Saving jobs, finding new jobs, and increasing the capacity for continuing education and training are the priorities for Singapore's Workforce Development Agency (WDA) this year.
It is also playing a key role in implementing the S$650 million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) during the economic downturn.
Seven hundred companies are currently taking part in the programme.
It has been three months since the SPUR programme kicked off. It is aimed at encouraging companies to send their excess manpower for skills upgrading - and the results have been encouraging, according to WDA's Chief Executive Officer Chan Heng Kee.
Up to end-February, 43,000 workers have been sent for SPUR training. Of these, 27,000 come from companies, with the rest being individuals who enrolled with the training centres directly.
Twelve thousand workers from the companies involved, have already started claiming their absentee payroll.
Since the launch of SPUR last year, WDA has made several refinements. WDA said it is important to take into account the feedback given about the programme and the funding process from both employers and workers.
Mr Chan said: "They are telling us that the economy is very fluid, they are in different sorts of work arrangements and shorter work week, and their needs can change quite rapidly. So we continue to listen to them.
"We will honour the commitment for it to be a two-year programme, so employers do not have to worry that if they come onto SPUR now and later should the economy recover, we would not honour the funding. We have already set aside funding for two years and we will guarantee the two-year funding period."
The agency is also ready to develop new training frameworks, so that more sectors can tap on SPUR.
Also taking advantage of the many initiatives like SPUR and the Professional Skills Programme are some 6,000 professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) - a group quite affected by the downturn.
WDA is putting in place more diploma courses and conversion programmes for them. Currently, there are 26 such programmes and this could be increased to 50 this year.
WDA added that Singapore's quick response with SPUR was also because of its many continuing education and training centres.
Mr Chan said: "Some of them are expanding facilities. We are looking at temporary facilities to take care of peaks in training. (For example), we are ramping up the development of trainers, the conversion of trainers, trainers with expertise. (In terms of) rescheduling, we are helping them to rearrange because companies are (implementing) shorter work weeks, so their scheduling can be quite unique."
In the pipeline are another 10 new centres with programmes to meet the needs of emerging sectors like community and social services.
Meanwhile, giving a report card of its achievements in 2008, WDA said it more than doubled the number of continuing education and training centres - from 19 in 2007 to 42 last year.
Also, 24 per cent of some 10,800 companies surveyed said they recognise the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) scheme. WDA said the WSQ framework has only existed for the last two years and the increased adoption is a giant step by companies in Singapore.
WDA has also played a leading role in helping workers get jobs. About 13,000 were placed into jobs by the Community Development Councils career centres and another 22,000 through the various WDA-supported programmes.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 29, 2009
Laid off? It's not the end of the road
IT IS not the end of the road when workers are told that they are being laid off during tough times, human-resource experts said.
Mr Tim Hird, managing director of human-resource firm Robert Half Singapore, said that it is vital that employees remain professional, positive and proactive even if they know they will be laid off.
"A reputation for professionalism and good work ethics is your most important career asset, as it will only help to enhance your chances of getting a new job, or even being re-hired by your company when business picks up again," he said.
Agreeing, the executive director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, Mr David Ang, added that retrenched workers should leave their companies on a good note as they could still get a good testimonial from their former employers for future job searches, or even gain recommendations to business associates who are hiring.
On the flip side, Mr Ang said firms should not use the downturn to threaten employees with job cuts and exert more work pressure on them when the company is still doing quite well.
Those comments came in the light of a finding released earlier this month by Robert Half, which identified six warning signs that indicated when a company might be looking to cut staff (see below).
But seeing one or two of the signs does not necessarily mean that a firm is retrenching, noted Robert Half.
A 28-year-old quality assurance officer in the IT industry said he was worried about losing his job late last year after job cuts were announced, due to business difficulties the company faced.
While he was not let go in his firm's retrenchment exercise which took place this year, he took heart that the workers who were retrenched are still considered valuable workers.
"Despite being retrenched, my former colleagues handled the process well and continued to focus on their work, even to their last day," said the officer.
- My Paper
Mr Tim Hird, managing director of human-resource firm Robert Half Singapore, said that it is vital that employees remain professional, positive and proactive even if they know they will be laid off.
"A reputation for professionalism and good work ethics is your most important career asset, as it will only help to enhance your chances of getting a new job, or even being re-hired by your company when business picks up again," he said.
Agreeing, the executive director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, Mr David Ang, added that retrenched workers should leave their companies on a good note as they could still get a good testimonial from their former employers for future job searches, or even gain recommendations to business associates who are hiring.
On the flip side, Mr Ang said firms should not use the downturn to threaten employees with job cuts and exert more work pressure on them when the company is still doing quite well.
Those comments came in the light of a finding released earlier this month by Robert Half, which identified six warning signs that indicated when a company might be looking to cut staff (see below).
But seeing one or two of the signs does not necessarily mean that a firm is retrenching, noted Robert Half.
A 28-year-old quality assurance officer in the IT industry said he was worried about losing his job late last year after job cuts were announced, due to business difficulties the company faced.
While he was not let go in his firm's retrenchment exercise which took place this year, he took heart that the workers who were retrenched are still considered valuable workers.
"Despite being retrenched, my former colleagues handled the process well and continued to focus on their work, even to their last day," said the officer.
- My Paper
More jobs in healthcare
THE Ministry of Health (MOH) will take in 4,500 workers into the public healthcare sector in the next two years instead of over the next five.
This change of plan is aimed at opening up job options for Singaporeans hit by the downturn, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Sunday.
Speaking at a dialogue in Paya Lebar Kovan Community Club, he said: 'I really encourage Singaporeans - whether you are retrenched or want to change your career - to consider health care because it's a very meaningful job, but of course, you do need training.'
Since January, 1,100 people have been recruited, six in 10 of them Singaporeans, for administrative positions, nursing and allied health.
More than a quarter of the Singaporeans - 27 per cent - were above 40.
MOH said 2,600 job vacancies are available now, of which one third are in nursing, one third in medical and allied health care and the rest, for administrative and support positions like managers, IT staff and care-coordinators.
It is also funding about 250 training places for Singaporeans making a mid-career switch. So far, 93 places have been filled.
Mr Khaw said the healthcare sector has enough jobs for Singaporeans and foreigners and that it was most important to have the right attitude and the willingness to come forward.
This month, labour chief Lim Swee Say predicted that more than 10,000 workers may be laid off in the first three months of this year - about the number laid off in a year in a booming economy.
- The Straits Times
This change of plan is aimed at opening up job options for Singaporeans hit by the downturn, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Sunday.
Speaking at a dialogue in Paya Lebar Kovan Community Club, he said: 'I really encourage Singaporeans - whether you are retrenched or want to change your career - to consider health care because it's a very meaningful job, but of course, you do need training.'
Since January, 1,100 people have been recruited, six in 10 of them Singaporeans, for administrative positions, nursing and allied health.
More than a quarter of the Singaporeans - 27 per cent - were above 40.
MOH said 2,600 job vacancies are available now, of which one third are in nursing, one third in medical and allied health care and the rest, for administrative and support positions like managers, IT staff and care-coordinators.
It is also funding about 250 training places for Singaporeans making a mid-career switch. So far, 93 places have been filled.
Mr Khaw said the healthcare sector has enough jobs for Singaporeans and foreigners and that it was most important to have the right attitude and the willingness to come forward.
This month, labour chief Lim Swee Say predicted that more than 10,000 workers may be laid off in the first three months of this year - about the number laid off in a year in a booming economy.
- The Straits Times
Mar 28, 2009
Jobless? Be an SME adviser
SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which need expert advice in these trying times - but cannot afford it - can now turn to the inaugural Business Advisers Programme (BAP).
The scheme has a second benefit: offering short-term positions to unemployed professional executives in various fields.
Launched by the Singapore Management University (SMU) on Friday, the BAP will match jobless professionals, managers, executives and technicians with SMEs. They will serve as full-time business advisers on short-term stints.
Spring Singapore will fund up to 60 projects, paying 70 per cent of the $5,000 per month project fee in each case. The SME will pay the other 30 per cent.
There will be one adviser per project. Each SME can have up to two projects. Whether the SME takes up one or two projects, the entire project duration must not exceed 12 months.
SMU's Associate Professor Annie Koh, dean of executive and professional education, said: 'SMEs which do not have the financial means to engage business advisers can now do so with government funding support, while jobs are created for retrenched or unemployed professionals, managers, executives and technicians with a wealth of expertise to contribute.'
Applicants must have at least five years' relevant working experience and should be available for short-term assignments. SMEs must agree not to displace existing staff by taking on the business advisers.
Matching will be done according to areas of expertise and firms' needs. Shortlisted applicants will attend a two-day BAP workshop in May to understand more about the SME's business culture, before the attachment begins.
- The Straits Times
The scheme has a second benefit: offering short-term positions to unemployed professional executives in various fields.
Launched by the Singapore Management University (SMU) on Friday, the BAP will match jobless professionals, managers, executives and technicians with SMEs. They will serve as full-time business advisers on short-term stints.
Spring Singapore will fund up to 60 projects, paying 70 per cent of the $5,000 per month project fee in each case. The SME will pay the other 30 per cent.
There will be one adviser per project. Each SME can have up to two projects. Whether the SME takes up one or two projects, the entire project duration must not exceed 12 months.
SMU's Associate Professor Annie Koh, dean of executive and professional education, said: 'SMEs which do not have the financial means to engage business advisers can now do so with government funding support, while jobs are created for retrenched or unemployed professionals, managers, executives and technicians with a wealth of expertise to contribute.'
Applicants must have at least five years' relevant working experience and should be available for short-term assignments. SMEs must agree not to displace existing staff by taking on the business advisers.
Matching will be done according to areas of expertise and firms' needs. Shortlisted applicants will attend a two-day BAP workshop in May to understand more about the SME's business culture, before the attachment begins.
- The Straits Times
Mar 26, 2009
Logistics man connects people to jobs
NEED a contact? A connection, a way to plug into a network that might mean a new job, a lucrative contact or a chance to dig yourself out of the recessionary mire? Then Mr Paul Lim is your man.
Mr Lim - his day job is regional business development manager for global distribution giant TNT - is the key man for many professionals seeking greener pastures in the logistics field.
And it all began as a lark when he knocked up an informal website about three years ago that has become the must-see forum for those in the huge industry.
It has spawned hugely popular spin-offs like a free career fair being held on Saturday at Republic Polytechnic. Mr Lim, 45, has assembled logistics heavy-hitters who will be discussing industry trends and answering questions on career opportunities for the hundreds of people expected to attend.
At least eight companies are recruiting staff for a wide variety of positions, and representatives from at least 40 other firms will be keeping a look out for talent.
'The supply chain and logistics industries offer lots of interesting career opportunities. Nothing in the world will move, without us guys,' says Mr Lim.
'Factories will stop because we move materials into their plants, supermarkets will close because we deliver their stocks, immigration will come to a standstill because we process passports.'
