Gen Y hardest to work with

Workers of other generations cite attitude problems of Gen Y, such as being arrogant, impatient or abrupt, as a common reason why they find working with Gen Y difficult, according to the study by training, coaching and consultancy organisation Digne Consult Asia Pacific.

On the other hand, Gen Y employees may generally have fewer difficulties working with older colleagues because they can adapt to change and are flexible working with older generations, said Mr Frank Kuijsters, Digne Consult's director.

But Gen Y may not take as well to baby boomers because the latter resemble their parents, he added.

The firm polled 3,500 employees, from last October to this January, to understand inter- generational issues here.

The study was commissioned by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep), whose members comprise unions, the Government and employers.

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Agencies predict increased demand for contract work in 2010

Employment agencies are expecting hiring plans to improve in 2010. But industry experts say contract work will continue its upward trend.

This is on top of various permanent positions being made available as companies attempt to boost their workforce.

Kelly Services has been receiving more calls from employers who want to engage contract workers. The recruitment agency says it has seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in demand in recent months.

It expects the figure to stay healthy in the first quarter of next year.

Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice-president at Kelly Services, says: "This whole global crisis has also helped companies to realise that they need to have a balance between their permanent workforce and a contract workforce. As a result of that, we're seeing a lot more companies coming to us for more contract work."

Demand for contract employment exists in all industries, especially in the financial, retail and hospitality sectors.

HR consultants say companies are still cautious and are relying on contract work due to the uncertainties in the economic recovery.

For job seekers, that means having to be flexible about accepting work on contract terms.


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Linking growth with entrepreneurship

A shrinking economy may spur more people to start a business out of necessity, but expectations of a better economic climate for Singapore do not necessarily point to less entrepreneurship, according to experts on the subject.

This is because the dynamics contributing to a country's entrepreneurship level are complex, and so the school of thought that entrepreneurial activity increases when the economy is not doing well may not hold.

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42,000 unemployed find jobs through Spur

THE report card for the Singapore Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) is out.

The programme has trained more people than it aimed to, found jobs for many trainees who were unemployed, and saved countless others from being retrenched.

Started in November last year, the programme has enrolled 264,000 workers in its various training courses, exceeding the target of 220,000.

The programme also helped about 42,000 of them - unemployed citizens and permanent residents - find jobs, mainly in the food-and-beverage, cleaning, wholesale and retail-trade, manufacturing, and security sectors.

About seven in 10 were rank-and-file workers with up to secondary education. Six in 10 were aged 40 and above.

In addition, more than 2,770 others were given traineeships in more than 390 firms, under a government-funded Professional Skills Programme Traineeship scheme launched in May this year.

The jobless workers had been among 88,000 workers who had approached the WDA of their own accord. Others were employed but looking to acquire new skills for a career switch.

The rest - 169,000 workers who made up two thirds of the whole pool - were sent by 4,000 companies, which tapped Spur to cut costs, save jobs, and help displaced workers gain new skills and jobs.

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China firms try to lure talent home

THE battle for talent has come to Singapore, with 18 China companies teaming up to hold a first-ever job fair here to lure China-born professionals to return home to work.

Among them were heavy-hitters such as the Bank of Shanghai and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, offering 117 high-level positions that pay up to $250,000 a year plus perks, including housing allowance.

The jobs offered by the companies from Shanghai were in fields such as risk assessment and wealth management. Many required at least a master's degree.

About 1,000 people were at Suntec City recently for the fair, which was the third stop by the companies in their global search for talent.

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2.6% pay increase likely

EVIDENCE is growing that Singapore workers can look forward to modestly fatter salaries next year and that the job situation here is improving.

A survey out last Friday from global human resources firm Hewitt Associates showed that employers in Singapore are poised to raise pay by 2.6 per cent next year.

In addition, most companies polled do not expect to freeze salaries next year - down from a high of 60.3 per cent this year, to just 12.8 per cent expected next year.

Mr Samir Bedi, Hewitt's South-east Asia performance practice leader, said: 'The compensation sentiment is more positive with organisations ready to take on 2010 with a fresh, energised outlook to manage talent.'

Hewitt's Singapore Salary Increase Survey polled 153 firms in July and August this year. Its findings came a day after human resource firm ECA International released a survey which showed employees here can expect a 3 per cent pay rise next year.

ECA also found 11 per cent of 99 firms polled here are proposing salary freezes next year, down from this year's 39 per cent.

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Developing countries in Asia see highest salary increases

Employees in Singapore can expect salary increases of 3% in 2010, up from this year’s 2% average, according to ECA International’s latest Salary Trends Survey. In Asia, salary increase forecasts remain highest in the growth areas of China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Salary increases within the region are predicted to average at 5% in 2010, almost twice as high as this year’s actual 2.8% average, and significantly higher than the average 2010 forecasts for Western Europe (2.6%) and North America (2.8%).

Results from the survey indicate that like their Singapore counterparts, employees in Hong Kong and Taiwan can also expect salary increases of 3% in 2010, compared with this year’s actual 1% and 0.5% increases respectively. Chinese employees are likely to see their salary increases rise from 3% to 6% at the next pay review.

The largest salary increases within the region are forecast for Vietnam (10%), India (9.3%) and Indonesia (8.5%), continuing a trend that persisted even during the economic turbulence of the last 12 months.

Employees in Japan are predicted to receive 2% salary increases – the lowest in the region. Whilst employees in Australia and New Zealand can expect to see an increase on the 2% awarded this year with companies there forecasting 3.5% and 3% rises respectively for 2010.

According to Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director for Asia, while these numbers have not reached the levels of the boom years, the figures indicate that companies operating within the region are much more confident about economic conditions than a year ago.

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Gradual economic pickup expected for Singapore

The Singapore economy is likely to settle at a more gradual pace of expansion, with GDP growth in 2010 expected to be lower than in previous post-recession periods.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in its Macroeconomics Review released on Thursday that compared to six months ago, the outlook for the second half of 2009 and for 2010 is "markedly more optimistic".

However, the MAS also sounded a word of caution in its report which is published twice a year.

"As we approach 2010, GDP growth will likely shift to a more sustainable trajectory, underpinned by a modest turnaround in final demand in Singapore's key external markets," it said.

It said concerns remain about the resilience of global demand, given the lingering weakness in the financial sectors and labour markets of developed economies.

Among Singapore's major trading partners, those that are expected to grow below their long-term trends next year account for nearly half of the island's total exports. The MAS said this points to domestic growth that is likely to be lower compared to previous post-recession periods.

It added that while Singapore's recovery from the downturn may become more broad-based, job creation could, nonetheless, be modest in 2010 as the relatively small job losses resulting from this downturn means that firms may be carrying surplus labour.

