-minded and enterprising business partners to join us in realising the vision of this unique innovative hub,’ said Mr Su.
Fusionopolis is a major development at one-north catering to the infocomm, media, science and engineering industries. The first phase has around 1.29 million sq ft of floor space and major R&D tenants include institutes and laboratories under A*Star’s science and engineering research council.
Phases 2A and 2B of the Fusionopolis are likely to be completed by 2010.
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The global job market is set to weaken in the coming months, with employers in Spain, Ireland and Italy planning to lay off workers, a survey by employment services group Manpower Inc. (MAN) showed Tuesday.
Employers in 25 of a total of 33 surveyed countries said they will slow their pace of hiring in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to this quarter, according to the report, which collates interview data from 55,000 employers.
"The recent downturn is weighing on the minds of employers. They are not conducting widespread layoffs across all industry sectors, which is encouraging; yet, we are not seeing much appetite to add staff either," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Manpower Chairman and CEO.
"In the coming months we will continue to see employers around the globe making do with the people they have, finding ways to contain costs and being very cautious about hiring decisions."
Countries in Europe are set to fair the worst in the fourth quarter, as U.K. employers reported their least optimistic hiring outlook since the second quarter of 1992. A seasonally adjusted balance of no employers in the U.K. said they planned to add workers over the fourth quarter.
"Now there's a real sense that the fourth quarter in the U.K. will be more difficult," Joerres said. In previous quarters the slowdown seemed to be contained to sectors directly affected by the credit crunch, such as construction and finance, but that other sectors were now facing softer projections, he said.
In Spain, Ireland and Italy, employers said they planned to reduce headcounts, with the Spanish index sinking to a fresh, five-year low.
Over the quarter a seasonally adjusted balance of -5 employers said they planned to reduce headcounts; in the third quarter it was -3.
Italy and Ireland reported negative outlooks for the first time, with the seasonally adjusted Italian balance declining to -2 in the fourth quarter from 1 in the third quarter.
Joerres said the high number of small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies in Italy had been hit by the deteriorating global economic environment and that this had resulted in job cuts.
"Italy has been looking at negative numbers for some time, such as manufacturing output," he said. "In the next several quarters this could be the same."
The survey also showed that the U.S. labor market is set to lose more momentum with employers planning to hire at the slowest pace in five years. The seasonally adjusted balance of 9% of firms said they planned to add workers in the fourth quarter , down from 12% in the third quarter.
"The U.S. has been flirting on the edge of a much more dramatically contracting environment...especially with the backdrop of the labor market," Joerres said.
Data released Friday showed the U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped to 6.1% in August - nearly a five-year high - as employment fell for an eighth-straight month.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 84,000 in August, with declines in manufacturing, construction and service industries. The U.S. Labor Department also revised June and July to show bigger declines.
The employment outlooks remained relatively stable in France and Germany, Manpower said.
Companies in India, Costa Rica, Peru and Singapore reported the most favorable fourth-quarter hiring plans.
-By Emma Charlton, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9307; emma.charlton@dowjones.com
Sean (Mashable) consolidated this list of 18 sites to look for Startup jobs. Although a majority are based in US, there are opportunities for work from home / off-site / freelance work.
AsiaWired.com - Looking for startups in Asia? This may be the solution for you.
CoNotes.com - Focusing on nothing but jobs at startups, CoNotes has been around since 2007.
Dice.com - Browse jobs by city or pull up the category that applies to your skill set.
ejob.com - ejob focuses on staffing needs in and around Silicon Valley.
GoBigNetwork.com - A one-stop-shop for startups to form business plans, find funding and locate employees that can fulfill their needs.
HotStartupJobs.com - Aggregates startup listings from a multitude of sites. You can read a lengthier write up of HotStartupJobs by our own Paul Glazowski here on Mashable.
Jobs.Mashable.com - Our very own marketplace features categories for listing jobs and looking for them also.
NeoHire.com - Lets you look up jobs by category, add them to your basket as you find ones that interest you and then apply to all of the ones you’ve saved.
nPost.com - Besides offering numerous job listings at startups, they have 225+ interviews with people from some of the companies explaining what they are about and what they are looking for in an employee.
StartupAgents.com - Both startups and potential employees can set up profiles to try to find the perfect match for each other. The service is completely free to potential employees, but will cost employers to contact potential hires.
StartupJobs.biz - A small jobs board with unique listings that you can search by type of job or occupation.
Startuply.com - Covers various industries related to Web 2.0 and startups, lets you also browse by job type.
StartupZone.com - Allows you to search jobs by occupation, location or even what stage of funding they are in.
VentureLoop.com - Provides internship listings for students at certain schools and has job listings you can search by country or occupation.
Things are looking up for the five-year-old initiative to match former prison inmates to jobs and resettle them back in society.
The number of employers willing to hire them under the Yellow Ribbon project has jumped by nearly a third.
Speaking at the launch of the Yellow Ribbon Conference yesterday, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam noted that 560 new employers had registered themselves with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (Score) between 2004 and last year.
Since last year, the 32-year-old Score has matched 1,700 former offenders to the 1,700 willing employers in its database.
The Yellow Ribbon project enjoys a high level of awareness: A survey of 500 people last year found that 88 per cent knew what it was.
This has galvanised fund-raisers, who collected nearly $4 million between 2004 and last year for the cause.
The minister said: 'While the wave of awareness, acceptance and action has been spreading in the community...the inmates themselves have been working hard to regain the trust of their families and the society.'
He noted, for instance, that in May, 146 inmates remitted home $76,000 which they earned while in detention. The number of inmates volunteering for community projects also jumped nearly five-fold - from 175 in 2004 to 828 last year.
Mr Shanmugam also stressed the important role families played in the rehabilitation of former prisoners. The Family Resource Centres set up in prisons are where counsellors run workshops in family, parenting and marriage for prisoners to prepare them for life outside jail.
Mr H. Ali, jailed five years for robbery and released two years ago, is grateful for the help he has received.
The 36-year-old said: 'Thanks to the Yellow Ribbon project, I was prepared to start life anew. I was able to patch things up with my family and got a job as a storekeeper.'
Among the employers who signed up last year to provide former convicts with jobs is courier services provider Roadmaster Couriers.