Yet for all the financial muscle the industry wields, Mr Lim does not earn a cent for his efforts. This is a guy who seems to know anyone who is anyone, prompting headhunters, companies and even competitors looking for talent to beat a path to his door. Retrenched industry workers, meanwhile, see him as a beacon of hope.
Mr Lim could have made a mint from all these connections but he does it for free, through the online platform Supply Chain Asia he built while working on a project in Thailand in 2007.
'I thought I would get all the contacts I have made in the supply chain industry to come to the website to network,' he says. 'That way, I could tap them for leads if I should need to look for a job later.'
He adds: 'We are all individuals working for companies. Tomorrow, we may be working for different companies. Why not talk to each other and be friends?'
Mr Lim, who has an MBA from Scotland's Stirling University, realised that he could not expect 'people from the industry to come to the website, I had to bring it to them'.
So he created a weekly digest, writing summaries and briefs of the news and happenings in the logistics industry and sent it to his initial list of 300 contacts.
'They found it useful, and I told them to send it to others,' says Mr Lim, who spends at least four hours every Sunday night working on the bulletin.
The list grew and the website now boasts 15,000 subscribers. Six months after the website was set up, Mr Lim - he is married to a human resource executive and has two children aged 11 and eight - decided to organise an event where Supply Chain Asia's members could network in real life.
To help underwrite the cost, he approached his contacts in companies that were recruiting to pay a nominal fee. Those looking for a job had free entry.
He also invited speakers to discuss the trend of acquisitions of smaller firms being gobbled up by bigger logistic corporations.
'One of the speakers I approached interviewed me instead. He asked me why I was doing it, and what I stood to gain from it,' says Mr Lim.
His reply? 'Nothing. I told him that I was doing it to help the industry and the community. I told him companies or speakers at the event could not sell their services, I just wanted them to share their knowledge.'
The event has since become an annual staple, a forum drawing some of the biggest, most respected names in the field.
Mr Phil Vaudin, who is in charge of supply chain strategy at Hewlett Packard in Singapore, describes Mr Lim as a man whose passion to help the industry is tireless.
'He has even started a young professionals group, where he encourages students and early career intakes into supply chain to network freely with senior professionals,' says Mr Vaudin.
Mr Lim says Supply Chain Asia's forums do not make any money.
'Any extras we raise from sponsors go into organising workshops and maintaining the website. All my accounts are audited, and I'm answerable to my council,' he says, referring to Supply Chain Asia's advisory council members. They comprise respected industry names, including Dr Robert Yap, chief executive of logistics firm YCH Group.
Several professionals told The Straits Times that it is 'a feat' to stage the forums for free. Registration fees for commercially organised ones such as the SCML Logistics World 2008, a key industry event, held last October, ranged from $1,696 for a post-conference workshop to $4,995 for a four-day pass.
Mr Lim laughs: 'These official organisers actually come to our event because they know our speakers are better.' He adds that an event organiser even offered him a six-figure sum to take over Supply Chain Asia's trademark.
'I said no. If I were in it for the money, I would have taken it commercial a long time ago.
'It is a communal effort the way it is now. And it is helping a lot of people, especially during the recession.'
Indeed, it has. Two writers in Singapore who lost their jobs with a publishing company last year are now running Supply Chain Asia's official magazine, which is distributed free to all its members.
'They came to me and said Supply Chain Asia would be a good platform for a magazine. They said they would put it together, get ads and distribute it free to all our members,' says Mr Lim, who agreed on the condition that the magazine will be distributed out of Singapore, not carry advertorials or be sold.
There are also plans for a Supply Chain Asia Training Academy to help retrenched veterans of the industry by conducting courses.
'We will be launching programmes to train industry professionals under the Workforce Skill Qualification scheme. And these guys, by virtue of their experience, are the best to do it.'
Mr Lim says that he has 10 retrenched veterans ready to run courses and the YCH Group has offered the use of its warehouse and training rooms.
'And the boss himself is ready to fund the development of the academy if it takes off,' he says.
Mr Lim introduced a career fair last year when he noticed a spike in the website's viewership because of the recession.
This Saturday's Supply Chain Careers 2009 will be run by the Young Professionals committee members at the Republic Polytechnic.
The event (details at www.supplychainasia.com/careers2009) costs $5,000 to organise. Sponsors contributed $4,000, with Mr Lim forking out $1,000 himself. The public, especially those who want to know if their skills could get them a job in the industry, are welcome to attend.
He acknowledges that the day may come when Supply Chain Asia becomes really big.
'When that day comes, I will walk off and leave it to the professionals. But I'm already happy knowing that I will always be the founder.'
- The Straits Times
Mr Lim - his day job is regional business development manager for global distribution giant TNT - is the key man for many professionals seeking greener pastures in the logistics field.
And it all began as a lark when he knocked up an informal website about three years ago that has become the must-see forum for those in the huge industry.
It has spawned hugely popular spin-offs like a free career fair being held on Saturday at Republic Polytechnic. Mr Lim, 45, has assembled logistics heavy-hitters who will be discussing industry trends and answering questions on career opportunities for the hundreds of people expected to attend.
At least eight companies are recruiting staff for a wide variety of positions, and representatives from at least 40 other firms will be keeping a look out for talent.
'The supply chain and logistics industries offer lots of interesting career opportunities. Nothing in the world will move, without us guys,' says Mr Lim.
'Factories will stop because we move materials into their plants, supermarkets will close because we deliver their stocks, immigration will come to a standstill because we process passports.'
Yet for all the financial muscle the industry wields, Mr Lim does not earn a cent for his efforts. This is a guy who seems to know anyone who is anyone, prompting headhunters, companies and even competitors looking for talent to beat a path to his door. Retrenched industry workers, meanwhile, see him as a beacon of hope.
Mr Lim could have made a mint from all these connections but he does it for free, through the online platform Supply Chain Asia he built while working on a project in Thailand in 2007.
'I thought I would get all the contacts I have made in the supply chain industry to come to the website to network,' he says. 'That way, I could tap them for leads if I should need to look for a job later.'
He adds: 'We are all individuals working for companies. Tomorrow, we may be working for different companies. Why not talk to each other and be friends?'
Mr Lim, who has an MBA from Scotland's Stirling University, realised that he could not expect 'people from the industry to come to the website, I had to bring it to them'.
So he created a weekly digest, writing summaries and briefs of the news and happenings in the logistics industry and sent it to his initial list of 300 contacts.
'They found it useful, and I told them to send it to others,' says Mr Lim, who spends at least four hours every Sunday night working on the bulletin.
The list grew and the website now boasts 15,000 subscribers. Six months after the website was set up, Mr Lim - he is married to a human resource executive and has two children aged 11 and eight - decided to organise an event where Supply Chain Asia's members could network in real life.
To help underwrite the cost, he approached his contacts in companies that were recruiting to pay a nominal fee. Those looking for a job had free entry.
He also invited speakers to discuss the trend of acquisitions of smaller firms being gobbled up by bigger logistic corporations.
'One of the speakers I approached interviewed me instead. He asked me why I was doing it, and what I stood to gain from it,' says Mr Lim.
His reply? 'Nothing. I told him that I was doing it to help the industry and the community. I told him companies or speakers at the event could not sell their services, I just wanted them to share their knowledge.'
The event has since become an annual staple, a forum drawing some of the biggest, most respected names in the field.
Mr Phil Vaudin, who is in charge of supply chain strategy at Hewlett Packard in Singapore, describes Mr Lim as a man whose passion to help the industry is tireless.
'He has even started a young professionals group, where he encourages students and early career intakes into supply chain to network freely with senior professionals,' says Mr Vaudin.
Mr Lim says Supply Chain Asia's forums do not make any money.
'Any extras we raise from sponsors go into organising workshops and maintaining the website. All my accounts are audited, and I'm answerable to my council,' he says, referring to Supply Chain Asia's advisory council members. They comprise respected industry names, including Dr Robert Yap, chief executive of logistics firm YCH Group.
Several professionals told The Straits Times that it is 'a feat' to stage the forums for free. Registration fees for commercially organised ones such as the SCML Logistics World 2008, a key industry event, held last October, ranged from $1,696 for a post-conference workshop to $4,995 for a four-day pass.
Mr Lim laughs: 'These official organisers actually come to our event because they know our speakers are better.' He adds that an event organiser even offered him a six-figure sum to take over Supply Chain Asia's trademark.
'I said no. If I were in it for the money, I would have taken it commercial a long time ago.
'It is a communal effort the way it is now. And it is helping a lot of people, especially during the recession.'
Indeed, it has. Two writers in Singapore who lost their jobs with a publishing company last year are now running Supply Chain Asia's official magazine, which is distributed free to all its members.
'They came to me and said Supply Chain Asia would be a good platform for a magazine. They said they would put it together, get ads and distribute it free to all our members,' says Mr Lim, who agreed on the condition that the magazine will be distributed out of Singapore, not carry advertorials or be sold.
There are also plans for a Supply Chain Asia Training Academy to help retrenched veterans of the industry by conducting courses.
'We will be launching programmes to train industry professionals under the Workforce Skill Qualification scheme. And these guys, by virtue of their experience, are the best to do it.'
Mr Lim says that he has 10 retrenched veterans ready to run courses and the YCH Group has offered the use of its warehouse and training rooms.
'And the boss himself is ready to fund the development of the academy if it takes off,' he says.
Mr Lim introduced a career fair last year when he noticed a spike in the website's viewership because of the recession.
This Saturday's Supply Chain Careers 2009 will be run by the Young Professionals committee members at the Republic Polytechnic.
The event (details at www.supplychainasia.com/careers2009) costs $5,000 to organise. Sponsors contributed $4,000, with Mr Lim forking out $1,000 himself. The public, especially those who want to know if their skills could get them a job in the industry, are welcome to attend.
He acknowledges that the day may come when Supply Chain Asia becomes really big.
'When that day comes, I will walk off and leave it to the professionals. But I'm already happy knowing that I will always be the founder.'
- The Straits Times
‘Over 40? Don’t send us your resume’
EVEN in good times, discrimination against older job seekers exists. So what more now that it is an employers’ market?
Some recruitment firms told Today the trend has picked up. Some employers do not want resumes from anyone above 40, said Ms Wendy Kwek, managing director of Career Express. Her firm has seen a “slight increase” in the number of such employers.
Two other employment firms, JobPlus and MDK Personnel Resources, confirmed that their clients prefer younger applicants.
“Some don’t even want to see resumes from those who are 35,” said Mr Kor Lai Hock, MDK’s managing director. The company’s clients include those in manufacturing, engineering, and food and beverage.
The practice however is “nothing new”, said JobPlus’ director Alex Thong.
On the other hand, firms such as Adecco, Manpower, JobStreet and JobsDb said they have never received such requests from their clients who include multinational and blue chip companies.
Rather, would-be employers are now more demanding in terms of applicants having the relevant skills, said Adecco’s strategic accounts director Yue Yin Mun.