External factors will also continue to influence the cost of living in Singapore, with the MAS expecting inflation to come in at around 0 per cent in 2009, before rising to 1-2 per cent in 2010.

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Fresh grads have it tough

FRESH university graduates will face a tougher search for jobs and lower starting pay this year due to a hiring freeze and retrenchments brought about by the economic downturn.

Although some students have been getting job offers as early as seven months before graduation, the overall mood is downbeat.

While all three local universities - the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) - have yet to compile official employment statistics for the class of 2009, they are already preparing their students for the grim prospects.

'These are indeed challenging times, with fewer job opportunities for fresh graduates than in previous years,' said Mrs Ruth Chiang, director of career services at SMU. 'We have advised our graduates to be more realistic in their expectations and cast their nets wider.'

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Handle employees under 35 with care

A boss who doesn't treat employees under 35 the way the organisation had initially promised them during job interviews will cause high staff turnover among that age group.

Dr. David S. Cohen, founder of human resources development firm Strategic Action Group, says these are "bad" managers who would give candidates "false hope" during the interview process by mismanaging their expectations. Things will get ugly when Gen Y candidates take on the job and they realise their expectations are not met. "People are going to be upset, disappointed and angry," he says. "If you are under 35, you'll definitely leave because you have confidence, you know you are going to be employed even in this economy downturn."

Hence, Gen Y employees do not quit because they don't like the company or they want more money, says Cohen. Gen Y employees will most likely jump ship to another job which pays less if they dislike their current managers. "They leave managers who didn't treat them the way they expect to be treated." He adds, "If you are unhappy at the company you are at, you will take a job for 10% less at somewhere else to be happy."

For Gen Y, money is simply not an issue, says Cohen, as long as they feel they are paid fairly. Then again, this principle applies to most of the generations in the workplace. "The reality is most people would not move their jobs even for 10% more if they are being treated right because it's better to be at the company you like and enjoy working at."

This is much preferable than taking a risk to join a new company which one is unfamiliar with and might not enjoy working at. Nevertheless, Cohen says employee retention is also dependent on the individual's career goals. "If the value proposition for the employee is development and development is taken out of the budget, they are going to go to another company for less money but which is offering development."

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2 in 5 companies foresaw need to cut wages in 2009

According to findings published by the Ministry of Manpower, two in five private establishments foresaw the need to cut wages in 2009 if conditions worsen. This was during the period in December 2008 when Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the quarter contracted over the year by 4.2%.

Meanwhile, companies with a Monthly Variable Component (MVC) in their wage structure were more confident of gaining their employees' acceptance of a wage cut, if it has to be implemented compared with establishments without MVC.

These were published in the 320-page 'Report on Wages in Singapore, 2008' published by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department.

Other key findings of the report include the following:

• Only a small minority (1.7%) of private establishments with MVC in their wage structure cut the component in 2008, as economic conditions deteriorated sharply only from the last quarter of 2008 when GDP contracted over the year by 4.2%.
• The top two common measures of wage cut are cutting the annual variable component (74% of establishments) and basic wage (47%), followed by MVC (15%) as the latter was weighed down by establishments without MVC.
• As of December 2008, 84% of the workforce in the private sector was under some form of flexible wage system, same as a year ago. Large establishments (employing 200 or more employees) continued to lead in the implementation, with the vast majority (90%) of their workforce having at least one key wage recommendation in their wage system, compared with 75% in small and medium enterprises.
• With the economic downturn and increased business costs in 2008, employers were more restrained in granting salary increases.
• Occupations requiring higher skills and knowledge continued to command higher wages. In June 2008, the median monthly gross wages was the highest for managers ($6,400), followed by professionals ($4,405) and associate professionals & technicians ($3,000). Clerical ($1,960) and sales & service workers ($1,849) were paid close to $2,000. Among blue-collar occupations, the production craftsmen ($2,137) and plant & machine operators ($2,009) were paid much more than the group of cleaners, labourers & related workers ($975).
• Wages are generally observed to rise with age as workers gain experience and skills and become more productive over the years. The pace of wage increase with age is more pronounced among managers and professionals as their work is generally more knowledge intensive.

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Companies in Asia ramping up workforce amid economic downturn

Companies in Asia are ramping up their workforce planning activities in response to the current economic downturn, according to a survey by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

The survey, released Wednesday, showed that more than seven out of every 10 companies in the region believe that workforce planning has become more important amid the current economic slowdown.

In fact, more than half have already begun to increase such activities within their organisations.

Workforce planning is the process by which an organisation aligns its workforce requirements to the business strategy using business analytics.

Although such planning is growing in importance, 60 per cent of those surveyed do not have a structured approach to workforce planning.

Instead, their attention is focused on immediate concerns like filling job vacancies, rather than longer term strategic issues relating to their workforce.

Asia Pacific Director of Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Group Russell Huntington said companies need to focus on longer term plans and review the capabilities needed in light of the current adverse business conditions.

He added that reducing employee costs cannot just be a numbers game, but should be a well thought-through, data-driven strategic exercise.


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12,760 jobs lost in Q1

TOTAL of 12,760 jobs were lost in the first quarter, government data showed on Monday, pushing Singapore's overall unemployment rate to a three-year high of 3.3 per cent.

The total employment fell by 6,200, the first quarterly contraction in nearly six years as the number of workers hired was lower than the number of workers who left their jobs. This was in line with the slowing economy, said the Ministry of Manpower in a statement on Monday.

Some 10,900 workers were retrenched, while another 1,860 had their contracts terminated prematurely, 36 per cent more than the 9,410 laid off in the last quarter of 2008.

Most of the cuts came from the manufacturing industry, which accounted for 72 per cent of the workers laid off, up from 55 per cent in December.

Cuts in the services and construction industry, however, were lower than the fourth quarter of 2008, falling from 40 per cent and 4.1 per cent to 25 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.

A total of 95,700 residents were unemployed in March, said MOM.

The number of people re-employed also fell, with only 51 per cent of those retrenched in Q4 2008 re-employed by March 2009, compared to 70 per cent in Dec 2008 and 67 per cent in March 2008.

Job vacancies fell for the third consecutive quarter to 21,000, down 20 per cent from December 2008 and 45 per cent from a year ago.

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Singapore civil servants ranked most efficient in Asia: survey

A business survey on 12 Asian cities found that civil servants in Singapore are the most efficient.

The survey, conducted by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), also found that Singaporean bureaucrats are unhelpful when things go wrong.

It is the third time Singapore took top spot in the survey, last conducted in 2007.

Hong Kong came in second, followed by Thailand, and India was last.

Over 1,200 expatriates working in these 12 Asian cities took part in the survey. - CNA /ls

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Executive recruitment hit hard by recession | Jorbb.com

Executive searches worldwide have fallen 35% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).