Company partner Joseph Goh, 49, said the company's practice of hiring former offenders goes back a long way: 'A drug ex-offender has been with us for 11 years, and another for five years.'
He has now five former offenders on his staff of 100 full-time and part-time couriers, but said 'there might be more as we rather not ask about past criminal convictions'.
'We want them to look ahead and not be burdened with past mistakes,' he said.
Deputy Superintendent of Prisons Chow Chee Kin, who chairs the conference organising committee, said 11,000 people are freed from prison or drug rehabilitation centres every year.
The number of former offenders who return to crime within two years of release fell from 44.4 per cent in 1998 to 24.2 per cent in 2005.
If you are having trouble following all the updates at Techcrunch50, check out this site developed by Sean Percival to collect all the Twitters, FreindFeed comments, blog posts, news stories, photos, videos, Diggs,and Techmeme headlines that are tagged “techcrunch50″or “tc50.”
TechCrunch50 is an annual conference that features startups competing for the US$50,000 grand prize.
Employers in the Food & Beverage, Retail as well as Hotel and Accommodations sectors are recruiting local workers with a passion for service and the right service skills. The Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) has organised a job fair to recruit skilled service workers. In particular, service professionals who have been trained on the Certified Service Professional programme, developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), have been invited.
'The Certified Service Professional programme aims to instil the right service mindset in workers so that they breathe, live and walk service excellence. Since we started in May, over 30 classes have been conducted and close to 600 Singaporeans and PRs have received a Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) certificate. More than 60 of them have found jobs while many others are currently undergoing interviews. These are early indications of the programme's success in not only improving the participants' employment opportunities but also industry recognition of its value.' commented Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive of WDA.
Certified service professionals have been employed in a variety of positions such as guest relations manager, retail assistants, tour consultant and even front desk reservation officer. Mdm June Lee, in her early 50s, is one such worker who benefited. Formerly a housewife who had left the workforce a decade ago to look after her family, she chose to get out of her comfort zone by enrolling for the CSP programme upon advice from her career consultant from the Central Community Development Council (CDC). On the last day of the programme, she told her fellow participants, 'I have regained my confidence and am ready to rejoin the workforce.' Today, she is a competent F&B supervisor, working happily alongside her younger superiors and colleagues.
Similarly, Siti Suriyaton aged 40, has 12 years of experience in the manufacturing industry but was retrenched recently. She decided to embrace a new challenge of working in the tourism industry, which she has no experience in. Encouraged by e2i, which has schemes to place retrenched workers like her into employment, she underwent four days of pre-employment training in addition to the CSP programme. In two months, she was offered a retail position with RISIS and is earning at least $200 more (including commission) than her previous salary.
Muhd Nizar Bin Jaafar, aged 22, has only GCE 'N' level qualifications but with the relevant skills-set, he has a bright career ahead as a management trainee with Sakae Sushi. Besides the 20 management trainee positions that Sakae Sushi is offering at the job fair, there are also 80 service crew positions. Mr Douglas Foo supports the CSP programme as a tool that can raise service standards here. 'With the Certified Service Professional programme, employers can tap on a quality pool of skilled workers who are ready for the demands of the service workplace. This in turn allows employers to gain a competitive advantage. More importantly, it will raise the overall service standard in Singapore.'
Other employers at this job fair include Muji Pte Ltd, Carrefour, Cedele by Bakery Depot, Home-fix DIY, Orchid Country Club, Royal Plaza on Scotts and Thaiexpress Concepts Pte Ltd, offering positions from rank and file to supervisory and managerial levels. In addition, full-time, part-time or flexible shift work arrangements are available.
Members of the public who are interested to sign up for the Certified Service Professional programme can do so at any of the eight training organisations1 approved by WDA or call the hotline at 68835885. Those who require employment assistance or career counselling can also approach the five CDCs or e2i.
The projected 2009 salary hikes for Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region look surprisingly high, especially against a background of slowing economic growth in the region.
But high expectations are quickly brought down to earth when the reality of rising inflation is shaking consumers’ confidence everywhere.
Indeed, inflation is already making a comeback as a key factor in pushing pay increases - and it is one main reason why salaries in the Asia-Pacific countries are tipped to rise faster in the coming year.
HR Business Solutions (HRBS), an Asian compensation firm, has projected that pay in the Asia-Pacific will jump by a median 8.0 per cent in 2009, against a median increase of 6.7 per cent in 2008.
Among the more developed countries in the region - Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan - the forecast is for salary hikes of 3.5-5.9 per cent next year, with Japan at the lower end and Singapore at the top end.
Developed South Korea is the odd man out. Pay there is expected to shoot up by 8.0 per cent in 2009, up from 6.7 per cent in 2008.
While Singapore is likely to see the biggest jump in salary next year among the region’s more developed countries, bar South Korea, the hike is only slightly higher than in 2008, when pay here rose by an average 5.6 per cent.
Salaries in Hong Kong, Singapore’s closest economic rival, are projected to climb 5.3 per cent next year, against a 4.9 per cent rise in 2008.
While inflation figures in the salary projections for Singapore and Hong Kong, talent also remains scarce - even as the job creation machinery is showing fatigue.
‘These two economies’ labour markets are small and tight, caused by robust economic growth and outflow of managerial and professional talents to emerging economies,’ HRBS says in a report.
‘In recent months, prices have climbed rapidly and inflation rate has reached new heights after a decade of stability. Hence despite a lower growth rate projected for 2008, employers in Hong Kong and Singapore are forecasted to grant more pay rises in 2009.’
Region-wide, inflation appears to be a key consideration for HRBS’ higher forecast for 2009.
‘While economic growth rates in Asia are mostly forecasted to be moderately lower in 2008 relative to 2007, inflation rate across the Asia-Pacific region has soared to an all-time high,’ it says in its report.
The labour market continues to be tight in countries such as China, India and Vietnam - especially for ‘qualified’ staff, according to the report.
Japan, where the threat of recession has again surfaced alongside the fear of inflation, is likely to see the smallest pay increase in the region next year - 3.5 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in 2008.
The biggest salary hike? That’s projected for Sri Lanka, where pay is expected to jump 17 per cent.
‘Sri Lanka’s inflation rate of more than 16 per cent is the next highest in Asia after Vietnam,’ the report says. ‘Companies in Sri Lanka are hiring and as in other emerging countries, recruiting and retaining skilled human capital is challenging.’