With job prospects for older workers bleak, it is no surprise then that entrepreneurship seminars are doing a brisk business.
On Tuesday, there were three such events with turnouts of 120 and 100 for the two that were held by Executive Directions at International Plaza. The third was organised by Harriet International Network.
Those who were late — even if they had registered earlier — had to be turned away. It was standing room only.
“Compared to last year, I would say there’s a 20- to 30-per-cent increase in the number of people attending,” said Ms Kwek of Career Express and a managing director of Executive Directions.
For two to three hours, the participants listened to various speakers extol the benefits of being their own boss. However, many baulked at the cost of the courses which ranged from $5,000 to more than $7,000. More than half then left.
Mr James Chua, chief executive of Harriet’s, said he was not surprised.
“Most people over 40 want something more stable. Asking them to suddenly become an entrepreneur may be too risky. They should start a small business, something that would give them $3,000 a month and which they will be happy with.”
One participant, Mr Sen — who only wanted to be known by his surname — was working in a bank before being laid off last year. He spent the past few months sending out resumes to no avail, so he decided to try the entrepreneurial route.
“What else is there for a 55-year-old to do?” said the father of a 16-year-old. “It’s depressing being at home.” With weaker job prospects, older job hunters turn to entrepreneurship seminars
- TODAY newspaper
Some recruitment firms told Today the trend has picked up. Some employers do not want resumes from anyone above 40, said Ms Wendy Kwek, managing director of Career Express. Her firm has seen a “slight increase” in the number of such employers.
Two other employment firms, JobPlus and MDK Personnel Resources, confirmed that their clients prefer younger applicants.
“Some don’t even want to see resumes from those who are 35,” said Mr Kor Lai Hock, MDK’s managing director. The company’s clients include those in manufacturing, engineering, and food and beverage.
The practice however is “nothing new”, said JobPlus’ director Alex Thong.
On the other hand, firms such as Adecco, Manpower, JobStreet and JobsDb said they have never received such requests from their clients who include multinational and blue chip companies.
Rather, would-be employers are now more demanding in terms of applicants having the relevant skills, said Adecco’s strategic accounts director Yue Yin Mun.
With job prospects for older workers bleak, it is no surprise then that entrepreneurship seminars are doing a brisk business.
On Tuesday, there were three such events with turnouts of 120 and 100 for the two that were held by Executive Directions at International Plaza. The third was organised by Harriet International Network.
Those who were late — even if they had registered earlier — had to be turned away. It was standing room only.
“Compared to last year, I would say there’s a 20- to 30-per-cent increase in the number of people attending,” said Ms Kwek of Career Express and a managing director of Executive Directions.
For two to three hours, the participants listened to various speakers extol the benefits of being their own boss. However, many baulked at the cost of the courses which ranged from $5,000 to more than $7,000. More than half then left.
Mr James Chua, chief executive of Harriet’s, said he was not surprised.
“Most people over 40 want something more stable. Asking them to suddenly become an entrepreneur may be too risky. They should start a small business, something that would give them $3,000 a month and which they will be happy with.”
One participant, Mr Sen — who only wanted to be known by his surname — was working in a bank before being laid off last year. He spent the past few months sending out resumes to no avail, so he decided to try the entrepreneurial route.
“What else is there for a 55-year-old to do?” said the father of a 16-year-old. “It’s depressing being at home.” With weaker job prospects, older job hunters turn to entrepreneurship seminars
- TODAY newspaper
Mar 24, 2009
UBS lays off Singapore team serving rich Turks
UBS, the world's biggest wealth manager, has axed a team of six private bankers in Singapore, who were managing wealth for Turkish clients, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday.
UBS is struggling after losing billions in the risky U.S. housing market, which forced it to obtain financial aid from the Swiss government.
The Singapore team was managing clients' assets worth between $200 million to $300 million and was hired from Swiss rival Credit Suisse two years ago, a source briefed on the situation said.
Singapore acts as an offshore booking centre for UBS' clients from Asia and Europe.
A second source said the firm has no plans to exit wealth management for Turkish clients despite the removal of the team in Singapore, which was done as part of a group restructuring.
"Like any organisation, UBS continually reviews its strategic needs and resources the businesses according to the environment and its outlook," a UBS spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Asia Pacific remains a strategic priority for UBS, and a region in which the group will continue to invest," she said. UBS declined comment on the layoffs.
UBS is struggling after losing billions in the risky U.S. housing market, which forced it to obtain financial aid from the Swiss government.
The Singapore team was managing clients' assets worth between $200 million to $300 million and was hired from Swiss rival Credit Suisse two years ago, a source briefed on the situation said.
Singapore acts as an offshore booking centre for UBS' clients from Asia and Europe.
A second source said the firm has no plans to exit wealth management for Turkish clients despite the removal of the team in Singapore, which was done as part of a group restructuring.
"Like any organisation, UBS continually reviews its strategic needs and resources the businesses according to the environment and its outlook," a UBS spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Asia Pacific remains a strategic priority for UBS, and a region in which the group will continue to invest," she said. UBS declined comment on the layoffs.
45,000 job openings
AT LEAST 45,000 new jobs will be up for grabs in the next two years, with many of them suitable for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs).
In giving the update on Monday, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong also listed where they are to be found.
But he had a word of advice for jobless PMETs: Be flexible and go for training to get the right skills for jobs in new industries.
Mr Gan was replying to MPs Irene Ng (Tampines GRC), Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) and Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), who had highlighted their plight.
He told the House the two integrated resorts will create more than 20,000 jobs and the public sector, 18,000.
Also, new investments will create 6,000 jobs, including about 1,200 in clean technology and about 900 in biomedical sciences.
The opening of new malls and hotels will produce jobs in the retail sector, and food and beverage, as well as hospitality, while others are to be found in construction, security, interactive digital media and childcare.
Separately, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan listed about 2,000 jobs in the childcare sector and 2,500 in social services over the next five years.
- The Straits Times
In giving the update on Monday, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong also listed where they are to be found.
But he had a word of advice for jobless PMETs: Be flexible and go for training to get the right skills for jobs in new industries.
Mr Gan was replying to MPs Irene Ng (Tampines GRC), Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) and Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), who had highlighted their plight.
He told the House the two integrated resorts will create more than 20,000 jobs and the public sector, 18,000.
Also, new investments will create 6,000 jobs, including about 1,200 in clean technology and about 900 in biomedical sciences.
The opening of new malls and hotels will produce jobs in the retail sector, and food and beverage, as well as hospitality, while others are to be found in construction, security, interactive digital media and childcare.
Separately, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan listed about 2,000 jobs in the childcare sector and 2,500 in social services over the next five years.
- The Straits Times
Online job-seekers targeted
ONLINE scammers are rearing to make a buck from people hit by the economic credit crunch.
In a report released last Friday, information security firm Symantec said that online scammers are preying on job-seekers' worst fears - the dreaded rejection letter - to infect their computer system with a virus.
Symantec's manager for systems engineering Avinash Lotke said spammers traditionally try to convince users to read their junk mail by camouflaging it as a special offer of some sort, or a message from a contact.
While this tactic works well and continues to be effective, letters related to potential employment are a prime target in the current economic climate, he said.
Those who decide to peruse the e-mail may be urged to click on an attached file to find out why they were turned down and how to improve their chances at their next interview.
Opening this file plants a virus within the computer's system. Once loaded, some viruses will send out further messages to people in e-mail applications, while others try to extract information like stored credit card details.
Besides the rejection letter, scammers are also preying on financially strapped users via other 'business' scams.
One tries to con users into signing up as a freelance blog contributor, said Mr Lotke.
Users reading the message are told that a blog is paying a generous US$45 (about $60) an hour to freelance writers to write some simple articles.
Those interested are directed to a slick website where they are asked to register an account and include their personal details, including their bank and credit card information so payment can be made. These details are then peddled off to other spammers or scammers.
Another variant of this scam wants the wannabe-writer to pay an administrative fee - money which the user will not be seeing again, said Mr Lotke.
- The Straits Times
In a report released last Friday, information security firm Symantec said that online scammers are preying on job-seekers' worst fears - the dreaded rejection letter - to infect their computer system with a virus.
Symantec's manager for systems engineering Avinash Lotke said spammers traditionally try to convince users to read their junk mail by camouflaging it as a special offer of some sort, or a message from a contact.
While this tactic works well and continues to be effective, letters related to potential employment are a prime target in the current economic climate, he said.
Those who decide to peruse the e-mail may be urged to click on an attached file to find out why they were turned down and how to improve their chances at their next interview.
Opening this file plants a virus within the computer's system. Once loaded, some viruses will send out further messages to people in e-mail applications, while others try to extract information like stored credit card details.
Besides the rejection letter, scammers are also preying on financially strapped users via other 'business' scams.
One tries to con users into signing up as a freelance blog contributor, said Mr Lotke.
Users reading the message are told that a blog is paying a generous US$45 (about $60) an hour to freelance writers to write some simple articles.
Those interested are directed to a slick website where they are asked to register an account and include their personal details, including their bank and credit card information so payment can be made. These details are then peddled off to other spammers or scammers.
Another variant of this scam wants the wannabe-writer to pay an administrative fee - money which the user will not be seeing again, said Mr Lotke.
- The Straits Times
4,500 jobs available in social service and childcare sectors
An estimated 2,500 jobs will be available in the social service sector over the next five years, with a shortfall of about 100 social workers per year expected in the same period.
Professionals who are interested to make the switch to social work can enrol themselves for a new Professional Conversion Programme. Trainees will undergo a 24-month Bachelor's degree or a 14-month Graduate Diploma programme run by SIM University (UniSIM).
The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) will provide up to 90 per cent of the course fees.
35 places will be set aside for employers who are committed to hiring Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) or fresh graduates and training them to become qualified social workers.
The government will provide a training allowance of S$1,000 per month under SPUR to defray the salary costs for voluntary welfare organisations. This initiative will cost the government S$1.2 million a year and is expected to start later this year.
Some 2,000 jobs are available in the childcare sector over the next five years as 200 additional childcare centres come on stream.
To train childcare professionals, a new Accelerated Workforce Skills Qualifications Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education under SPUR will be put in place.
This is a 10-month place-and-train programme for retrenched PMETs and fresh graduates.
The first intake in May will train 40 professionals who will be employed at childcare centres. The trainees will also receive a S$1,000 monthly training allowance under SPUR.
The Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry is now planning for a second intake later this year and is working with the Workforce Development Agency to create more training places.
- Channel News Asia
Professionals who are interested to make the switch to social work can enrol themselves for a new Professional Conversion Programme. Trainees will undergo a 24-month Bachelor's degree or a 14-month Graduate Diploma programme run by SIM University (UniSIM).
The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) will provide up to 90 per cent of the course fees.
35 places will be set aside for employers who are committed to hiring Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) or fresh graduates and training them to become qualified social workers.