The Q1 State of the Executive Search Industry Report polled over 1,500 executive search consultants in 46 countries and found that executive searches in the financial services industry suffered the hardest blow, with a 41% yearly drop in the first quarter of 2009.The industrial sector fell 27% year-on-year, while the healthcare sector showed the least decline with a 21% drop compared to the first quarter of 2008.

Peter Felix, president of AESC, feels the findings show that no region, industry or function has been unaffected. "Top management have been caught in the headlights of overwhelming uncertainty and have acted more to protect assets and reduce costs than to plan for the future. It is thus no surprise that the worldwide executive search profession has been affected.”

The fall in executive recruitment streams from financial trends emerging as a result of the economic downturn. Average net revenues fell by 38% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period the previous year. The average fee per executive search assignment also declined 12% from Q4 2008 to Q1 2009.

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MCYS committed to supporting Singaporeans through trying times | Jorbb.com

Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has committed his ministry to supporting Singaporeans through these trying times.

In an addendum to the President's Address delivered at the opening of Parliament on Monday, Dr Balakrishnan said the ministry will exercise greater flexibility to help those at the margins.

At-risk families will be identified early, so that they will be brought under intensive case management.

And even as public donations decline in a tough economic climate, the caseloads of voluntary welfare organisations rise. The ministry has increased funding and provided a contingency fund to support these groups, as well as encouraged training for professionals in this sector.

In times of adversity, the ministry is also watching out against fault lines of nationality, ethnicity and religion.

That is why a National Integration Council has been set up to promote mutual trust across communities, especially amongst new citizens.

Dr Balakrishnan is also counting on sports to rally the nation, and looks ahead to next year's Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2010.

The Singapore Youth Sports Development Committee will provide more opportunities for youths to play and compete in sports, and the ministry will leverage on the excitement from YOG to promote youth volunteerism.

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MOM focuses attention on developing globally competitive workforce | Jorbb.com

Singapore said measures like the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) are efforts not just for the downturn but to also ensure the Republic remains competitive in the long-run.

The Manpower Ministry highlighted its plans in conjunction with the President's address to Parliament.

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said a key priority in the next two years is addressing the downturn.

Up to April this year, 94,000 workers and 1,400 companies have committed to training programmes under SPUR.

Me Gan said: "SPUR will encourage companies to save jobs but it is not intended to stop companies totally from retrenchment. Some restructuring is necessary for companies to better position themselves so that they are able to cope with the downturn and emerge from the recession stronger and more competitive."

While SPUR is for a two year period, the Manpower Ministry hopes that Singaporeans will continue to cultivate the attitude of lifelong learning and develop a learning culture even after the economy recovers and the recession is over.

To achieve this, the ministry said it will continue to strengthen the system of Continuing Education and Training (CET). This will be done by expanding the CET infrastructure and recognising the qualifications by employers and workers.

There are now more than 40 CET centres in Singapore. Mr Gan also urged all to be prepared for a second wave of retrenchments, one reason for the release of new tripartite guidelines to manage excess manpower in companies.

He said: "Once we are prepared, whether it comes in the second, third or fourth quarter, it doesn't really matter because we are already prepared. The companies are ready, tighten, strengthen, our workers are already ready. That is the most important task ahead of us."

Moving ahead, the ministry said low wage workers will continue to be helped through Workfare, to ensure they too benefit from the country's progress. - CNA/vm

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Survey shows S'poreans would take 42% pay cut | Jorbb.com

If they lost their jobs, Singaporeans on average think they would be able to cope without their main source of income for eight and a half months.

In survey findings that the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) hopes will guide the future calibration of social support for retrenched individuals, it was noted that younger people and the lower-income would be less resilient. For instance, there were more in their 20s and 30s, than in the older age groups, who would be able to cope for only up to six months.

Eight in 10 respondents would rely mainly on their personal savings.

But while just 31 per cent would step out of their comfort zone to take on any job, tellingly, respondents were on average willing to take a hefty 42-per-cent pay-cut in their next job, should they lose their current one (though the pain threshold for lower-income respondents was far lower at 34 per cent).

Very few people (5 to 7 per cent) would turn to the Government or welfare agencies for help; more (28 per cent) prefer the support of friends and family.

These findings, gathered from 817 Singaporeans and Permanent residents in mid-February, showed that Singapore residents were on the whole a fairly resilient lot, said IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh. The study is the first of a series to study the perceptions of policies in Singapore.

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New Measures to Develop Manpower Capabilities in this Economic Downturn | Jorbb.com

The Ministry of Manpower is introducing new measures under SPUR (Skiils Programme for Upgrading and Resilience) to further develop Singapore's manpower capabilities and provide greater support for companies and workers, especially Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs), affected by the downturn. They are:

a) Increase in Absentee Payroll to better support training for PMETs - Annex A;

b) SPUR-JOBS to encourage recruitment and retention of trainees of SPUR and other WDA CET programmes - Annex B; and

c) Professional Skills Programme Traineeships (PSPT) scheme for companies to build new capabilities in growth sectors - Annex C.

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Budget's focus on jobs paying off | Jorbb.com

THE decision to focus this year's Budget on saving jobs was the right move as its key planks have helped temper job losses and cut the cost burden on employers.

And while the Government's emphasis going ahead will remain focused on saving jobs, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said workers and union leaders must continue to play their part.

Speaking at the annual May Day Rally, he outlined how the Government had and would continue to help on the jobs front.

One approach has been through the Jobs Credit scheme which subsidises a company's wage bill for local workers; and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience which pays part of workers' wages while they are on training.

A second has been to go on the offensive and create new jobs and capabilities.
The Integrated Resorts, for example, are already recruiting workers.

Also, the Economic Development Board (EDB) has brought in new projects and got existing companies to expand.

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4 in 10 laid off last year were foreigners | Jorbb.com

FOUR out of 10 workers laid off last year were foreigners, according to the latest figures from the Manpower Ministry (MOM).

The proportion is a 10-year high, and analysts say it shows that, contrary to popular belief, Singaporeans have not unfairly borne the brunt of layoffs in the current recession.

‘A lot of foreigners are employed in lower-skilled service industries, which slowed down in the later part of last year, so they have been affected,’ said Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng.

A total of 16,880 workers lost their jobs last year, double the figure for 2007.
Of these, 13,910 were retrenched and 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
The bulk of those in the latter group - 2,380 - were foreigners.

Of the 13,910 retrenched, 9,770 were locals - Singaporeans and permanent residents - and 4,140 foreigners.

As the MOM pointed out, the proportion of foreigners laid off last year broadly reflects their presence in the workforce.

Foreigners made up 36 per cent of Singapore’s workforce last December.

In actual numbers, they formed 1.2 million of Singapore’s population in June, driving it to a record 4.84 million.

For complete story, visit Asia One

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Recession Will Last At Least 24 Months, Says Economist

(HONG KONG) Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, said that he was 'still bearish' and that an economic recovery is going to take 'longer than expected.'