In Vietnam, where the inflation rate has surged to 25 per cent, pay is tipped to rise 12.4 per cent in 2009.
Grade A office space in Singapore was the seventh most expensive in the world in June this year, a survey has found.
The average annual Grade A office gross rent here was US$125.06, according to the study by Colliers International.
Cities that were dearer included Hong Kong (US$213.68), London’s West End (US$207.42) and Moscow (US$167.29).
Singapore was the third most expensive location in the Asia-Pacific region, after Hong Kong and Tokyo.
In its Global Office Real Estate Review Midyear 2008, Colliers says average annual Grade A office rent in Singapore soared to US$113.49 in December 2007, from US$84.64 in June 2007.
In terms of vacancy rates, Singapore at 7.5 per cent in June 2008 ranked 13th in the Asia-Pacific, below the likes of Perth (0.3 per cent), Seoul (0.7 per cent) and Brisbane (1.2 per cent).
While the vacancy rate here rose marginally from 6.1 per cent in December 2007, Collier’s director of research and advisory Tay Huey Ying said: ‘Singapore registered a comparatively higher vacancy rate in the first six months of this year. This was due in part to the government providing relief to the supply shortage by leasing out some disused state properties and selling several sites for transitional office use.’
Companies appear to be increasingly receptive to alternative business locations and premises, Ms Tay said.
‘Office users, who have had to grapple with the frenzied pace of rental growth experienced since mid- 2006, can heave a sigh of relief as rental growth eased substantially in the first half of 2008 on the back of reduced pressure on supply,’ she said.
In terms of supply, Colliers said Singapore had 8.6 million sq ft of offices under construction in June, putting it in 16th position below cities like Dubai (42 million sq ft), Shanghai (41.6 million sq ft) and Guangzhou (19.8 million sq ft).
Office investment held up in the Asia-Pacific but was down in Europe and North America.
Global office investment fell 60 per cent - or 41 per cent excluding portfolio sales - in the first half of 2008 to $108 billion, from $268.6 billion a year earlier.
But Japan saw office transactions increase 103 per cent, followed by Hong Kong (up 86 per cent) and Singapore (up 58 per cent). China registered a drop of 16 per cent.
Capitalisation rates / initial yield in Tokyo (Central Wards), Hong Kong and Singapore were 3.9, 3.42 and 6.19 per cent respectively.
In Spain and The Netherlands, office transactions increased 77 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, while in London they fell 64 per cent.
The US remained the most active office investment sales market, even though volume dropped 69 per cent to US$28.6 billion.
Thanks to Daniel from Young Upstarts, an "e-interview" conducted between Daniel and myself, has just been posted on YoungUpstarts.com - "a business and technology blog that champions new ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship. It focuses on highlighting young people and small businesses, celebrating their vision and role in changing the world with their ideas, products and services, at the same time it challenges stale boundaries that restrict entrepreneurship."
I've yet to work in an organization where you could actually field an entire company softball team with all the Gen Xers on staff. At best, we could field a team of 5 players, with no one covering 3rd base, left field and catcher.
As Boomers start retiring, employers shouldn't count on Gen Xers to enthuastically step up to the plate. We may be able to take on leadership roles but are we willing?
1. X'ers' corporate careers got off to a slow start and many are still feeling the pain. You graduated when the economy was slow and the huge bulge of Boomers had already grabbed most of the key jobs.
2. When you were teens, X'ers witnessed adults in your lives being laid off from large corporations, as re-engineering swept through the business lexicon. This engendered in most X'ers a lack of trust in large institutions and a strong desire for a life filled with back-up plans, just in case.
3. Most corporate career paths "narrow" at the top —the perceived range of options diminishes as individuals become increasingly specialized in specific functions or roles. X'ers crave options, which assuage your concerns about being backed into a corner, laid off from one path. The sense of narrowing career paths and increased vulnerability is often most palpable at the transition from middle to upper management—just where many of you are today. This step also often brings demands for relocation and separation from established social networks—an additional assault on your sense of self-reliance.
4. Just your luck—the economy was slow when you entered the workforce and now its slowing once again—just as you are standing at the threshold of senior management. Stepping into leadership roles right now looks more difficult and the roles themselves, more vulnerable than they have at any point in the past decade.
5. And then there are those pesky Gen Y's. Many X'ers are charged with "managing" Y's which—let's face it—is an impossible task, at least if you define "manage" as controlling their channels of communication. While vying for promotions and trying to look good, many of you feel that Y's are doing an end run around.
6. X'ers are, in fact, surrounded by a love fest—and not feeling the love. As I wrote in last week's post, Boomers and Y's are learning from each other—and enjoying their interactions. It's easy to feel left out.
7. X'ers are the most conservative cohort in today's workforce—and you're surrounded by "shake ‘em up" types on both sides. In your personal lives, X'ers are not particularly keen on rules, but you had to follow them in the workplace—and you resent it when others now don't. It seems unfair to be rewriting corporate etiquette when you've had to toe the line for so long.
8. Many X'ers' are guarding a closely held secret: you're not all as comfortable with the technology that is changing the way things are done as everyone seems to think you are. While it's perfectly acceptable for Boomers to feign ignorance and ask for help, it's embarrassing for X'ers to do so.
9. And if Boomer colleagues are annoying, the Boomer parents of your Y reports are down-right over-the-top. X'ers can't believe the frequency of Y-parent interactions and are deeply turned off by parents who make their presence felt in the workplace.
10. Finally, your own parenting pressures are at a peak. You're deeply committed to spending more time with your kids than your parents did or were able to spend with you, but juggling is getting more and more difficult.
Researchers in the new media industry got an S$18 million funding boost from the government on Thursday.
Thirteen out of 85 proposals to blend real and virtual worlds, through the use of sensors and haptic devices, were selected by an international review panel to receive the funding from the Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office (IDMPO), hosted by the Media Development Authority (MDA).
Into its second year now, the initiative is part of an overall S$500 million push by the government to develop the interactive and digital media as one of the economy's three key pillars.
Dr John Seely Brown, co-chairman of the international review panel, scholar and advisory to the Provost at University of Southern California, said: "I spend my life dealing with entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley (who have) the fire in the belly, the willingness to be radical and think out-of-the-box... For the first time, I am beginning to get that sense here."