The government will provide a training allowance of S$1,000 per month under SPUR to defray the salary costs for voluntary welfare organisations. This initiative will cost the government S$1.2 million a year and is expected to start later this year.
Some 2,000 jobs are available in the childcare sector over the next five years as 200 additional childcare centres come on stream.
To train childcare professionals, a new Accelerated Workforce Skills Qualifications Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education under SPUR will be put in place.
This is a 10-month place-and-train programme for retrenched PMETs and fresh graduates.
The first intake in May will train 40 professionals who will be employed at childcare centres. The trainees will also receive a S$1,000 monthly training allowance under SPUR.
The Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry is now planning for a second intake later this year and is working with the Workforce Development Agency to create more training places.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 23, 2009
He couldn't find a job - so he'll create his own
WITH the recession making it hard to find his dream job, Mr Nirav Nandish Shah, 26, decided to create his own.
The final-year business management student plans to set up his own business, a Bollywood dance company, after he graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) in May.
It's a far cry from the white-collar jobs he might have expected given his credentials.
Said Mr Shah: 'The finance sector was the hardest hit. Jobs are few and far between.
'There is a lesser likelihood that I will find a job which I like. So it makes more sense to venture out on my own.
'I have to find an alternative. If I can't find a job, I can't sit around and do nothing.'
For some, the shrinking job market has driven them to take the plunge and become entrepreneurs.
Practice Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, director for the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SMU, said he has noted increased interest from students who want to start their own companies.
'There is perhaps an increasing confidence in entrepreneurship as an alternative career path among students and those who have lost their jobs recently,' he said.
The New York Times, reporting the same trend in the US, called this phenomenon 'forced entrepreneurship', a Darwinian survival response to survive tough times.
Mr Shah has been learning dance for 10 years and has taught freelance for five years. His twice-to-thrice weekly gigs earn him more than $2,000 a month.
He started giving serious thought to started his own Bollywood dance company after getting tepid responses from his job hunt.
He started sending out CVs at the beginning of the year, but has got only two or three interviews so far and no confirmations.
'The situation is the same for my friends. The number of people they are hiring seems drastically reduced,' he said.
With his experience and existing client base after fiveyears of teaching, he is confident that his business is sustainable.
Still, he admitted that the fear factor of venturing out on his own is big - 'seven out of 10', especially since he is doing so fresh out of school.
While he has set aside $5,000 of his own money, he hopes to win more seed money.
He drew up a business plan and submitted it three weeks ago to Start-Up@Singapore, an international business plan competition organised by the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Society.
But Prof Narasimhalu cautioned against rushing headlong into things.
He said: 'Entrepreneurship requires serious commitment and sustained interest from the founders in order to bring their idea to market.
'It is not easy being an entrepreneur. I doubt many students will take up entrepreneurship as an option just because they are not able to find work.
He added: 'It is different for experienced people who recently lost their jobs.
'They would have a better understanding of the market needs and will have some of their own money to seed a company.'
- The New Paper
The final-year business management student plans to set up his own business, a Bollywood dance company, after he graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) in May.
It's a far cry from the white-collar jobs he might have expected given his credentials.
Said Mr Shah: 'The finance sector was the hardest hit. Jobs are few and far between.
'There is a lesser likelihood that I will find a job which I like. So it makes more sense to venture out on my own.
'I have to find an alternative. If I can't find a job, I can't sit around and do nothing.'
For some, the shrinking job market has driven them to take the plunge and become entrepreneurs.
Practice Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, director for the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SMU, said he has noted increased interest from students who want to start their own companies.
'There is perhaps an increasing confidence in entrepreneurship as an alternative career path among students and those who have lost their jobs recently,' he said.
The New York Times, reporting the same trend in the US, called this phenomenon 'forced entrepreneurship', a Darwinian survival response to survive tough times.
Mr Shah has been learning dance for 10 years and has taught freelance for five years. His twice-to-thrice weekly gigs earn him more than $2,000 a month.
He started giving serious thought to started his own Bollywood dance company after getting tepid responses from his job hunt.
He started sending out CVs at the beginning of the year, but has got only two or three interviews so far and no confirmations.
'The situation is the same for my friends. The number of people they are hiring seems drastically reduced,' he said.
With his experience and existing client base after fiveyears of teaching, he is confident that his business is sustainable.
Still, he admitted that the fear factor of venturing out on his own is big - 'seven out of 10', especially since he is doing so fresh out of school.
While he has set aside $5,000 of his own money, he hopes to win more seed money.
He drew up a business plan and submitted it three weeks ago to Start-Up@Singapore, an international business plan competition organised by the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Society.
But Prof Narasimhalu cautioned against rushing headlong into things.
He said: 'Entrepreneurship requires serious commitment and sustained interest from the founders in order to bring their idea to market.
'It is not easy being an entrepreneur. I doubt many students will take up entrepreneurship as an option just because they are not able to find work.
He added: 'It is different for experienced people who recently lost their jobs.
'They would have a better understanding of the market needs and will have some of their own money to seed a company.'
- The New Paper
Mar 21, 2009
Sorry, you didn't get the job
"Unfortunately we have to inform you that your qualifications and experience does not fit the position you applied for. We have attached a copy of your application you sent for us."
The above email message (an actual reported one) reads like a 'genuine' reply from a recruitment agency, complete with internet links to a legitimate company or job hunt firm.
Hey, it even includes a copy of that application you sent in - perhaps one of the many you emailed out in your search for that elusive position.
But open up that attached document and you are in for a destructive virus attack.
Taking advantage of the worsening economic situation, spammers worldwide are using job-search related emails to prey on unsuspecting internet users, said security software company Symantec on Friday in a news release.
Under the guise of subject headers like "HURRY! I found you a new job" and "Job you might be interested in!" - these emails are sent out in the hope the recipient will provide personal information such as names, phone numbers, and addresses.
In its "State of Spam Report" for March 2009, Symantec also noticed spam messages which targeted "one of the downsides to looking for a job - the rejection letter."
Such emails take the form of a reply from a recruitment agency, complete with genuine internet links to firms, and even with the job application form that you allegedly sent in yourself.
The attached electronic document, however if opened, will subject the recipient's system to an attack from the Hacktool.Spammer virus.
Hacktool.Spammer is a malicious program that hackers use to attack mail boxes by flooding them with email. It can be programmed to send many email messages to specific addresses.
"It will be difficult to ignore emails from job agencies, but we should definitely be cautious of file types, particularly executables (.exe)," advised Symantec.
"Any email with this type of application extension should be considered suspicious, particularly if it's coming from an unknown sender."
"Email users should be aware of these type of ruses during this difficult economic period, and avoid letting spammers collect personal information that may be used in the future to prey on unsuspecting individuals and infect computers with malicious content."
- AsiaOne
The above email message (an actual reported one) reads like a 'genuine' reply from a recruitment agency, complete with internet links to a legitimate company or job hunt firm.
Hey, it even includes a copy of that application you sent in - perhaps one of the many you emailed out in your search for that elusive position.
But open up that attached document and you are in for a destructive virus attack.
Taking advantage of the worsening economic situation, spammers worldwide are using job-search related emails to prey on unsuspecting internet users, said security software company Symantec on Friday in a news release.
Under the guise of subject headers like "HURRY! I found you a new job" and "Job you might be interested in!" - these emails are sent out in the hope the recipient will provide personal information such as names, phone numbers, and addresses.
In its "State of Spam Report" for March 2009, Symantec also noticed spam messages which targeted "one of the downsides to looking for a job - the rejection letter."
Such emails take the form of a reply from a recruitment agency, complete with genuine internet links to firms, and even with the job application form that you allegedly sent in yourself.
The attached electronic document, however if opened, will subject the recipient's system to an attack from the Hacktool.Spammer virus.
Hacktool.Spammer is a malicious program that hackers use to attack mail boxes by flooding them with email. It can be programmed to send many email messages to specific addresses.
"It will be difficult to ignore emails from job agencies, but we should definitely be cautious of file types, particularly executables (.exe)," advised Symantec.
"Any email with this type of application extension should be considered suspicious, particularly if it's coming from an unknown sender."
"Email users should be aware of these type of ruses during this difficult economic period, and avoid letting spammers collect personal information that may be used in the future to prey on unsuspecting individuals and infect computers with malicious content."
- AsiaOne
Mar 20, 2009
10 hired already for IR
THE first 10 lucky hires - all Singaporeans - have been picked out of 20,000 applicants who tried for the 800 positions available at the Sentosa integrated resort during a recent job fair.
The screening, interviewing and hiring is still going on to fill the remaining 790 positions.
However, Resorts World at Sentosa introduced to the media on Friday afternoon the first three Singaporeans hired for the first of the Republic's two casinos.
Mr William Fong Keng Fung, 46, was retrenched last month from a manufacturing company. He said: 'I have three school-going children so I was really worried that I was not going to find a job.'
He tried going to job fairs organised by the National Trades Union Congress and the Community Development Councils - to no avail.
So he was surprised that he got a call to interview for a position as a casino technician at the IR the day after he went to the job fair on March 8.
He said: 'I am thankful to them for wanting to hire older workers like me.'
Two others in their 20s have been gunning for jobs as croupiers ever since they heard that casinos would be opening in Singapore. Mr Andrew Sim Kay Yong, 22, and Mr Ken Chee Yong Wei, 26, were both signed up as croupiers.
Mr Sim completed his National Service last September and he has been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the casino hiring to begin. Mr Chee, worked with the Singapore Armed Forces and in a engineering company before choosing a job in the casino.
The resort will ramp up its hiring from June to July, said Mr Goh. He added: 'We have committed from the very start to hiring as many Singaporeans as we can.'
- The Straits Times
The screening, interviewing and hiring is still going on to fill the remaining 790 positions.
However, Resorts World at Sentosa introduced to the media on Friday afternoon the first three Singaporeans hired for the first of the Republic's two casinos.
Mr William Fong Keng Fung, 46, was retrenched last month from a manufacturing company. He said: 'I have three school-going children so I was really worried that I was not going to find a job.'
He tried going to job fairs organised by the National Trades Union Congress and the Community Development Councils - to no avail.
So he was surprised that he got a call to interview for a position as a casino technician at the IR the day after he went to the job fair on March 8.
He said: 'I am thankful to them for wanting to hire older workers like me.'
Two others in their 20s have been gunning for jobs as croupiers ever since they heard that casinos would be opening in Singapore. Mr Andrew Sim Kay Yong, 22, and Mr Ken Chee Yong Wei, 26, were both signed up as croupiers.
Mr Sim completed his National Service last September and he has been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the casino hiring to begin. Mr Chee, worked with the Singapore Armed Forces and in a engineering company before choosing a job in the casino.
The resort will ramp up its hiring from June to July, said Mr Goh. He added: 'We have committed from the very start to hiring as many Singaporeans as we can.'
- The Straits Times
Mar 18, 2009
Panasonic axes 130
ELECTRONICS giant Panasonic Semiconductor Asia has started retrenching production workers, with some reports saying that as many as 200 people could be axed.