Corporate earnings will 'surprise on the downside,' Prof Roubini said in a speech in Hong Kong yesterday. 'Lots of banks, even the better ones, are going to be in trouble.'

Banks around the world have reported US$1.3 trillion in credit losses tied to the housing market collapse since 2007. The deficits, which spurred the first simultaneous recessions in the US, Europe and Japan since World War II, pushed the American government to pledge US$12.8 trillion to stabilise the banking system and revive economic growth.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which tumbled 38 per cent in 2008, has rallied 29 per cent after sinking to a 12-year low on March 9. Prof Roubini said that day that the S&P 500 is likely to drop to 600 or lower this year as the global recession deepens.

George Soros, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who made money last year while most peers suffered losses, said on April 6 that US stocks weren't at the start of a bull market yet because the economy is still shrinking.

'The current rally is a bear-market rally,' Prof Roubini told reporters after his speech. 'I don't expect a 50 per cent adjustment that I expected two years ago, but this is a dead-cat bounce, sucker's rally, whatever you want to call it.'

Prof Roubini's view contradicts that of investor Marc Faber, who said on April 13 that the S&P 500 may rise to 1,000 in the next three months as government spending boosts bank profits.

Markets are 'way ahead' of real economic data and this recession will last at least 24 months, Prof Roubini said. He predicted China's economy will grow 5.5 per cent in 2009, which is slower than the 8 per cent expansion the Chinese government is targeting.

Prof Roubini has stayed away from 'risky assets' including equities, and 95 per cent of his savings have gone into cash.

'Reserving capital, compared with losing 50 per cent of it, is good,' he said. -- Bloomberg

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S'pore ranks second-lowest for job satisfaction | Jorbb.com

SINGAPOREANS have long been suspected to be a dissatisfied bunch - and now there are numbers to add to that view.

In Robert Half's latest survey of finance professionals, Singapore ranks second-lowest worldwide for job satisfaction, with only 53 per cent of local respondents claiming to be satisfied with their job.

Ironically though, their dissatisfaction may stem largely from their uncertainty over being able to keep their job.

Ranked third-lowest worldwide for satisfaction with job security, only 54 per cent of local respondents said they were satisfied with job security in their current position.

'As job losses continue to mount, concerns about job security, career prospects and the ability to maintain a work-family balance as workload increases are heightened,' said Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore.

'During these tough times, managers must demonstrate strong leadership in managing their staff, to not just allay their concerns but also to motivate and encourage them and keep overall employee morale high.'

Other Asians are not much happier in their jobs than Singaporeans, forming a regional theme of dissatisfaction. Bringing up the rear on the job satisfaction front, Japan ranked the lowest globally at 47 per cent, while Hong Kong was third-lowest at 54 per cent.

Worldwide, finance professionals in Dubai were the happiest job-wise, with 85 per cent claiming to be satisfied.

Singapore's finance professionals also scored low on company loyalty, with 59 per cent of them saying they felt 'very loyal' or 'rather loyal' to their firm.

The only other countries in the survey that ranked lower than Singapore on this count were Hong Kong and Japan with 42 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

Not surprisingly, only 11 per cent of local respondents said they plan to stay in their current job for the next 12 months, the smallest proportion worldwide.

Forty per cent are either actively looking for another job or plan to do so in the next 12 months. In Hong Kong - the only country to outrank Singapore in this area - 45 per cent of respondents plan a job change.

In Singapore, the main reason cited for a job switch was an increase in pay, for which 35 per cent indicated they would walk. A better work-life balance came in a distant second, with 21 per cent of respondents citing it is the reason for a job change.

'Especially in these uncertain times, we are advising both our clients and candidates to focus less on monetary compensation packages but more on the content and scalability of jobs,' said Mr Hird.

The survey was conducted by the consulting firm in October last year. It involved 3,556 finance professionals globally, 200 of whom were in Singapore.

This article was first published in The Business Times.

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Pay rises slow down in Singapore: survey | Jorbb.com

SALARY increases in Singapore are slowing down to a crawl, according to ECA International's latest Salary Trends Survey.

Held in February, the survey monitors how economic conditions have changed since its first run in September 2008. The data reflects nominal wage projections.

Singapore workers will see a lower pay increase of 2 per cent, down from 5 per cent last year. This is well below the regional average of 4.8 per cent and almost two-thirds lower than initial forecasts.

Of the 41 companies surveyed for Singapore, 36 per cent announced intentions to halt pay increases. These companies included multinational corporations (MNCs) as well as other companies headquartered here.

Other countries and territories in the region are also experiencing the squeeze. Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong have recorded a steep fall in expected wage increases. In addition, almost a third of Asia Pacific-based companies surveyed plan to freeze salaries.

However, there are still some bright sparks in the region.

India, Vietnam and Indonesia are expected to see wage increases of 10.8 per cent, 10.6 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

In particular, Vietnam is the only country in the region where rises are predicted to outstrip last year's.

'There is still a huge demand for talent in India which is keeping salary increases high despite the current economic situation. While in Vietnam and Indonesia, persistently high levels of inflation are keeping increases up,' said Lee Quane, regional director for ECA International's Asia operations.

However, in most other countries including Singapore, annual inflation rates have fallen. Hence, 'real wage increases - the difference between actual salary increases and inflation - may not differ significantly from last year'.

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Grads flexible about salaries | Jorbb.com

FRESH graduate Wang Wei Xiang will jump at a job that pays $2,000 a month, even though it is $500 less than the average starting pay.

The 26-year-old, who has a degree in business management from Singapore Management University (SMU), is even willing to be an intern for $700 a month.

His overriding concern is that the job gives him experience in human resource and organisational development.

Mr Wang's flexible stance on pay is typical of the 800 new graduates who attended a job fair yesterday. Over 6,000 jobs were on offer from 28 organisations at the fair organised by Young NTUC, the youth arm of the National Trades Union Congress.

Participants included the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), integrated resorts Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa, and pre-school operator NTUC First Campus.

About 12,000 are expected to graduate from the local universities this year, said NTUC assistant secretary-general Josephine Teo.

But at least 1,000 of them may find themselves without a job even after six months, should their employment rate hit the 87 per cent level of the 2003 Sars period, said an NTUC statement yesterday.

Hence, Mrs Teo, adviser to Young NTUC, urged graduates at the fair to promptly launch their career even if they cannot find their 'dream' job. Whatever the job, it will give them new skills, she said.

She also highlighted the large number of jobs on offer at the fair, saying it shows there are still many opportunities despite the downturn.

Mrs Teo's advice struck a chord with SMU marketing graduate Desiree Koh, 24. 'I'll accept a starting pay of about $2,000. I'm still young,' she said.