The 13 projects are expected to involve 120 local researchers with international collaborators from six countries such as the United States and China.
These projects, which focus on the research theme of Co-space, are also expected to deliver some 25 patents and 200 research papers.
One of last year's winners, who found a way to cut production costs for the popular but time-consuming Japanese anime by 40 per cent, is already winning new projects. But this year's programme wants to go beyond numbers.
MDA is rallying schools, research institutions and start-ups in the digital media industry to maintain an innovative spirit.
While many MNCs are known for having a strong work-life culture, more homegrown companies too are coming up with novel ideas to champion this cause.
Take the Cherie Hearts childcare chain, for instance. Yesterday marked the start of a pilot project that saw 50 staff from its headquarters go on a four-day work week, with each getting an alternate Friday off.
After this three-month trial, group president and founder Gurchran Singh wants to extend this initiative to let his 350 childcare teachers and staff in all 42 branches enjoy a shorter work week too.
'What we want to show them is that such a system can be achieved. I ask them to schedule meetings from Monday to Thursday. They can do as they like on Fridays, provided they are able to meet their targets and remain contactable via phone,' the 34-year-old told BT.
Mr Singh, who recently received the inaugural Work Life Leadership Award from the Ministry of Manpower, shared his experiences yesterday at a leadership roundtable on work-life harmony, organised by MOM and the Employer Alliance.
The half-day session at the Sheraton Hotel, titled The Economics of Work-Life Harmony, was attended by 45 CEOs and senior management from MNCs and SMEs.
On how he plans to let his teachers have a Friday off, Mr Singh said that all it takes is some simple reshuffling of the timetable to fit all enrichment programmes on Fridays, which can be handled by part-time educators. The full-time teachers can then take the day off, he explained. Investing in a good work-life programme has its pluses, said Mr Singh. Cherie Heart's turnover rate has hovered at or below one per cent for the last three years, lower than the industry's 7 per cent.
One issue that was raised frequently was that of trust, and whether employees would be tempted to abuse these and other benefits.
Helen Lim-Yang, CEO of HR firm OTi Consulting, said: 'There's no need to micro-manage, or check on your staff all the time to make sure they are doing their job. There should be an unsuspecting culture, and only if productivity levels fall, should the manager step in and find out what the problems are and how to address them. Balance flexibility with accountability, and instil a culture of trust and respect.'
The tangible benefits extend beyond just a happy employee. Ms Lim-Yang said that her company saves as much as $74,000 a year on average on recruitment costs by maintaining its lower turnover rate.
Over at German engineering group Siemens, also a winner at this year's Work-Life Excellence Awards, a survey that it conducted recently found that 83 per cent of its 2,500-strong staff were proud to work there, while 94 per cent said that they could adequately balance the demands of work and personal life.
The company's managing director, Hans-Dieter Bott, said that staff turnover is currently 12 per cent, which is lower than the industry average.
Besides common schemes such as staggered hours and telecommuting, all employees also get up to $572 a year to spend on their health, such as for insurance and sports goods. Still, it seems that sometimes, even a good thing can take some getting used to.
Cherie Hearts' Mr Singh, who was also taking his Friday off yesterday, checked on the office and found that half of the 50 eligible staff came back to work. 'They told me that they have some reports to finish up. Later, I'm going to go back to the office and chase them out,' he joked.
They were promised well-paying jobs as waitresses in Singapore, food and lodging all paid for; all they needed to do was to buy an air ticket. But when Rosa, 28, and Gabrielle, 26, (not their real names) arrived in Singapore, they were whisked from the airport to a bar in Tanjong Katong and were told to entertain men.
“We were shocked. The girls were acting like prostitutes. We thought we would be working as waitresses,” said Rosa.
Stories of unscrupulous labour agents promising foreign workers lucrative jobs in Singapore are not new. In July, The Daily Express, a newspaper in Sabah, reported how a group of Sabahan young men and women ended up doing menial jobs in the Republic.
One of them, a 21-year-old Sabahan, told the paper that he was promised a job in the hotel sector, but he ended up being forced to clean septic tanks and was given only one meal a day. The youth claimed that some 70 Sabahan youths, including about 20 girls, were facing a similar predicament.
Why, despite Singapore’s strict labour laws, are we still hearing stories of foreign workers being duped into coming to Singapore?
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that Today spoke to said these people — usually from rural areas — are not very educated and naïve.
If this is the case, is there any way Singapore can better inform foreign workers about the work conditions here? What about host countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh — are they doing enough to educate their citizens about the market conditions in Singapore?
HELP IS AT HAND BUT ...
The Philippine government seems most proactive in this respect. It has a special agency, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, that is tasked with deploying Filipino workers overseas. The agency has units which investigate and prosecute illegal recruiters.
Under Philippine law, illegal recruitment is a criminal act and punishable by imprisonment and/or fine. According to the Philippine Ambassador to Singapore, Ms Belen Fule-Anota, the embassy constantly reminds its local government units to be vigilant against illegal job recruiters and agencies.
And while its efforts are commendable, the Philippine government has found it hard educating its citizens that most will not qualify for Singapore’s employment schemes and that the work promised by illegal recruiters are just a sham — hence stories like Rosa’s and Gabrielle continue to be told.
It doesn’t help that many who have been duped are unwilling to make a police report.
“Women who have trafficked into the sex trade just want to go home. They are scared to make a police report because they are afraid that the syndicates will harm them or their family members,” said Ms Saleemah Ismail, president of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) Singapore.
Another reason according to Ms Bridget Liew, founder and president of Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, is that a police investigation would mean that they would have to stay back to give evidence in court.
“This could take a few months to a year depending on the case. In the mean time, the women languish at a shelter as they can’t find work,” explained Ms Liew.
In April this year, Nominated MP Eunice Olsen asked Mr Gan Kim Yong, the Acting Minister for Manpower, what was being done to prevent rogue agents from duping foreign workers into coming to Singapore, and whether those who have been duped are considered to have committed any offence and therefore treated as criminals.
Mr Gan replied that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will revoke the licences of employment agencies found to be involved in such scams. Agencies operating without a licence will be charged under the Employment Agencies Act and fined up to $5,000; repeat offenders can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to six months, or both.