The layoffs - which could affect 10 per cent of the firm's workforce here - began yesterday with 90 people being retrenched with more to get their pink slips on Wednesday.
Workers are being told they are to go once they end their shift at the plant in Ang Mo Kio. Panasonic was unavailable for comment.
When The Straits Times visited the company's premises at 4pm on Tuesday, a stream of workers was being ushered into a building with their belongings in plastic bags. One was crying.
They later boarded a bus to Cheng San Community Centre, where they received a briefing on the help they could expect.
Some have told The Straits Times that they received a severance package comprising one month's pay for each year of service plus one month's pay in lieu of short notice.
Madam Ong, 52, was one of those laid off. She has worked as an electronics operator in the company for almost 30 years, being among the first batch of workers hired when the company started up.
It produces diodes, transistors and microcomputers among other semiconductors.
Madam Ong is disappointed but added: 'I'm okay with it because my kids are already grown up. And retrenchments are happening worldwide, not just in Singapore.'
But she said that some people who were very upset as they still have young children to raise.
- The Straits Times
The layoffs - which could affect 10 per cent of the firm's workforce here - began yesterday with 90 people being retrenched with more to get their pink slips on Wednesday.
Workers are being told they are to go once they end their shift at the plant in Ang Mo Kio. Panasonic was unavailable for comment.
When The Straits Times visited the company's premises at 4pm on Tuesday, a stream of workers was being ushered into a building with their belongings in plastic bags. One was crying.
They later boarded a bus to Cheng San Community Centre, where they received a briefing on the help they could expect.
Some have told The Straits Times that they received a severance package comprising one month's pay for each year of service plus one month's pay in lieu of short notice.
Madam Ong, 52, was one of those laid off. She has worked as an electronics operator in the company for almost 30 years, being among the first batch of workers hired when the company started up.
It produces diodes, transistors and microcomputers among other semiconductors.
Madam Ong is disappointed but added: 'I'm okay with it because my kids are already grown up. And retrenchments are happening worldwide, not just in Singapore.'
But she said that some people who were very upset as they still have young children to raise.
- The Straits Times
Mar 17, 2009
Employment up 8.1% for 2008
OVER 200,000 people found jobs last year, even as a record number of people lost their jobs in the last quarter.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) showed that total employment rose by 221,600 - or 8.1 per cent - last year.
The figure, however, was buoyed by strong gains in the earlier part of that year.
The second half of the year saw a steep drop in employment figures, with a mere 21,300 people employed between October and December - less than half the number reported in the third quarter of the year.
Still, industries such as health, social services, architecture, engineering, education and public administration recorded similar or higher gains, compared to 2007.
The manufacturing industry bore the brunt of the slowdown, with 7,000 workers losing their jobs.
Other industries that took a hit included the electronics and transportequipment sectors, with 3,400 and 2,700 workers being axed, respectively.
MOM said that, in all, 23,330 workers were either made redundant or retrenched last year, while another 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
According toMr Irvin Seah, an economist with DBS Bank, the country's unemployment rate could go up to 4 per cent by the later part of this year.
Mr Seah also predicted that the unemployment rate could hit the 5 per cent mark by the middle of next year if the economy did not pick up.
That figure would work out to 99,000 residents being left jobless due to the recession.
Earlier this month, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew brought up the possibility of the economy shrinking by 10 per cent if there were a continued slump in exports.
But despite the bleak outlook, MM Lee said that even if Singapore's economy "goes down precipitously, it will go up precipitously".
- The Straits Times
The latest figures from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) showed that total employment rose by 221,600 - or 8.1 per cent - last year.
The figure, however, was buoyed by strong gains in the earlier part of that year.
The second half of the year saw a steep drop in employment figures, with a mere 21,300 people employed between October and December - less than half the number reported in the third quarter of the year.
Still, industries such as health, social services, architecture, engineering, education and public administration recorded similar or higher gains, compared to 2007.
The manufacturing industry bore the brunt of the slowdown, with 7,000 workers losing their jobs.
Other industries that took a hit included the electronics and transportequipment sectors, with 3,400 and 2,700 workers being axed, respectively.
MOM said that, in all, 23,330 workers were either made redundant or retrenched last year, while another 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
According toMr Irvin Seah, an economist with DBS Bank, the country's unemployment rate could go up to 4 per cent by the later part of this year.
Mr Seah also predicted that the unemployment rate could hit the 5 per cent mark by the middle of next year if the economy did not pick up.
That figure would work out to 99,000 residents being left jobless due to the recession.
Earlier this month, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew brought up the possibility of the economy shrinking by 10 per cent if there were a continued slump in exports.
But despite the bleak outlook, MM Lee said that even if Singapore's economy "goes down precipitously, it will go up precipitously".
- The Straits Times
Mar 16, 2009
Getting retrenched is 'better than striking lottery'
SOME came out dancing, some gave flying kisses and waved goodbye to their colleagues.
One might think that these workers had just got huge bonuses instead of their retrenchment letters.
During this recession, with many fearing for their jobs, the sight of happy retrenched workers is somewhat surreal.
It may have been Friday the 13th yesterday, but it was certainly not Black Friday at the Delphi Automotive Systems plant in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1. The company makes products for the automotive and medical industries.
About 220 of its 1,250 employees were retrenched yesterday, and there were more sad faces among those who kept their jobs.
One woman in her 50s was crying because she missed out on retrenchment.
She bawled: 'Why won't they retrench me? I already said I didn't want to keep working.'
Another worker, who gave her name as Miss Lim, was also disappointed as she had planned to set up her own business.
She said: 'I'm sad that I was not retrenched because I'm already in my 50s, and the work is exhausting. I'm so envious of my colleagues.'
Many of those who received the usually dreaded pink slip celebrated openly.
Madam Pang Tai Gek, 60, who got her wish of getting retrenched, ran out beaming, did a jiggle in front of her friends, and shouted that she would be treating them to a meal.
The line technician, who had been with Delphi for 20 years, said: 'I wanted to leave in two years' time to take care of my grandchildren. Now, I get an early retirement and $40,000! If I had retired on my own, I'd have got nothing.'
Agreeing, another worker shouted: 'It's better than striking lottery!'
As the workers waited to find out their fate, there were emotional group hugs and frenzied photo-taking.
But among some of the retrenched, the smiles were just a brave front to mask their sadness and hide their fears.
Ms Low, a machine operator who earned about $1,000 a month, said: 'After working here for 26years, I've made many close friends. I can't bear to leave. On the surface, I'm smiling, but tears are flowing inside.'
Storeman Ahmad Zali bin Amin, 40, blew kisses to his colleagues before stoically walking away.
When The New Paper spoke to him later, he admitted he was 'crying inside his heart' and had held back tears.
'I'm very worried. With my qualifications, I may not find a job outside,' said the 16-year veteran said, who only has a PSLE certificate. He has a wife and three children, aged 11, 12 and 15.
A machine operator, Madam Maniya, 50, is also worried because she still has to provide for a son, who is in Primary Two, and her mother, who suffered a stroke this year.
Quality analysis inspector Boh Ai Ping kept her job of 28 years, but was in tears because she couldn't bear to see her friends leave, she said.
She was not alone. Miss Cho, a machine operator of more than 20 years, cried as she said: 'I can't bear to see my friend go. She's really the strength and soul of our department.'
Her friend, a 59-year-old, said in Mandarin as she hugged her friend and laughed: 'The one who didn't get retrenched is crying, while the one who got retrenched is smiling.'
Many of the workers said they saw the retrenchment exercise coming and those retrenched were satisfied with their severance packages.
Ms Margarita Perfecto, Delphi's Asia Pacific manager of marketing and communications, said the retrenched workers will get one month's pay for every year of service, capped at 24 months.
They received two months pay upfront, and the rest to be paid out monthly. The payout will depend on length of service.
Ms Perfecto said: 'It is a tough exercise for us. It's very sad because part of our family has to go.'
She said the company had taken various steps to avoid retrenchment, such as shorter weekdays, job rotations, plant shutdowns and re-deployment of staff.
But it had to resort to retrenchment due to drastic changes in customer demands, she added.
Ms Perfecto said that the number of workers retrenched yesterday were 'comparable' to those in two retrenchment exercises in 1998 and 2000.
The retrenchments were across the board, but about 70 per cent were machine operators, she added.
She said the company had not targeted older workers or foreigners specifically, but had made the cuts based on its business needs.
The employees were told last week about the retrenchment exercise.
She said: 'Some employees had wanted to go, but their skills were needed for the business at this point.'
Ms Perfecto said Delphi was working with the Ministry of Manpower, NTUC and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to help identify job opportunities for the retrenched workers.
Madam Halimah Yacob, executive secretary of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries and the deputy secretary-general of NTUC, said workshops and employability camps have been arranged for the retrenched workers to assess their skills and to see if they are ready for jobs in other sectors.
- The Straits Times
One might think that these workers had just got huge bonuses instead of their retrenchment letters.
During this recession, with many fearing for their jobs, the sight of happy retrenched workers is somewhat surreal.
It may have been Friday the 13th yesterday, but it was certainly not Black Friday at the Delphi Automotive Systems plant in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1. The company makes products for the automotive and medical industries.
About 220 of its 1,250 employees were retrenched yesterday, and there were more sad faces among those who kept their jobs.
One woman in her 50s was crying because she missed out on retrenchment.
She bawled: 'Why won't they retrench me? I already said I didn't want to keep working.'
Another worker, who gave her name as Miss Lim, was also disappointed as she had planned to set up her own business.
She said: 'I'm sad that I was not retrenched because I'm already in my 50s, and the work is exhausting. I'm so envious of my colleagues.'
Many of those who received the usually dreaded pink slip celebrated openly.
Madam Pang Tai Gek, 60, who got her wish of getting retrenched, ran out beaming, did a jiggle in front of her friends, and shouted that she would be treating them to a meal.
The line technician, who had been with Delphi for 20 years, said: 'I wanted to leave in two years' time to take care of my grandchildren. Now, I get an early retirement and $40,000! If I had retired on my own, I'd have got nothing.'
Agreeing, another worker shouted: 'It's better than striking lottery!'
As the workers waited to find out their fate, there were emotional group hugs and frenzied photo-taking.
But among some of the retrenched, the smiles were just a brave front to mask their sadness and hide their fears.
Ms Low, a machine operator who earned about $1,000 a month, said: 'After working here for 26years, I've made many close friends. I can't bear to leave. On the surface, I'm smiling, but tears are flowing inside.'
Storeman Ahmad Zali bin Amin, 40, blew kisses to his colleagues before stoically walking away.
When The New Paper spoke to him later, he admitted he was 'crying inside his heart' and had held back tears.
'I'm very worried. With my qualifications, I may not find a job outside,' said the 16-year veteran said, who only has a PSLE certificate. He has a wife and three children, aged 11, 12 and 15.