Employers at the fair said most of the students they met yesterday were enthusiastic and willing to learn. Resorts World's assistant vice-president for communications Robin Goh said it received 300 applications at the fair. The most popular jobs were that of a croupier and of supervising operations at theme park Universal Studios Singapore.

Four in five asked questions that showed they were keen to find a good job fit, while one in five were interested only in the starting pay, he said.

The National Council of Social Service also saw some interest in the 100 positions for social workers, special education teachers and other staff. Most of the interested 80 graduates were initially unaware of the role of the sector, equating social service work with volunteer service, a spokesman said.

The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) are also helping graduates find jobs. NTU has waived charges for employers to set up job booths on campus, said its career and attachment office director Loh Pui Wah. At NUS, students are getting help with job interview skills and setting up their own ventures, said its career centre director Corrine Ong.

Young NTUC plans to hold three networking sessions on specific industries to help new graduates find jobs. It also started an online employment advisory service yesterday for undergraduates and new graduates, at www.youngntuc.org.sg.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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Time to embrace flexi-work | Jorbb.com

OFFERING employees the freedom to work fewer and more flexible hours could help companies trim costs and lift productivity amid the downturn.

Fewer hours - meaning lower pay - could help rein in salary costs. And offering more flexible hours to employees can also improve the bottom line, studies overseas have shown.

But perhaps what's best about flexi-work is that unlike retrenchment, it is likely to be embraced by young and old alike - with benefits that could well outlast the downturn.

At least three recent studies here have shown that flexi-work is a tempting carrot that would entice older folk from retirement and wean new mothers from baby bottles back to their Blackberries.

The latest, reported by The Straits Times last month, showed that 72 per cent of 1,000 workers polled would be encouraged to remain in the workforce for as long as possible in their senior years - if given fewer and more flexible work hours. Data for this survey was culled from a global study on the future of retirement by Oxford University.

Another recently released survey of 3,000 baby-boomers here, commissioned by the Government, yielded similar findings.

In yet another Government survey made public last July, more than 60 per cent of 25,000 unemployed older folk who planned to look for work said they preferred part-time work.

Same for mothers of young children. In a survey of 1,000 mothers who were either working or looking for jobs here last year, 85 per cent said flexible hours and results-based performance evaluation would best help them cope with the dual demands of children and career. The survey was commissioned by baby food company, Friesland.

But this groundswell of opinion has so far had little effect among employers.

Indeed, the Oxford survey, which interviewed 300 employers here as well, found that only 43 per cent of employers were willing to offer flexible work to older workers. The remaining 57 per cent, presumably, are against such arrangements - or at least undecided. Contrast that with Britain, where studies have shown that fewer than a tenth of all requests for flexi-work are turned down.

The Singapore working mothers survey, for its part, found that nearly two-thirds of the mothers were unable to re-enter the workforce after childbirth as they failed to find jobs that offered 'family-friendly' hours.

Figures from the Ministry of Manpower made public last December show that only 7.4 per cent of private sector employees here are on flexible work schedules, up from about 5 per cent in 2006.

If you include the public sector, the proportion of employees on flexible work arrangements in 2008 was 9.4 per cent.

While the numbers here are inching up, Singapore is still a far cry from countries like the United States and Britain, where nearly 30 per cent of employees work on flexible schedules.

So why the lag here?

The biggest hitch is that many employers still view 'face-time' at the workplace as an important criterion in evaluating staff performance and productivity, says Mr Josh Goh, senior manager for corporate services at recruitment firm GMP. They fail to recognise that there is little correlation between productivity and the number of hours worked, he says.

Chief executive officer of HR firm LifeWorkz, Ms Cheryl Liew, points out that many firms here have the misconception that the nature of their businesses is simply not conducive to flexi-hours.

Many small companies, for instance, equate telecommuting - that is, working from a computer at home - with flexi-work. They think that if they don't have sophisticated IT infrastructure, they cannot afford to be more flexible.

But telecommuting - ideal for desk-bound executives hooked up to office computer systems - is not the only type of flexi-work. There can be flexibility in both the scheduling and number of hours worked.

These include a 'compressed work week', where an employee works an extra few hours every work day, to be on a three- or four-day week. This is ideal for those in manufacturing.

Job-sharing - where two employees share one full-time position - has also proved to be useful to those in administrative or shift-based jobs.

Finally, there is the 'annualised hours' scheme where, instead of say 40-hours a week, employees are given an annual quota of the number of hours they need to work. Such a scheme is useful especially for organisations that have round-the-clock operations.

But companies here remain apprehensive about heavier administrative loads on managers in terms of communicating, supervising and scheduling the working time of employees.

This needs to change, say some experts on productivity. There is increasing evidence that flexible hours are not just a boon for employees, but for the company's bottom line too.

A 2006 study by Georgetown University in the US, for instance, cited several cases of companies that raked in more revenue even as they gave their employees more freedom in how and where they did their work.

Chubb, a Fortune 500 insurance company which implemented various forms of flexi-work in its claim services department, found a 40 per cent jump in claims processed, and a dramatic reduction in overtime costs.

Global IT giant IBM, for its part, saved US$20 million (S$30.6 million) in operating costs annually and over 500,000 sq ft of real estate by allowing employees to telecommute.

While Singapore companies watch and wait, the US and Britain are both beefing up their flexi-work mechanisms.

On Jan 30, days after being sworn into office, US President Barack Obama announced the formation of a task force to find ways for overloaded parents to better balance their work and family lives.

And from next month, a new British law will make it a right for all working parents with children under 16 to ask for flexible working conditions.

There is no need for legislation here yet, but clearly it's time to delve deeper into flexi options.

As work slows and morale dips, giving employees a choice on when and where they work could be the cheerful upside of this depressing downturn.

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Resorts World to open up more job openings in mid 2009

Good news for jobseekers who are looking for jobs at the integrated resorts.

Resorts World at Sentosa will ramp up its hiring from June.

William Fong, 46, was among the 20,000 people who applied for a job at Resorts Worlds recently.

The former assistant engineer was retrenched early this year.

Now, the father of three has reasons to smile again.

He said: “After my first interview at Resorts World, they offered me a job as a slot technician. I feel glad that this company is really concerned about workers who are older and with lower qualifications.”

Resorts World has received overwhelming response to its recruitment efforts - it gets up to 200 online applications everyday.

Resorts World currently has more than 800 job openings. So far, only 10 of those positions have been filled, but Resorts World is looking forward to bringing in more new hires soon.

But those who did not get the positions they had applied for should not fret.

Assistant vice-president of communications at Resorts World at Sentosa, Robin Goh, said: “What may happen is that we may look through their resumes, and if we find them a fit in other attractions we have, Universal Theme Park for example, we may refer them to the Universal team to do the selection."

Resorts World says it is committed to hiring Singaporeans for the 10,000 positions available.