“If investigations reveal that victims of such scams unknowingly overstayed or worked illegally, they will not be prosecuted. Instead, they will be issued Special Passes and allowed to work under MOM’s Temporary Jobs Scheme,” he said.
Foreign nationals required as prosecution witnesses will also be issued with Special Passes to remain in Singapore, and allowed to participate in the Temporary Jobs Scheme.
The MOM will also be sharing information on such scams with the embassies of the countries involved, so that they can help warn their nationals against unscrupulous employment agencies in their home countries, Mr Gan said.
CALL FOR GREATER COORDINATION
However, several NGO officials say that illegal construction workers are more likely to seek redress if they can apply for a Special Pass and work while they testify against their errant employment agency.
It is harder for women who have been duped to identify agents or syndicates since these businesses are shady and most probably not registered.
Moreover, these women have to deal with the trauma of sexual abuse, the burden of debt and the fear that their family members may be in harm’s way. The last thing they want to do is to prolong their stay in Singapore.
According to Ms Saleemah: “It would help if our police were trained to be deal with women who have been trafficked, perhaps that might encourage them to bring charges against these syndicates.”
President of Transient Workers Count Two, Mr John Gee, suggests that greater coordination between home and recipient countries is needed to address the problem of trafficking.
These include protection for witnesses, financial support for these trafficked victims, stepping-up anti-human trafficking laws and reducing poverty in the region.
On its part, MOM says it is working with all the relevant organisations to extend a helping hand to workers affected by unscrupulous employment agents.
Give limited protection to those running blogs, forums and other publicly editable content sites from defamation lawsuits to help free and responsible speech flourish online.
This is the same protection Internet service providers already get.
Such protection, said the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (Aims), will at one stroke solve two problems: unmeritorious lawsuits against content hosts who are not responsible for the defamation to begin with, and overzealous censorship by content hosts worried about such prosecution.
Effective use of infocomm technology (ICT) can help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) protect their bottom lines, according to industry watchers.
The comment came as the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) signed a memorandum of cooperation on Thursday to help address the ICT concerns of new SMEs.
The current economic environment can hardly be said to be great for business and some SMEs are feeling the heat. But industry watchers said it is not the time to cut down on ICT spending.
Lo Yoong Khong, cluster director, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, said: "Infocomm (technology) can also bring many other benefits to the SMEs. Some of the things would include traceability.
"With infocomm, they would be able to look at their sales revenue very quickly because at the click of a button, whatever sales have been transacted through the day or through the week can be generated very quickly."
This can help save time and cash, which is vital to the operations of a budding firm. A tighter budget is even more of an issue these days, given the current global credit squeeze, and industry watchers said it is important for SMEs to keep their eye on the ball.
Vijay Iyengar, chairman of SICCI, said: "The main thing is that they will have to look at the plans that they have made and to keep re-examining them as they go along. Three months down the road, go back to the drawing board, see if they have achieved what they set out to achieve and go on from there.
"Often, an SME always has this issue of too many distractions or trying to go in many different directions, and (it ends up) not achieving what it sets out to achieve."
Hi Jorbbers / Jorbbees, we have just rolled out a new feature to reinforce our social networking initiatives. Jorbb.com now has Tag A Friend built into the platform.
So your friends are on Jorbb.com and you want to know what jobs they've recently applied for, or perhaps you occasionally do part time work as an IT Show promoter and will like to link up with fellow Jorbbees (Job Seekers) with the same interests.
What about "bookmarking" Jorbbers (Employers) who frequently post out casual work like flyer distribution or short term project based work requests.
Well now you can!
How to Tag A Friend?
After you login, when you Search for Jorbbers / Jorbbees, you will see this "+" icon in the mini profile, click on it, the icon turns to a "-" and you've Tagged him/her. You can tag both Jorbbers and Jorbbees. To untag, just click the "-" and you will no longer tag him/her. Easy ya?
Now, what then? Jorbbees go to Profile page (or Account page for Jorbbers) and you will find this on the right panel. Ok fine, so I'm Mr Popular.
On top, you have Tagged Jorbbees followed by Tagged Jorbbers. At the bottom you will see Jorbbees with similar job interests as you (as you would have defined in the survey or profile).
When you mouse over a Tagged Jorbbee, you will see the latest 5 jobs applied by him/her.
When you mouse over a Tagged Jorbber, you will see the latest 5 jobs posted by him/her.
For Jorbbers, you will see your tagged Jorbbees / Jorbbers and other Jorbbers who have posted similar jobs as you. That way you can compare if you are pricing your job requests at market standards. With tagging, it'll be easy for you to invite previously hired Jorbbees to apply for your job again.
As always, we appreciate all feedback and comments. Do post them here or drop us an email at our Contact Us page.
Changes are being proposed to the Employment Act that will, among other things, bring more Singaporeans under its protective umbrella.
The Act now covers about 1.4 million workers and was last reviewed in 1995. But since then, the proportion of those in the ranks of professionals, managers, executives and technicians, as well as the number of contract and services industry workers have grown.
The National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation have been consulted; from now until Sept 22, the public can give its feedback. Today covers some of the key changes.
TO BE COVERED
Confidential staff such as accounts assistants, HR clerks and secretaries, two-thirds of whom earn less than national median gross monthly income.
Junior managers and executives with basic monthly wage of $2,500 or less to get salary payment protection.
Non-workmen employees’ wage ceiling raised from $1,600 to $2,000; wage threshold for workmen set at $4,500, under Part IV (which entitles them to statutory benefits such as overtime pay).
BENEFITS
Paid public holiday and sick leave entitlements extended to all employees covered under the Act.
Qualifying period for paid sick leave shortened to three months (pro-rated from fourth to sixth month).
MCs from public medical institutions recognised.
Part-time employees redefined as those who work 35 (instead of 30) contractual hours or less a week.
PENALTIES
Increased by five times (eg $5,000 for first-time offenders): Maximum financial penalties and composition amount.
Tried to get your kids to memorise words from flashcards recently? One child psychologist from the US says that would only stifle your child's creativity and take away the joy of learning.
'Children are essentially explorer-discoverers, not rote-learners,' says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, author of the book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards.
Especially if you want your child equipped for the 21st century business world, which says that it needs knowledge-based people these days. The four characteristics of such as person is one who's a collaborator, a communicator, to have content and who's a creative innovator, says Professor Hirsh-Pasek, who's director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University, USA.