A machine operator, Madam Maniya, 50, is also worried because she still has to provide for a son, who is in Primary Two, and her mother, who suffered a stroke this year.
Quality analysis inspector Boh Ai Ping kept her job of 28 years, but was in tears because she couldn't bear to see her friends leave, she said.
She was not alone. Miss Cho, a machine operator of more than 20 years, cried as she said: 'I can't bear to see my friend go. She's really the strength and soul of our department.'
Her friend, a 59-year-old, said in Mandarin as she hugged her friend and laughed: 'The one who didn't get retrenched is crying, while the one who got retrenched is smiling.'
Many of the workers said they saw the retrenchment exercise coming and those retrenched were satisfied with their severance packages.
Ms Margarita Perfecto, Delphi's Asia Pacific manager of marketing and communications, said the retrenched workers will get one month's pay for every year of service, capped at 24 months.
They received two months pay upfront, and the rest to be paid out monthly. The payout will depend on length of service.
Ms Perfecto said: 'It is a tough exercise for us. It's very sad because part of our family has to go.'
She said the company had taken various steps to avoid retrenchment, such as shorter weekdays, job rotations, plant shutdowns and re-deployment of staff.
But it had to resort to retrenchment due to drastic changes in customer demands, she added.
Ms Perfecto said that the number of workers retrenched yesterday were 'comparable' to those in two retrenchment exercises in 1998 and 2000.
The retrenchments were across the board, but about 70 per cent were machine operators, she added.
She said the company had not targeted older workers or foreigners specifically, but had made the cuts based on its business needs.
The employees were told last week about the retrenchment exercise.
She said: 'Some employees had wanted to go, but their skills were needed for the business at this point.'
Ms Perfecto said Delphi was working with the Ministry of Manpower, NTUC and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to help identify job opportunities for the retrenched workers.
Madam Halimah Yacob, executive secretary of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries and the deputy secretary-general of NTUC, said workshops and employability camps have been arranged for the retrenched workers to assess their skills and to see if they are ready for jobs in other sectors.
- The Straits Times
Foreigners got 7 in 10 new jobs
FOREIGNERS got the lion's share of jobs created last year, but nearly all of these were in the construction and service sectors.
The latest official figures showed a record 156,900 of them joined the workforce, soaking up seven in 10 of the new jobs. The remaining 64,700 new jobs went to Singaporeans and permanent residents.
These new numbers are derived from the labour market report for 2008 released by the Manpower Ministry yesterday.
While the stark difference in the share of new jobs may raise eyebrows, analysts say it does not indicate that locals were losing out.
They noted that most of the jobs taken by foreigners were shunned by locals.
Economist Choy Keen Meng of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said: 'I wouldn't say that locals have been sidelined; it's just that most of the new jobs created are in construction and low-skilled service industries.
'So they naturally went to cheaper foreign workers.'
Labour MP Halimah Yacob agreed: 'If you boil it down to the sectors, you will see they are working in jobs like construction, where it is not easy to attract locals.'
All in, a total of 221,600 jobs were created last year. But most came onstream at the start of 2008, before recession in the second half brought the carnage towards the end.
- The Straits Times
The latest official figures showed a record 156,900 of them joined the workforce, soaking up seven in 10 of the new jobs. The remaining 64,700 new jobs went to Singaporeans and permanent residents.
These new numbers are derived from the labour market report for 2008 released by the Manpower Ministry yesterday.
While the stark difference in the share of new jobs may raise eyebrows, analysts say it does not indicate that locals were losing out.
They noted that most of the jobs taken by foreigners were shunned by locals.
Economist Choy Keen Meng of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said: 'I wouldn't say that locals have been sidelined; it's just that most of the new jobs created are in construction and low-skilled service industries.
'So they naturally went to cheaper foreign workers.'
Labour MP Halimah Yacob agreed: 'If you boil it down to the sectors, you will see they are working in jobs like construction, where it is not easy to attract locals.'
All in, a total of 221,600 jobs were created last year. But most came onstream at the start of 2008, before recession in the second half brought the carnage towards the end.
- The Straits Times
Insurance for retrenched
NOT having insurance in times of economic uncertainty is like being caught in the rain without an umbrella these days.
To help those who have been retrenched, AXA Life Insurance Singapore on Monday launched the Unemployment Benefit Programme, which allows such policy holders to defer insurance premium payments for a year.
If the policy holders lose their jobs in the coming months, they can either choose to have a full refund of all their premiums paid up to that point, or opt for a 365-day grace period, during which they pay no premiums. Interest will also be waived on the outstanding premium amount.
Said Mr Gilbert Pak, AXA's chief executive here: 'Clients are worried about their immediate livelihood and may defer their long-term protection needs until the economy recovers. It is more important now than ever for clients to be covered in the event of unexpected circumstances.'
Latest figures from the Life Insurance Association (LIA) show that people are deferring the purchase of new policies as the economic recession bites deeper.
Premiums for new policies plunged by 64 per cent to $1.04 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, from a year ago, said LIA.
Fourth-quarter sales of single-premium products, which require an initial lump sum payment, slumped an even bigger 69 per cent to $811 million.
Regular-premium sales for the fourth quarter were down 16 per cent to $228.8 million, while single-premium sales for the full year totalled $7.64 billion, a 14 per cent drop over 2007.
AXA is upbeat that its sales will rise by 30 per cent with the launch of its new scheme, as 'clients need not worry about sustaining their financial commitments if they are involuntarily unemployed', said Mr Pak.
Both options under the new programme are extended to clients who take out new AXA regular premium plans between now and May 31.
Eligible clients may then choose to exercise either option if and when they are laid off within 12 months from the policy issue date.
Asked how much in premiums it is expecting to forgo for the year, AXA said: 'We have done our internal risk analysis, and we are confident and comfortable of the financial implications.'
- The Straits Times
To help those who have been retrenched, AXA Life Insurance Singapore on Monday launched the Unemployment Benefit Programme, which allows such policy holders to defer insurance premium payments for a year.
If the policy holders lose their jobs in the coming months, they can either choose to have a full refund of all their premiums paid up to that point, or opt for a 365-day grace period, during which they pay no premiums. Interest will also be waived on the outstanding premium amount.
Said Mr Gilbert Pak, AXA's chief executive here: 'Clients are worried about their immediate livelihood and may defer their long-term protection needs until the economy recovers. It is more important now than ever for clients to be covered in the event of unexpected circumstances.'
Latest figures from the Life Insurance Association (LIA) show that people are deferring the purchase of new policies as the economic recession bites deeper.
Premiums for new policies plunged by 64 per cent to $1.04 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, from a year ago, said LIA.
Fourth-quarter sales of single-premium products, which require an initial lump sum payment, slumped an even bigger 69 per cent to $811 million.
Regular-premium sales for the fourth quarter were down 16 per cent to $228.8 million, while single-premium sales for the full year totalled $7.64 billion, a 14 per cent drop over 2007.
AXA is upbeat that its sales will rise by 30 per cent with the launch of its new scheme, as 'clients need not worry about sustaining their financial commitments if they are involuntarily unemployed', said Mr Pak.
Both options under the new programme are extended to clients who take out new AXA regular premium plans between now and May 31.
Eligible clients may then choose to exercise either option if and when they are laid off within 12 months from the policy issue date.
Asked how much in premiums it is expecting to forgo for the year, AXA said: 'We have done our internal risk analysis, and we are confident and comfortable of the financial implications.'
- The Straits Times
5,000 more security jobs
AN IMPROVED image of the security industry helped attract 5,000 people to the profession last year, making it one of the few bright spots amid the recession.
There are 31,000 security officers, increasing from 26,000 in January last year and 14,000 in 2004, according to figures from the Security Industry Regulatory Department of the Singapore Police Force.
More women have also join its ranks. They now form 13 per cent of the pool.
Mr N. Silva, president of the Union of Security Employees (USE), said improvements in the industry's image and standards have also increased demand as companies recognise the value of better security services.
One key factor, he added, was the coordinated efforts of his union and government agencies to direct suitable job-seekers to the industry, including tapping on the pool of out-of-work women.
He expects demand to rise in the next five years, following the completion of the two integrated resorts and as Singapore stages more high-profile events like the Formula One night race.
'We hope the industry will have 50,000 security officers by 2014 to meet the rising demand,' he said, adding that there is an immediate demand for about 1,500 officers.
Several security agencies interviewed share his optimism and are stepping up their recruitment.
But there are challenges in attracting people to the security line, said the agencies interviewed including a high turnover of staff and formerly lower wages.
- The Straits Times
There are 31,000 security officers, increasing from 26,000 in January last year and 14,000 in 2004, according to figures from the Security Industry Regulatory Department of the Singapore Police Force.
More women have also join its ranks. They now form 13 per cent of the pool.
Mr N. Silva, president of the Union of Security Employees (USE), said improvements in the industry's image and standards have also increased demand as companies recognise the value of better security services.
One key factor, he added, was the coordinated efforts of his union and government agencies to direct suitable job-seekers to the industry, including tapping on the pool of out-of-work women.
He expects demand to rise in the next five years, following the completion of the two integrated resorts and as Singapore stages more high-profile events like the Formula One night race.
'We hope the industry will have 50,000 security officers by 2014 to meet the rising demand,' he said, adding that there is an immediate demand for about 1,500 officers.
Several security agencies interviewed share his optimism and are stepping up their recruitment.
But there are challenges in attracting people to the security line, said the agencies interviewed including a high turnover of staff and formerly lower wages.
- The Straits Times
More S'pore grads jobless
MORE graduates have joined the jobless ranks as companies hit by the economic downturn shed workers.
The number of degree holders who lost their jobs rose sharply to 14,800, or 21 per cent in December, up from 6,200, or 14 per cent a year ago, according to the Ministry of Manpower labour market report released on Monday.
But the below secondary educated formed the largest group of unemployed residents at 21,300, or 31 per cent. Many of them were 40 years or older, making up 15,400 or 22 per cent of all unemployed residents.
'Consequently, long term unemployment for locals at both ends of the education spectrum more than doubled over the year. As at December 2008, 12,900 of the unemployed residents had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks, up from 8,700 in December 2007,' said MOM.
They formed 0.7 per cent of the resident labour force, higher than 0.5 per cent a year ago.
Fewer vacancies
There were 26,100 job vacancies in December, down by 27 per cent from September, and 30 per cent from a year ago.
Many industries reported fewer vacancies than a year ago. The major exception was community, social and personal services, supported by public sector hiring.
Together with higher unemployment, the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons fell for the fourth straight quarter to 51 openings for every 100 job seekers in December, said MOM. This is comparable to the level in December 2005.
Nominal earnings rose over the year by 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, lower than the 5.5 per cent in the preceding quarter. This cut the earnings growth in 2008 to 5.4 per cent over the 6.2 per cent in 2007.
After discounting for inflation which stood at 6.5 per cent in 2008, real earnings declined by 1.1 per cent for the year, after rising by 4 per cent in 2007.