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Tourism training institute sees 50% spike in course demand | Jorbb.com

The Tourism Management Institute of Singapore (TMIS) has seen demand for its training courses spike 50 per cent in the first quarter of this year as more companies take advantage of generous government training incentives during this economic downturn.

H P Loi, CEO of TMIS, said: "We have a lot of corporate companies – travel agents, hotels and even airlines – send their people to us for training. When you have people coming in groups, the numbers went up a lot."

This hike in interest is coupled with the fact that Singapore's integrated resorts are scheduled to open soon.

The 22-year-old institute, which is the training arm of NATAS, is one of the larger centres offering mostly skills-based training, ranging from short courses to longer diploma stints.

TMIS has some 500 foreign students and 3,000 local students each year, and it said the number of locals is growing sharply.

"There are two categories of local students. One category is from the industry doing upgrading and the other is made up of people interested in joining the tourism industry. These could be mid-career people who want to switch or young people who are interested to get in," said Mr Loi.

However, the increase in numbers has led to a problem – a shortage of good trainers. The problem is compounded when some are poached by other schools.

"Right now, it's okay. But in a few months, it may be different. Trainers must have relevant experience – you can be a PhD holder but not necessarily a good lecturer," Mr Loi added.

The training institute moved to the Singapore Shopping Centre some one and a half years ago, but it is already running out of space. By the time the lease ends in 2011, it may have to look for bigger premises, such as an old school.

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Jobseekers say more than 4 months needed to get new job | Jorbb.com

Eight in 10 jobseekers from more than 85 countries around the world predicted it would take unemployed workers more than four months to find a new job in today's turbulent market.

And four in 10 said the process might take seven months or even longer.

This is according to a recent survey of some 1,000 unemployed executives by the Korn/Ferry Institute, a talent management and leadership research firm.

Forty-three per cent of executives surveyed said they are keen on pursuing studies during the downturn.

Most jobless executives looking at educational opportunities were considering MBAs or other advanced degrees.

The survey also found that while 55 per cent of the jobseekers spent the majority of their time between jobs looking for new opportunities, one in four focused their time on professional development.

One in 10 chose to spend time more leisurely with family and friends, while seven per cent went on a vacation.

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84% of professionals here eye foreign postings: poll

FOUR out of five professional workers in Singapore look forward to a foreign posting during their career - more than in many other countries, according to an international poll.

Commissioned by London-based recruitment firm Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS), the poll found that professionals here are 'strongly motivated by opportunities for mobility, with 84 per cent interested in either a regional or international move'.

Overall, the poll of 1,400 professional and senior workers in the UK, Asia-Pacific, Australia and the US found that 78 per cent are keen to move abroad.

It also found that Singapore professionals are the most willing - 49 per cent - to move overseas in a similar position to their current job. The global average is 42 per cent.

But most of the professional workers polled do not get the chance to relocate. Only two out of five professionals in Singapore got a foreign posting in the past three years. The global figure was slightly higher at 45 per cent.

'It is evident that employees want fresh challenges and opportunities for mobility in their careers, and 84 per cent of those surveyed in Singapore have reflected this desire,' says AMS Asia-Pacific client director Allison Baird. 'International jobs are given much more value, with global experience being recognised.'

Foreign postings are not always available, she says. And this gap between supply and demand means organisations risk losing talent to competitors who can provide global experience.

According to the poll, the main drive to move overseas - cited by 74 per cent of respondents - is 'quality of job opportunity'.

Less that two-thirds - 62 per cent - are moved by the potential to earn more, while 59 per cent want to experience a new culture or travel.

'Recognising (the) appetite for change is becoming crucial for organisations as they seek to nurture their top performers,' says the Managing Mobility report that contains the poll results. 'Employers in Singapore placed the highest encouragement on mobility compared with other regions, but still remained low at only 27 per cent,' the report says.

An overseas posting is generally seen as a good career move.

Among Hongkongers, it is also highly prized for its exposure to Western working environments and practices.

And in Australia, it is viewed as a key to career development, especially work in the UK and Ireland.

Professional workers in the UK, while among those who place the highest value on an overseas posting, are also the least exposed to openings abroad.

Just 7 per cent of British professionals polled have secured an international placement and 48 per cent have no experience of 'departmental, regional or international mobility'.

Except in certain industries, international openings are least important to professionals in the US.

In another survey, by US-based human resources firm Kelly Services, half of the workers polled in Singapore said that they are willing to forgo pay and position for more meaningful work - roughly in line with the global number.

In particular, older workers here rank job satisfaction higher than money. Three in five baby boomers (aged 48-65) indicated this, compared with 47 per cent of Generation Y (aged 18-29) workers.

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Hirings down but pay steady | Jorbb.com

EXECUTIVES, professionals and managers can breathe a little easier: despite job cuts and hiring freezes, salaries have not dropped.

International recruitment firm Robert Walters, which released its annual salary survey on Wednesday, said it found 'salaries in Singapore are at least holding relatively steady'.

The only exception is in financial services, which 'continues to be extremely tough'.

The company's manager for the sector, Mr Pan Zaixian, said that back-of-the-house functions such as operations and finance had slowed down, as a 'downstream' effect, because the 'front office is not making money'.

In banks, hiring freezes and pay cuts have pushed people to seek jobs in 'less volatile' industries, such as the public sector, because of the security offered.

Skills-wise, sales and business development executives, who have the relevant industry knowledge, are in higher demand than other workers, said the survey.

Companies want them because they are able to 'hunt' out and bring in business for them, unlike marketing functions - which increases costs to the company - said Mr Andree Mangels, a manager for sales and marketing jobs.

Contract jobs, not just in information technology, are getting more popular with both employees and employers.

Said Mr Pan: 'In the past, people don't want contracts because it's not stable. They would never consider it. Now people who are looking for placements will voluntarily tell you they would take them.'

For the full Robert Walters Global Salary Survey, go to www.robertwalters.com/salarysurvey

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Retrenched professionals urged to consider becoming entrepreneurs | Jorbb.com

Professionals who have lost their jobs in the current economic environment are being urged to consider becoming entrepreneurs.

Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan said the entrepreneurship landscape in Singapore remains healthy, with start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) still venturing overseas.

He said opportunities still exist for entrepreneurs who are resourceful and imaginative.

Data from SPRING Singapore showed that more start-up companies and at least two-thirds of all SMEs in Singapore now have operations overseas.

Of these SMEs, a quarter earned half their revenue from overseas last year - although this figure has fallen slightly over 2007.

The success stories include firms like Sakae Sushi and Charles & Keith, which started operations during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.

Mr Lee said the current economic crisis could present opportunities for Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs), who may have lost their jobs.

He said: "If you look at new ventures... many of them are started by professionals who work in certain industries for the last 10, 15 years and by then, they have acquired a very specialised knowledge of that industry.