'Collaborators because people need to work in teams, to have trust. Communicators because they need to talk and write to make themselves understood. Then, people need to know how to read, write and do maths, while they need to be creative innovators because we don't know what kind of problems they'll face,' she explains.
If this is what the business community says, then how does one instil the four 'C's' in a pre-schooler? The answer is in playful learning. 'We learn best when it's meaningful, and we're actively engaged, when it's fun and when we're happy,' she believes.
It's a belief that's based on scientific studies. Children who learn drama, for instance, do better in reading and 'emotion regulation'. 'If you fill up children's time for them, they'll be drones in the future. Research suggests that children who manage their own time and pace will be bosses in the future,' adds Prof Hirsh-Pasek.
Research also shows that children who engage in playful games become more confident and have better reading and maths skills. Playing with puzzles and blocks, for instance, improves spatial skills. 'Parents also use more extensive vocabulary when explaining games to children,' she adds.
Research also shows that three to five years old are the foundational years of a child, so pre-school activities do matter. 'The idea is to let the child learn within a playful environment,' she says.
Prof Hirsh-Pasek was in town a while ago to give a talk on pre-school education, upon invitation by Mindchamps, an enrichment centre.
Profit from a business while benefiting the disadvantaged? That's what 45 students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic are learning to do.
17-year-old Justin Lee's among the first batch of students taking up the Business & Social Enterprise course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
"Social enterprise is not that popular yet, and not many people know about it. We just started this course. Some challenges are, will people believe in this model, in this structure of the organisation? That's one challenge we face, but I think we will overcome it," said Lee, a first-year student of Business & Social Enterprise at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
His classmate, 22-year-old Helena Nimali Fonseka dropped out from a private university after studying sociology for one and a half years. She opted for a more hands-on learning experience at the polytechnic.
She wants to learn how to create a sustainable social enterprise model in Singapore so she can help women in undeveloped countries get an education.
"Basically you need to set the culture right and just stick to it, preserve and not give up. And you have to be smart about your choices you need to change, so you can better your business to give quality and quantity for the people," said Fonseka, a first-year student of Business & Social Enterprise at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Low's social enterprise venture, a performing arts centre, is now expected to generate a profit of S$100,000 by end 2008.
The money will be used for his other venture which provides non-profit, alternative education for juvenile youths in Singapore.
Said Low: "To inspire them and to share with them that there will be challenges that'll come. But if they don't give up, whatever dreams that they have will become realities."
"The most important thing for every social entrepreneur to find value in the services that they offer. When it has value, the market will respond to it. And subsequently the business will pick up."
During their three-year course, students will learn to set up businesses that can help the disadvantaged be more financially independent.
They will also learn to execute projects and promote corporate social responsibility in companies.
Thanks to the folks at E27.SG, we've just made it on their blog. We highly recommend that you RSS their blog for announcements on their many outreach programmes. In fact, we met Gothere.sg and Widgeo.us at the recent Unconference Singapore.
"Entrepreneur27 Singapore is the sister organization of the original Entrepreneur27 group founded by Noah Kagan in Silicon Valley/ San Francisco Bay Area.
The “27″ in Entrepreneur27 (E27) really means “<27″.>
Since Jan 2006, E27 Singapore has reached out to thousands of new media enthusiasts and entrepreneurs through our 4 unconferences and numerous other outreach events at polytechnics, Junior Colleges. Via our mailing lists, Facebook groups and event wikis, we seek to engage our community in a direct conversation. Our new partnership with NUS and MDA to manage a startup incubator for the Interactive Digital Media sector is going to take us in an uncharted direction for the upcoming years and we are very excited about the possibilities."
Welcome to the first post of a new section called "Jorbb Shows You How".
In a nutshell, we will develop interesting "How To" posts which will cover a myriad of topics ranging from Employment tips to Tech shortcuts.
At Jorbb.com, Jorbbers and Jorbbees can upload images to their profile. Now what if you prefer not to have your photo for all to see. Create a personalised Avatar with the many Avatar Generators out there.
With retail spending hit by inflation and more Singaporeans shopping overseas, local retailers are being urged to cash in on upcoming events like this month's Formula 1 race.
To do this, they should be flexible with their opening hours, given that the race will take place at night and visitors may be keen to shop after it ends.
S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, said: "Shopping malls, retail establishments and restaurants must adapt their operations to cater to this crowd of not only the F1 spectators, but also the many others who will be in the vicinity to soak in the atmosphere and excitement."
He also urged retailers to raise their service standards in order to attract the 50,000 overseas visitors expected to arrive in Singapore for the race.
The high-profile sporting event is expected to generate some S$100 million in tourism receipts. However, foreign tourists are likely to be the only big spenders.
Jannie Tay, president, Singapore Retailers Association, said: "I think for the general retailers, depending on the merchandising, depending on the people who are coming as tourists... I don't think the locals will spend during this period, but we hope to attract the tourists that are coming..."
Singapore's overall retail sales, excluding motor vehicles, in June fell 6.4 per cent on-year. And a recent survey showed that Singaporeans are choosing to spend more overseas instead of at home.
Andrew Lau, vice president, Media Research Consultants, said: "(As for the) weakness in the Singapore retail market, one of the things would be (that) our customer service really needs to improve.
"Another thing (is that) we have homogenous products across the different shopping malls. (This is) not creative, not innovative (or) attractive."
Singaporeans' overseas retail expenditure last year rose 21 per cent to S$4.15 billion.
Singapore's efforts to promote its meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry are bearing fruit.
Last year, three million business travellers and MICE visitors came to Singapore and accounted for S$5 billion or 40 per cent of total tourism receipts – a new record for the sector.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is aiming to double this to S$10.5 billion by 2015. This was announced by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran at the Singapore Business Events Awards on Tuesday.
However, he added that a softening global economy may obstruct this aim.
"On the business travel and MICE front, companies will be looking to trim discretionary expenditure, and such belt-tightening will see some scaling back in the corporate travel and meeting segments," said Mr Iswaran.
Nonetheless, he said STB and its industry partners see good potential in bidding for events that will be held in 2010 and beyond as long-term economic growth in Asia will be buttressed by the continued expansion in China and India.