Dragged down by the contraction in output, labour productivity fell by 12 per cent in the fourth quarter, deeper than the 9 per cent drop in the earlier quarter. In 2008, productivity slid by 7.8 per cent, following the decline of 0.8 per cent in 2007.
'This reflected slower GDP growth and strong employment gains in the first half of 2008,' said MOM.
- The Straits Times
The number of degree holders who lost their jobs rose sharply to 14,800, or 21 per cent in December, up from 6,200, or 14 per cent a year ago, according to the Ministry of Manpower labour market report released on Monday.
But the below secondary educated formed the largest group of unemployed residents at 21,300, or 31 per cent. Many of them were 40 years or older, making up 15,400 or 22 per cent of all unemployed residents.
'Consequently, long term unemployment for locals at both ends of the education spectrum more than doubled over the year. As at December 2008, 12,900 of the unemployed residents had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks, up from 8,700 in December 2007,' said MOM.
They formed 0.7 per cent of the resident labour force, higher than 0.5 per cent a year ago.
Fewer vacancies
There were 26,100 job vacancies in December, down by 27 per cent from September, and 30 per cent from a year ago.
Many industries reported fewer vacancies than a year ago. The major exception was community, social and personal services, supported by public sector hiring.
Together with higher unemployment, the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons fell for the fourth straight quarter to 51 openings for every 100 job seekers in December, said MOM. This is comparable to the level in December 2005.
Nominal earnings rose over the year by 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, lower than the 5.5 per cent in the preceding quarter. This cut the earnings growth in 2008 to 5.4 per cent over the 6.2 per cent in 2007.
After discounting for inflation which stood at 6.5 per cent in 2008, real earnings declined by 1.1 per cent for the year, after rising by 4 per cent in 2007.
Dragged down by the contraction in output, labour productivity fell by 12 per cent in the fourth quarter, deeper than the 9 per cent drop in the earlier quarter. In 2008, productivity slid by 7.8 per cent, following the decline of 0.8 per cent in 2007.
'This reflected slower GDP growth and strong employment gains in the first half of 2008,' said MOM.
- The Straits Times
16,880 lost jobs last year
REDUNDANCIES nearly tripled from 3,180 in the third quarter of last year to a record quarterly high of 9,410 workers in the fourth quarter as the global economic downturn worsened.
For the whole of 2008, a total of 16,880 workers were made redundant, comprising 13,920 workers retrenched and 2,970 workers whose contracts were terminated prematurely, according to the latest labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Monday.
More workers across all three broad occupational groups were laid off in the fourth quarter of 2008, with professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) experiencing the largest increase - from 950 in the third quarter to 3,790 in the fourth quarter. For the whole year, 6,200 PMETs lost their jobs, forming 37 per cent of the workers displaced, up from 31 per cent the previous year.
Correspondingly, the share of production and related workers shed dropped from 56 per cent to 52 per cent, while clerical, sales and service workers fell from 13 per cent to 11 per cent.
During the year, total employment rose by 221,600 or 8.1 per cent, driven largely by strong gains in the first half of the year. But this was lower than the increase of 234,900 or 9.4 per cent in 2007.
Amidst the weakening global economy, employment growth slowed significantly to 21,300 in the fourth quarter of 2008, less than half the gains of 55,700 in the third quarter of 2008 and 62,500 in the fourth quarter of 2007, said MOM.
The slowdown was felt across many industries, led by manufacturing which shed 7,000 workers in the last quarter - its first contraction since the third quarter of 2003. Net job losses occurred mainly in electronic products (-3,400) and transport equipment (-2,700) while petrochemicals & pharmaceutical products still added workers (1,600). For the whole year, manufacturing workforce grew by 19,500, less than half the increase of 49,300 in 2007.
With brisk building activity, the construction workforce grew strongly by a record 64,000 in 2008, up from the gains of 40,400 in 2007. Growth also moderated to 10,700 in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with average quarterly gains of 17,800 in the preceding three quarters.
Local employment grew by 64,700 or 3.5 per cent in 2008, lower than the increase of 90,400 or 5.2 per cent in 2007.
Due to strong demand for workers earlier in the year, foreign employment grew by 156,900 17 per cent) in 2008, up from 144,500 (19 per cent) in 2007.
As the economic downturn deepened, employment growth slowed significantly for both locals and foreigners in the last quarter of the year. As at December, there were 1,057,700 foreigners forming 36 per cent of the 2.95 million persons employed in Singapore. The majority comprising 64 per cent or 1,894,700 persons in the workforce were locals.
With the economy weakening, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose to 2.5 per cent in December, 2.2 per cent in September.
- The Straits Times
For the whole of 2008, a total of 16,880 workers were made redundant, comprising 13,920 workers retrenched and 2,970 workers whose contracts were terminated prematurely, according to the latest labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Monday.
More workers across all three broad occupational groups were laid off in the fourth quarter of 2008, with professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) experiencing the largest increase - from 950 in the third quarter to 3,790 in the fourth quarter. For the whole year, 6,200 PMETs lost their jobs, forming 37 per cent of the workers displaced, up from 31 per cent the previous year.
Correspondingly, the share of production and related workers shed dropped from 56 per cent to 52 per cent, while clerical, sales and service workers fell from 13 per cent to 11 per cent.
During the year, total employment rose by 221,600 or 8.1 per cent, driven largely by strong gains in the first half of the year. But this was lower than the increase of 234,900 or 9.4 per cent in 2007.
Amidst the weakening global economy, employment growth slowed significantly to 21,300 in the fourth quarter of 2008, less than half the gains of 55,700 in the third quarter of 2008 and 62,500 in the fourth quarter of 2007, said MOM.
The slowdown was felt across many industries, led by manufacturing which shed 7,000 workers in the last quarter - its first contraction since the third quarter of 2003. Net job losses occurred mainly in electronic products (-3,400) and transport equipment (-2,700) while petrochemicals & pharmaceutical products still added workers (1,600). For the whole year, manufacturing workforce grew by 19,500, less than half the increase of 49,300 in 2007.
With brisk building activity, the construction workforce grew strongly by a record 64,000 in 2008, up from the gains of 40,400 in 2007. Growth also moderated to 10,700 in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with average quarterly gains of 17,800 in the preceding three quarters.
Local employment grew by 64,700 or 3.5 per cent in 2008, lower than the increase of 90,400 or 5.2 per cent in 2007.
Due to strong demand for workers earlier in the year, foreign employment grew by 156,900 17 per cent) in 2008, up from 144,500 (19 per cent) in 2007.
As the economic downturn deepened, employment growth slowed significantly for both locals and foreigners in the last quarter of the year. As at December, there were 1,057,700 foreigners forming 36 per cent of the 2.95 million persons employed in Singapore. The majority comprising 64 per cent or 1,894,700 persons in the workforce were locals.
With the economy weakening, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose to 2.5 per cent in December, 2.2 per cent in September.
- The Straits Times
Mar 13, 2009
Creative to cut 300 jobs
CREATIVE Technology is cutting about 300 jobs worldwide with most to go from Europe and the United States, it announced last night.
Creative was unavailable to comment on whether any employees will be axed in Singapore, where it has its corporate headquarters and a large part of its research and development (R&D) operations.
The digital entertainment firm's statement said the severance payments and related costs from the job cuts would cost about US$10 million (S$15.4 million) in restructuring charges for the third quarter ending March 31.
The sum also includes 'facilities costs from consolidation of certain international offices'.
Creative made headlines recently with an announcement that it had reduced its headcount by 47 per cent, or 2,700 employees, in the 12 months ended June 30 last year. That left it with about 3,100 full-time employees.
It also axed about 800 staff in the 2007 financial year.
The firm had around 79 per cent of its staff in Asia, 9 per cent in the Americas and 12 per cent in Europe, as of June last year.
When the staff cuts of 47 per cent were announced, a Creative spokesman said there had been no significant change in the overall employment figure in Singapore with the firm still looking to hire more R&D engineers.
Creative has been going through a rough ride. In its second quarter ended Dec 31 last year, it made a net loss of US$32.4 million compared with a net profit of US$7.6 million in the same quarter in 2007. Revenue for the second quarter last year was US$155.7 million, down from US$262.5 million for the same period the preceding year.
- The Straits Times
Creative was unavailable to comment on whether any employees will be axed in Singapore, where it has its corporate headquarters and a large part of its research and development (R&D) operations.
The digital entertainment firm's statement said the severance payments and related costs from the job cuts would cost about US$10 million (S$15.4 million) in restructuring charges for the third quarter ending March 31.
The sum also includes 'facilities costs from consolidation of certain international offices'.
Creative made headlines recently with an announcement that it had reduced its headcount by 47 per cent, or 2,700 employees, in the 12 months ended June 30 last year. That left it with about 3,100 full-time employees.
It also axed about 800 staff in the 2007 financial year.
The firm had around 79 per cent of its staff in Asia, 9 per cent in the Americas and 12 per cent in Europe, as of June last year.
When the staff cuts of 47 per cent were announced, a Creative spokesman said there had been no significant change in the overall employment figure in Singapore with the firm still looking to hire more R&D engineers.
Creative has been going through a rough ride. In its second quarter ended Dec 31 last year, it made a net loss of US$32.4 million compared with a net profit of US$7.6 million in the same quarter in 2007. Revenue for the second quarter last year was US$155.7 million, down from US$262.5 million for the same period the preceding year.
- The Straits Times
Mar 12, 2009
Jobseekers say more than 4 months needed to get new job
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.
- Channel News Asia
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.
- Channel News Asia
MDA to spend $250m to create 2,000 jobs
Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) is spending S$250 million to create and support some 2,000 jobs in the media industry this year.
The bulk of the spending will be used to stimulate a strong pipeline of high-value and exportable projects.
To this end, the MDA is calling for proposals for public service programmes and original TV concepts that leverage on various digital media distribution avenues and partnerships.
It aims to support 2,380 hours of broadcast content this year -- 200 hours more than last year.
MDA is also calling for proposals to help transform Singapore into a digital music hub.
At its annual Media Business Forum on Thursday, MDA launched a "Future of Media" initiative that aims to establish strategic partner networks amongst local and international new media companies.
It is setting aside $6 million to fund programmes to train and upgrade media manpower, which is expected to benefit 6,000 media talents this year.
It has also launched a Media Training and Attachment programme to give local talent and media professionals global exposure and work opportunities.
- Channel News Asia
The bulk of the spending will be used to stimulate a strong pipeline of high-value and exportable projects.
To this end, the MDA is calling for proposals for public service programmes and original TV concepts that leverage on various digital media distribution avenues and partnerships.
It aims to support 2,380 hours of broadcast content this year -- 200 hours more than last year.
MDA is also calling for proposals to help transform Singapore into a digital music hub.
At its annual Media Business Forum on Thursday, MDA launched a "Future of Media" initiative that aims to establish strategic partner networks amongst local and international new media companies.