"They know if they were to set up a company, how their company is going to value add. So I think in the PMET market likewise, there would be some of them who are in this unique position.

"But to cross over from a professional to an entrepreneur, of course there are some skills needed, and this is where I think our Enterprise Development Centre and our incubators can advise."

Entrepreneurs are also getting younger - with some 65 per cent under the age of 40. And SPRING Singapore is planning to reach out to more youths.

Mr Lee said: "If we one day can make them start and wind down a business in the course of their studies, then they will bring this skill set and experience with them, they may start a new business upon graduation, or they may do so 15 years later.

"But they have the confidence to say that 'Yes I have done it before, and I am ready to take it to the world now.'"

Two programmes catering to young entrepreneurs were launched last year under the YES! Scheme. Under the scheme, SPRING Singapore received 12 applications from schools seeking funds for entrepreneurship programmes and has approved two of them.

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Helping students via SMS alerts and internships | Jorbb.com

WITH many multinational corporations putting the brakes on hiring this year, the Nanyang Technological University has set its sights on government agencies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to hire its graduates.

Over the past few months, the university's career services officers have been cultivating ministries and SMEs to participate in NTU career fairs and recruitment talks.

Their efforts appear to have paid off. Out of the 107 organisations at NTU's two-day career fair which ended last Thursday, 28 per cent were from the public sector - double the number last year.

Some of the government agencies which participated included the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) and Ministry of Education.

NTU career and attachment office director Loh Pui Wah said it took work to 'track down' new partners but the university was willing to put in the effort for the sake of its students.

In previous years, NTU used to rely on mass recruitment drives by MNCs and banks to hire a majority of its graduates.

About 5,000 graduates emerge from NTU each year. Last May, The Straits Times reported that 90 per cent of NTU students who graduated in 2007 got jobs within a month of graduating.

Mr Loh said recruitment by SMEs from growing sectors such as shipyard maintenance, chemical manufacturing and gaming can potentially make up for the hiring freezes by multinationals.

Mr Loh said: '[The SMEs offer] one or two positions but when you add all of this up, the numbers can be quite sizeable.'

NTU also introduced a new SMS service last month to alert students of job openings. Graduating students who fit the requirements of companies will receive SMS alerts informing them of new job opportunities.

It is looking at setting up a portal for students to upload their resumes for employers to view. It will be opening more venues on campus for career counselling to help students manage job expectations.

Mr Loh said that NTU is confident that these efforts will allow 80 to 90 per cent of its graduates to get a job offer by the time they graduate in July.

Other educational institutions are also doing their bit to get their students jobs.

The Singapore Management University and National University of Singapore are organising a series of recruitment and internship events in the next few weeks.

Singapore Polytechnic is going further by offering short term or contract jobs on campus to some students who will be graduating in May.

The students can be engaged in work such as estate management and maintenance, creating multimedia applications or assisting lecturers in research projects.

Having these opportunities to find jobs is comforting for graduating students.

NTU electrical and electronic engineering final-year student Jason Teo, 25, was armed with 10 copies of his resume when he attended NTU's career fair.

He said:'I used to think that I only want to work in the semi-conductor industry. Now I am open for jobs in any engineering company. Hopefully, I will get an offer.'

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Biomedical sector will create 900 new jobs this year | Jorbb.com

Despite facing challenges from the slowing global economy, the biomedical sector will create 900 new jobs this year as companies go ahead with their expansion plans here.

These include firms such as Wyeth, Abbott, GSK Bio, Schering Plough and Perkin Elmer, Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said in Parliament on Monday.

To date, 11 of the world’s top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have already invested in more than 25 manufacturing facilities in Singapore, with another seven new plants set to open in the next three years.

‘We are confident that more will come to Singapore so that they can reach out to the Asian market more effectively,’ said Mr Lim. ‘Demand for effective medicines will continue to grow because people become more affluent and people age.’

Singapore should also ‘prepare for the upturn’ by entering new niches, such as medical technology and biologics, which are complex molecules derived from cells of mammals, bacteria and yeast.

Biologics in particular is expected to grow at 13 per cent a year, compared to just 0.9 per cent for the traditional pharmaceutical market, Mr Lim said.

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Singapore developer says office demand plunged | Jorbb.com

CapitaLand Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest property developer, said demand for Singapore office space plummeted last year as the global financial crisis knocked the city-state into recession.

"There was a big surge in demand for offices 10 or 11 months ago ... but it suddenly stops and falls off a cliff," CapitaLand Chief Executive Liew Mun Leong said at a news conference. "We know the market is softening and volume has gone down, and prices will be softening."

The company's fourth quarter profit fell 88 percent to 78 million Singapore dollars ($52.2 million) from SG$675 million a year earlier, Liew said. CapitaLand also plans to raise SG$1.84 billion by selling one new share for every two held by investors.

Singapore's real estate market is reeling from a deep recession and job losses in the financial industry, which helps support demand for the country's most expensive residential and commercial property. The economy contracted 17 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter.

Property prices rocketed between 2005 and 2007, luring some investors looking for a quick buck with speculative purchases. Private home prices surged 31 percent in 2007 as the economy expanded 7.7 percent.

Last year, prices fell 4.7 percent and economic growth slowed to 1.2 percent. The government expects gross domestic product to shrink as much as 5 percent this year.

"This was a classic property market bubble," said Tim Murphy, managing director of Hong Kong-based property investment company IP Global. "By the end, you had taxi drivers trying to double their money in 10 minutes. That only leads to one thing — a crash."

The government said last month that prices of private residential property dropped 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, their steepest fall in a decade, and office rentals fell 6.5 percent.

High-end residential and commercial property will likely fall between 15 percent and 20 percent in the first half and remain flat in the second as a deepening global economic slowdown undermines consumer confidence, Murphy said.

"With the data that's coming out, I can't see anyone in Singapore who reads a newspaper being confident enough to buy real estate," he said. "People have been too frightened."

Liew declined to say how much he expected property prices to fall this year.

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Downturn a "perfect opportunity" to tool up | Jorbb.com

Despite the challenges in a tough economic situation, CEO of MSIG Holdings (Asia), Alan Wilson, says it is now a "perfect opportunity" to pick up talent for the future.

According to Wilson, 2008 profits for MSIG remain in the "comfortable" margins. However, the recession will throw up several new challenges for the organisation which include an increase in the number of cashflow problems and bad debts from clients, a spike in the number of dubious claims and a smaller return on investments during the next two years.

But there are opportunities to be tapped into during this downturn, Wilson adds, as MSIG is using this downturn to pick up talent that have been laid off from their struggling competitors and from regions such as North America and Europe.

Despite the industry's technicalities, insurance is still a people-based business where the capacity and capability to move ahead depend on the "quality and quantity of people that you have", Wilson says.