To boost the MICE sector in Singapore, a facelift is planned for the Singapore Expo, which is the country's largest business events venue. The expo's facade, lighting and technical capabilities will be enhanced, along with the addition of a new suite of meeting rooms.
This will allow the facility to support the growth of the MICE industry, which is expected to grow over the next five years. So urgent is this need that the government is going ahead with this publicly funded project, despite rising construction costs.
Aloysius Arlando, assistant chief executive, Business Travel & MICE, STB, said: "There's never a good time to engage in upgrading works. But if we look at the landscape and the competitive element, and we look at the opportunities before us, we have to do it now so that we don't miss out on opportunities coming our way... Asia is going to be a hotbed of opportunities where the BT MICE business is concerned."
The government will also emphasise on training and education programmes to raise the industry's level of professionalism and competency.
There are plenty of creative ways to add green space in Singapore, such as roof gardens. But before Singapore grows in the space set aside for parks and gardens by a quarter, as announced in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Leisure Plan in May, more talent is needed to support such growth in the sector.
Behind Singapore’s Garden City reputation, some 19,000 professionals — ranging from landscape architects to horticulturists — are hard at work growing green spaces and keeping them thriving.
But that number is barely enough, say industry experts.
“Due to the expanding horticulture and landscape industries, there is a shortage of trained and skilled manpower in these areas. Many of our graduates are offered jobs before they graduate,” said Dr Hedy Goh, deputy director of Ngee Ann Polytechnic School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology, which offers a diploma in Horticulture and Landscape Management.
Far Horizon Nursery and Landscape managing director John Gwee said that although manpower shortage has been always been a problem, the amping up of landscaping activities in Singapore recently — new condominiums, the integrated resorts, the planned Gardens by the Bay at Marina — means he now sees more work than he can handle.
“I specialise in private homes, but even if I wanted to take on bigger projects, I won’t be able to handle them because I don’t have enough workers,” said Mr Gwee, who is also president of Singapore’s Institute of Parks and Recreation.
At the national level, the plans are to grow Singapore’s park spaces from covering9 per cent of the island, to more than 11 per cent over the next 15 years.
As of last month, the centre has certified more than 1,100 workers under the WSQ, close to about 12 per cent of the local workforce. “Cuge is on track to certify 20 per cent of the workforce by the end of 2009, as more employers recognise the benefits of staff training,” said centre director Teva Raj.
The challenge to training workers, he said, was getting employers to recognise the benefits. Also, workers may job-hop after companies invest in their training. Attracting talent to the industry is also an issue.
Mr Henry Steed, director of landscaping firm ICN Design International, agreed, saying: “It’s a job with a lot manual labour involved and there’s technique involved, so there’s a challenge in getting people interested.”
The Manpower Ministry (MOM) is reviewing the Employment Act, and is seeking feedback from the public on the proposed changes. Members of the public can provide their feedback from now till 22 September at the REACH portal. Under the proposed amendments, MOM will revise the coverage of the Employment Act.
Currently, non-manual workers who earn less than $1,600 are covered under Part IV of the Act which entitles them to statutory benefits such as overtime payment and annual leave eligibility.
MOM has proposed to raise the salary ceiling from $1,600 to $2,000 to reflect increase in wages.
Also proposed is that confidential staff - such as human resource clerks and secretaries, and managers and executives earning less than $2,500 a month - will also enjoy employment and salary protection.
MOM will also review employment benefits and standards.
To encourage employers to offer more part-time jobs, part-time workers will be redefined as those who work 35 hours a week, up from the current 30 hours.
MOM says it is necessary to have a balanced approach between employment protection for workers and maintaining Singapore's labour market flexibility and competitiveness in updating the Employment Act.
The Employment Act, which covers about 1.4 million workers, was last reviewed in 1995.
The Act provides workers with basic employment benefits such as salary protection, minimum employment terms and dispute resolution.
Since then, MOM says there are now more workers employed in the services industries, and the proportion of Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) in the workforce has also increased over the years.
The growth of outsourcing has led to shorter employment tenures and more contract workers, while median wages have gone up by 49 per cent since 1995.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a series of training programmes to prepare service personnel for the Formula One race period.
Organised by the STB with the support of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), up to 2,000 key service personnel from industries such as retail and F&B will each undergo four-hour training.
'We hope to provide key service personnel with a refresher on core service quality skills and essential information on the various festivities so that they can help enhance the experience of all visitors,' said Neeta Lachmandas, director of Service Quality at STB. The sessions are aimed at service supervisors from Singapore attractions as well as the nightspot, retail and F&B industries.
Some 80,000 guidebooks will also be distributed to taxi drivers and service personnel providing information on festivities and events, in addition to service quality tips. STB will also deploy 100 student volunteers as race ambassadors at high-frequency areas like Clarke Quay and the airport.
We are still in BETA so please bear with us if there are any issues and we appreciate your comments.
Here's the 30 seconds blurp for those who don't have time to read the entire post and a 60 seconds video which sums up most of Jorbb.com's features. For the official broadcast, please click here to download our Press Release.
1. Market is saturated with Executive Job Portals out there, focused on Employers rather than on Job Seekers.
No Non-Executive (freelance, casual, part time, contract) portal for Job Seekers to put themselves for hire. Jorbb.comTM plugs this gap.
First ad posting by Jorbbers (Employers / Agency) is FREE.Jorbbees (Job Seekers) post Resumes / Video Profiles / Portfolios for FREE.
2. Users can post Video Profiles / Slideshows of portfolio to build profile.
You can rate and provide testimonials (between Employer and Job Seeker) upon being hired. So don't slack off at work ya?
3. Search for Jobs / Employers / Job Seekers in a specific area with Maps via VISUAL SEARCH.
We also provide Bus / Train commuting directions, powered by GoThere.sg so you can find out what bus / train / cost / time it takes to travel to your potential new job place.
Sweet!
4. You can find and Tag A Friend who share common job interests. You can also tag Employers. Build your community and "follow" their latest successful job application or job posted.
5. Earn Credits for Gifts Exchange: Each time you refer a friend or post a testimonial, you earn credits which can be exchanged for gifts (movie tickets, food vouchers etc).
6. Finally, Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Upon sign up, you will be asked to fill up a survey.
If any Employer posts a job which matches your job interests, you will be notified. You can also subscribe to RSS feeds of jobs you are interested in.