"Although times may be tough, it is a time for us to say, 'Are there areas of business which we are not in or strong at the moment where we can retool or tool up on?' And we can acquire talent which is available right now, and it is a perfect opportunity to do so."

For an insurance provider where labour and rent are the two biggest costs, will there be any cost-cutting action taken? While the company is "looking to be sensible about its costs", the focus is how employees can work smarter and more efficiently. Some of the initiatives now revolve around looking at conducting business in a more cost-efficient way, and introducing a standardization of best practices across the various 11 operations in the region.

"Although it is an expense, we are also looking at how we can invest in the future. It is not just running today's business, but also investing in tomorrow's business. We are investing in various areas such as new IT systems, new ways of doing business, and building the brand to make sure that we are well-positioned for the future."

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CDCs gearing up to help those seeking employment, social assistance | Jorbb.com

Singapore’s Community Development Councils (CDCs) have been seeing an increase in the number of people seeking job help and social assistance over the last few months.

The majority of them are aged 40 years and above.

South West CDC has seen a 52 per cent rise in the number of residents seeking jobs over the last five months, while South East CDC registered some 1,800 job seekers during the same period.

It is a similar picture over at North West CDC —— it saw 42 per cent more job seekers in the same period, with numbers spiking from October when the recession first hit.

Besides job help, more residents have also been seeking social assistance.

Mayor of North West CDC, Teo Ho Pin, said: "Means testing is the best way to determine how much and how to help the residents and their family members. So by working with our partners, especially our grassroots organisations, the welfare communities, constituencies and volunteer welfare organisations, we are able to conduct a proper means testing and identify the needs of the family members and render assistance accordingly."

Besides providing social assistance to the needy, the CDCs are also focusing their attention on job matching. Over the years, these councils have been able to build up close rapport with a number of companies within their area.

The CDCs have also been organising job fairs featuring openings available in particular sectors of the Singapore economy.

These are expected to continue as the CDCs brace themselves for larger retrenchment numbers after the Lunar New Year.


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Undergrads on the job hunt are spooked by grey clouds on economic horizon | Jorbb.com

UNDERGRADUATE May Zhang has given herself six months to find a job in the corporate world upon graduation; failing which, she may open a cafe with her boyfriend.

While she will graduate only in July — she has yet to take her final-year exam — Ms Zhang is already starting to worry about whether she will land her dream job with a communication consulting firm.

“I’m worried because there are fewer jobs available and we hear stories about friends who got retrenched after they found a job after graduation last year,” said Ms Zhang, 23, who is doing a double major in economics and corporate communications at the Singapore Management University (SMU).

But instead of leaving everything to chance after graduation, Ms Zhang has already mapped out her plans post-SMU.

“I’ll try to use the six months after graduation to find a job. There’s no point waiting to find the dream job because I can start my own business,” said Ms Zhang, who has already sent out resumes to three companies.

The avid baker, who started an online blogshop selling cupcakes one-and-a-half years ago, is considering opening a cafe with her boyfriend. She said: “I’ve always thought of setting up my own cafe. It’s an opportunity now to start my business.”

Like Ms Zhang, many final-year undergraduates interviewed by Weekend Xtra are also starting to worry — not about getting their dream job, but getting a job at all. Never mind that graduation is a good six months away.

At this time last year, most final-year students would have been more concerned with project deadlines, revising for their exams and less stressful matters, like planning their post-graduation holidays.

But with Singapore possibly facing the worst recession in its history, many undergraduates are putting worries about their job prospects at the top of their lists. Some 15,000 students are expected to graduate from Singapore’s three universities in July.

Said Dr Helen Chai, assistant dean of undergraduate admissions and the director of BBA programmes at the NUS Business School: “I think students are in tune with the current times and they are well-prepared for the situation ... They are exploring their options to enhance their career versatility, including the school’s concurrent masters programmes.”

Lowered expectations

For some, being well-prepared means sending out their resumes now instead of in April, when the exams are over, to give themselves a headstart over their peers.

It also means paying more attention to job advertisements in newspapers and career talks held by their universities.

Some undergraduates told Weekend Xtra that they are also lowering their job expectations, and that they are ready toaccept a lower salary or work in an industry that is not their first choice.

NUS civil engineering final-year student Yang Chang Han, said: “I’m planning to job hunt now; I had wanted to start after my exams. I’ve heard of people who have looked for a job for six months and are still jobless. Hearing their stories scares me.”

When asked whether his friends are also worried, Mr Yang, 25, said: “The question that we ask each other now is — ‘Have you found a job?’” He added that he is also willing to lower his pay expectations to $2,500, from his original target of $3,000.

Ms Jessie Loy, 23, is considering teaching as a career, even though she did not set out to be a teacher when she opted for mass communications at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

She said: “Recently, there was a teaching award seminar by the Ministry of Education and I thought I’d be one of the few ones from my course to attend it. But there were quite a lot of my coursemates there; they said they were checking it out as a potential back-up because they don’t know how the economy will be once they graduate.”

Another option that more undergraduates are considering is furthering their studies, such as pursuing a Masters degree.

Ms Qian Xiao Hui, 21, is considering doing a Masters in Financial Engineering if she doesn’t get a job when the banks make their customary hiring rounds in February. The final-year banking and finance student at NTU said: “I don’t want to compete in the bad job market. Education is an investment.”

Although the private sector may not be hiring as much as they used to, the public sector remains a good place for undergraduates to seek their first jobs. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced in his recent Budget speech that the Government would open up 18,000 new public sector jobs over the next two years across different ministries and statutory boards for all levels of employees.

Still, despite such openings, the job market will still be a tough year for fresh graduates, given the high number of job losses expected this year, said Mr Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

Professor Michael Heng, from NTU’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, said that while the job market may be tight, graduates who are flexible in their job hunt should have no problem finding a job.

He said: “You need to see your skills differently. If you see yourself as having a capability and not just having hard skills, you have no problem finding a job. Paywise, you still have to adjust expectations, but if you do well in your job, there’ll be no problem getting pay increments.”

Despite the bleak outlook, some students already have jobs waiting for them come July — thanks to the help given by their respective universities (see sidebar).

Mr Colin Teo, a final-year student at NTU’s Nanyang Business School, took up an offer from the school to intern at one of the Big Four accounting firms last June.

The 24-year-old said: “I signed up for it because I already felt the signs when the sub-prime crisis started and the US dollar started to weaken. I know I had to do an internship at one of the Big Four to secure a job.”

He approached his internship company last November for a job and got an offer ahead of his peers. Given the tough economic climate, Mr Teo said: “It’s better to be somewhere now than nowhere. It’s barely six months to graduation and some people are not even getting job offers. But they are not in total despair; they are still taking things in their stride.”

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