That's it, 30 seconds :)
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Here's the longer format...
So what is Jorbb.comTM and why launch another job portal?One day, I chanced upon this handwritten A4 notice outside a shop, seeking part time sales staff. Further along, there was yet another sign looking for casual event promoters. How many "relevant hits" do they get?
The online job classifieds market is saturated with executive job search, but what about the part time, casual, temporary, freelance and contract job seekers - where can they make themselves available for hire?
A shop owner, new start-up, or home maker will not have the budget to post daily ads in papers, nor high profile, established executive job sites - prices there range from $35 for a 1 day classifieds ad, to $100-200 for an online posting at executive job portals!
Some examples: Tuition Teacher advertising for students, Photographer specialising in Wedding Shoots, DJ providing music at private parties, Event Organisers looking for ushers, Physical Trainer providing programmes, Home Care Provider for elderly folks, Retail Shop looking for Sales Staff, IT Show Event Promoters, the list goes on...
I designed Jorbb.comTM to plug this gap. 1st ad posting by Jorbbers (Employers / Agency) is FREE.Jorbbees (Job Seekers) post Resumes / Video Profiles / Portfolios for FREE.
What is the unique selling point about Jorbb.comTM?
The concept / design of site is distinctively different from any job portal in Singapore / the Region. Job-seekers come first. With our platform, Jorbbees can build profiles with Images / Slideshows and Video. With a single URL to Profile Pages, they can embed this in their resume / email signature.
Jorbb is the mascot and his tag line is "Jorbb Gets Jobs for You!", striving to make it easy for users to stay updated with current job offerings via various communication channels (emails / RSS feeds / widgets).
As with most freelance / casual / part time work, referrals are important in establishing the reputation and credibility of the candidate.
Hence Jorbb.comTM allows RATINGS and posting of TESTIMONIALS between Jorbbers and Jorbbees. Jorbbees can also embed Videos, Images, Slide-shows into their Profile pages as typical text resumes may not be useful when selecting candidates.
A shop may need someone eloquent & bilingual and they can narrow down on a Jorbber based on his/her video introduction profile. A freelance Graphic Web Designer can easily post a portfolio slide-show in the profile.
All Jorbbees take a survey which identifies his/her strengths & weaknesses. This helps a Jorbber screen though the type of candidate he/she prefers.
Each time a Jorbber posts an ad, for example, looking for a graphics designer, or promoter, Jorbbees tagged with these job categories will be informed. Hence, Jorbbers get better ad targeting hit to relevant Jorbbees who are looking for that position.
We also run Blog / Twitter / FriendFeed / Facebook feeds which will update users with current economic, employment, recruitment how-tos, reviews, tech and web 2.0 news.
How does Jorbb.comTM differentiate itself from other job sites?
Leveraging on location based search, all posted Jobs, registered Jobbers & Jorbbees are listed on a VISUAL SEARCH page so that it is easy to find jobs / Jorbbers / Jorbbees around your location. Travel directions (Click Bus Icon) by Bus / Train are also shown (powered by Gothere.sg).
Social networking widgets will be introduced shortly as we are bug-testing them. These tools will allow Jorbb users to find / add their friends and share job offers with each other.
We are also in discussions with other Web 2.0 start-ups to see how we can collaborate and leverage on one another's technologies.
How is Jorbb.com™ funded?
Jorbb.comTM is a subsidiary of H1Studio (http://h1studio.com), is privately held and profitable, with no debt or venture capital. So, we can focus 100% on satisfying our customers. Other H1Studio offerings include 100for100 Web Hosting (Web Hosting Services at http://100for100.com) and RPWorkshop (Rapid Prototyping and Render Farm Facility at http://rpworkshop.com).
Jorbb.comTM is only a platform for user generated content, so we would like to hear from you, to make Jorbb.comTM better. Without your inputs, we do not exist.
Thanks for reading and please email any comments / suggestions / improvements you would like to see on Jorbb.comTM.
Switzerland's Adecco, the world's largest staff recruitment group, said on Monday it is offering 56 million euros (US$82 million) for Dutch human resources firm DNC De Nederlanden Compagnie.
The deal would make the group the third largest staff recruitment agency in the Netherlands and the offer is "unanimously" supported by the DNC board, Adecco said in a statement.
The acquisition is a "big step forward in realising our ambition to become the market leader in professional staffing in The Netherlands."
At 12.25 euros per share in cash, the offer represents a premium of 52 per cent to the closing price of DNC shares on August 29.
I am not looking for a job. But every so often, I thumb through the employment pages. Some things, alas, have not changed. I am not amused by the practices and neither, it appears, are the readers who write to the letters page of newspapers.
I am talking about the way our employment and recruiting agencies, masquerading as human resource (HR) professionals, style their ads.
It's unimaginative, it's patronising and, most times, it's dull.
Companies which run their own in-house advertisements do no better. Government bodies, it seems, use a common set of templates.
Whatever happened to creativity, innovation, maybe a bit of fun too... and, yes, a touch of empathy?
First things first. Revealing your colour, creed, race and religion is not a prerequisite when applying or obtaining a job in a multi-racial society - at least as far as I know.
Several years ago, I was asked in a telephone interview for my bad points. Without hesitation, I replied, 'That's easy, I'm a workaholic.' (Needless to say, I got the job.)
Our recruiters, in their small-mindedness, ask for family background, family history, financial status and even intention to marry. Some have been known to ask if one is expecting a baby or is likely to get pregnant.
The next question is: How can we tell if all this personal information is safeguarded? Is there a strict HR code that is enforced islandwide?
I doubt it. How else can we explain junk mail arriving with our name spelt in the full form (and with NRIC number) that we state in job application forms?
Also, for the life of me, I cannot understand the reasons for requesting job applicants to attach a photograph of themselves. Okay, I accept there can be some instances - Singapore Airlines' flight attendants come to mind.
But what does it matter if someone has a face only a mother can love, but has the qualities and qualifications for the job of, say, an accountant or, heaven help us all, a journalist?
Right attitude, aptitude, motivation and experience should count more. Our recruiters might consider getting to the point by taking a leaf from the farmer in a village who placed this ad in a local paper.
It read: 'Wife wanted. Must have tractor. If interested, send photo of tractor.'
On top, you have Tagged 