It is setting aside $6 million to fund programmes to train and upgrade media manpower, which is expected to benefit 6,000 media talents this year.
It has also launched a Media Training and Attachment programme to give local talent and media professionals global exposure and work opportunities.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 11, 2009
Job losses this year expected to exceed 29,000, says SNEF
This year's retrenchment figures are likely to bust the record of 29,000 jobs lost in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, according to Singapore National Employers Federation’s (SNEF’s) president, Stephen Lee.
Mr Lee was commenting on a survey finding by HR firm Manpower Staffing Services where 636 employers across seven industry sectors were polled.
The survey found that 50 per cent of employers anticipate a cut in headcount, 29 per cent expect no change, while only seven per cent expect to increase staff strength in the second quarter.
On an industry basis, the survey found that the bleakest prospects are in the transport and utilities sectors, followed by public administration and education.
Hiring prospects are also weak in the trade and retail and services sectors, although quarter-over-quarter, there has been a slight improvement in the outlook for the finance, insurance and real estate sectors.
One emerging trend is more contract hiring, which gives more flexibility to employers.
SNEF has seen such numbers growing from 172,000 in 2006 to 190,000 last year and expects it to strengthen further.
SNEF says the silver lining here are the few sectors that are still hiring like the integrated resorts and start-ups, and encouraging take-up rates for training.
13,000 workers from 30 companies are taking up the national training programme SPUR.
But the job situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Mr Lee said: "NTUC's secretary-general Lim Swee Say had already said most likely in the first quarter, retrenchment figures will hit 10,000. So if we work on that sort of figure, then I anticipate that in the second quarter, it (retrenchment figures) will continue to escalate. I don't think we have seen the worst yet. Hopefully it will peak out in the second quarter of this year."
- Channel News Asia
Mr Lee was commenting on a survey finding by HR firm Manpower Staffing Services where 636 employers across seven industry sectors were polled.
The survey found that 50 per cent of employers anticipate a cut in headcount, 29 per cent expect no change, while only seven per cent expect to increase staff strength in the second quarter.
On an industry basis, the survey found that the bleakest prospects are in the transport and utilities sectors, followed by public administration and education.
Hiring prospects are also weak in the trade and retail and services sectors, although quarter-over-quarter, there has been a slight improvement in the outlook for the finance, insurance and real estate sectors.
One emerging trend is more contract hiring, which gives more flexibility to employers.
SNEF has seen such numbers growing from 172,000 in 2006 to 190,000 last year and expects it to strengthen further.
SNEF says the silver lining here are the few sectors that are still hiring like the integrated resorts and start-ups, and encouraging take-up rates for training.
13,000 workers from 30 companies are taking up the national training programme SPUR.
But the job situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Mr Lee said: "NTUC's secretary-general Lim Swee Say had already said most likely in the first quarter, retrenchment figures will hit 10,000. So if we work on that sort of figure, then I anticipate that in the second quarter, it (retrenchment figures) will continue to escalate. I don't think we have seen the worst yet. Hopefully it will peak out in the second quarter of this year."
- Channel News Asia
Mar 9, 2009
More people seeking psychiatric help for recession blues
Recession woes have affected many Singaporeans and for some, losing sleep over the economy could turn out to be something more serious.
Private clinics said they are seeing more patients with recession-related mood problems, with some doctors getting 50 per cent more cases compared to two years ago.
These problems can range from anxiety attacks, insomnia, to more severe problems like depression.
Dr Adrian Wang, consultant psychiatrist, Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, said: "When a person loses his job, the person loses part of his identity. All your life, you've been told you're a banker, you're a doctor, you're a lawyer, you're an office administrator and when that's taken away from you, suddenly you feel like you're questioning your own abilities."
Most of the patients affected by recession blues are in their late 20s to early 40s. Dr Wang said this is because people in that age group are at the most productive stage in their careers.
It is also the most vulnerable period as these people have many commitments, such as mortgages and car loans, which depend heavily on a steady stream of income.
Although women are more likely to develop depression, Dr Wang said he is seeing an increase in the number of male patients suffering from the condition.
Although feeling stressed out about work is a normal reaction, psychologists and counsellors said it becomes a problem when it makes a person lose his ability to function properly and causes disruption to his day-to-day activities like eating and sleeping.
For foreign students and migrant workers, having a limited social network may worsen their condition.
"Sometimes, the loss of employment or the loss of income is the trigger point to a serious or major depressive episode. When a serious event happens at your work environment, it can have a very jarring effect on your sense of reality – of what's right, what's wrong and what's going to happen in the future," Dr Wang said.
Several online blogs have speculated that the death of Zhou Zheng, a project officer at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), last Saturday could be related to the shocking incident at the university last Monday when 21-year-old David Widjaja stabbed a lecturer before ending his own life.
However, the university has dismissed these claims. NTU said its counselling centre has seen an increase of about five to six cases since those incidents occurred.
- Channel News Asia
Private clinics said they are seeing more patients with recession-related mood problems, with some doctors getting 50 per cent more cases compared to two years ago.
These problems can range from anxiety attacks, insomnia, to more severe problems like depression.
Dr Adrian Wang, consultant psychiatrist, Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, said: "When a person loses his job, the person loses part of his identity. All your life, you've been told you're a banker, you're a doctor, you're a lawyer, you're an office administrator and when that's taken away from you, suddenly you feel like you're questioning your own abilities."
Most of the patients affected by recession blues are in their late 20s to early 40s. Dr Wang said this is because people in that age group are at the most productive stage in their careers.
It is also the most vulnerable period as these people have many commitments, such as mortgages and car loans, which depend heavily on a steady stream of income.
Although women are more likely to develop depression, Dr Wang said he is seeing an increase in the number of male patients suffering from the condition.
Although feeling stressed out about work is a normal reaction, psychologists and counsellors said it becomes a problem when it makes a person lose his ability to function properly and causes disruption to his day-to-day activities like eating and sleeping.
For foreign students and migrant workers, having a limited social network may worsen their condition.
"Sometimes, the loss of employment or the loss of income is the trigger point to a serious or major depressive episode. When a serious event happens at your work environment, it can have a very jarring effect on your sense of reality – of what's right, what's wrong and what's going to happen in the future," Dr Wang said.
Several online blogs have speculated that the death of Zhou Zheng, a project officer at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), last Saturday could be related to the shocking incident at the university last Monday when 21-year-old David Widjaja stabbed a lecturer before ending his own life.
However, the university has dismissed these claims. NTU said its counselling centre has seen an increase of about five to six cases since those incidents occurred.
- Channel News Asia
Resorts World at Sentosa receives 20,000 applications in job fair
Resorts World at Sentosa had received about 20,000 job applications during a recent career fair at Suntec City. It was offering some 800 job openings during the event.
The company said one in two job applicants wanted to work for the resort's casino, while 40 per cent of the applicants wanted to join Southeast Asia's first and only Universal Studios theme park.
The resort's booth saw massive crowds from the moment the fair opened last Thursday.
It received 1,000 job applications within the first 90 minutes of the fair, and 5,000 job applications by the end of the first day. Job applications also streamed in via its website and through the mail.
Applicants consisted of local and foreign job seekers, as well as professionals, fresh graduates and the recently retrenched.
Resorts World at Sentosa said it is committed to offering 10,000 jobs when it opens next year, despite the economic climate.
- Channel News Asia
The company said one in two job applicants wanted to work for the resort's casino, while 40 per cent of the applicants wanted to join Southeast Asia's first and only Universal Studios theme park.
The resort's booth saw massive crowds from the moment the fair opened last Thursday.
It received 1,000 job applications within the first 90 minutes of the fair, and 5,000 job applications by the end of the first day. Job applications also streamed in via its website and through the mail.
Applicants consisted of local and foreign job seekers, as well as professionals, fresh graduates and the recently retrenched.
Resorts World at Sentosa said it is committed to offering 10,000 jobs when it opens next year, despite the economic climate.
- Channel News Asia
HeadHunt's Pink Slip Party on 8th Apr
Pink Slip Parties have been spreading throughout America and HeadHunt is proud to be one of the first in Singapore to organise such an event. The party is about networking and connecting the pink slipped and people who are on the look-out with executive search firms and companies that are still hiring.
How do I get an invitation?
If you are keen to attend, please send us an email at pinkslip@headhunt.com.sg with your resume. As there are limited places, priority will be given to attendees that are in a managerial position with at least 5 years working experience.
This is a closed door event and only 120 guests will invited. Confirmation Slips will be sent out by 1st Apr 09.
Party Details
Date: 8th April (Wednesday)
Time: 7pm – 9:30pm
Location: Pub in the CBD area
Participating Executive Search Firms and Companies
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Robert Walters
Reed Specialist Recruitment
Kerry Consulting
Kelly Selection
Randstad Pte Ltd
Spring Group
Drake International
Chris Allen Search
The Invisible Company
JAC Recruitment
BGC Group
Rec Train
People Search
Search Asia
Capita
Bloomberg
Templar International Consultants
NSearch Global
How do I get an invitation?
If you are keen to attend, please send us an email at pinkslip@headhunt.com.sg with your resume. As there are limited places, priority will be given to attendees that are in a managerial position with at least 5 years working experience.
This is a closed door event and only 120 guests will invited. Confirmation Slips will be sent out by 1st Apr 09.
Party Details
Date: 8th April (Wednesday)
Time: 7pm – 9:30pm
Location: Pub in the CBD area
Participating Executive Search Firms and Companies
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Robert Walters
Reed Specialist Recruitment
Kerry Consulting
Kelly Selection
Randstad Pte Ltd
Spring Group
Drake International
Chris Allen Search
The Invisible Company
JAC Recruitment
BGC Group
Rec Train
People Search
Search Asia
Capita
Bloomberg
Templar International Consultants
NSearch Global
Mar 8, 2009
Some healthcare vacancies unfilled at career & education fair 2009
Some 400,000 people visited the four-day Career 2009 & Education 2009 exhibition at Suntec Singapore.
The fair focused on not just jobs but also education and skills upgrading, but it was clear that the majority there were more keen on getting a job.
Each day, four to five thousand people were aiming for one of the 800 vacancies at the upcoming Resorts World Sentosa.
But while the booth was the hot favourite at the fair, other recruiters were also having large number of applicants, such as this childcare company.
HR executive from Knowledge Universe, Wirma Asad, said: "We have 30 positions open and so far we have about 100 people signing up for the programme. It doesn't matter whether they have the experience or not, as long as they have the minimum five GCE ‘O’ Levels, with a B4 in English."
But some jobs, mainly those in healthcare and social work, require specific expertise, and these organisations were finding it tough to fill the vacancies.
Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society, Agatha Tan Mui Neo, said: "So far, no social workers (had applied), I must admit that. Only one from the US applied and he's a Caucasian. For the occupational therapists, zero (application). For the nurses, we seemed to have some potential but there were only about three applications and we're offering about six positions."
The search for health professionals would no doubt carry on, as authorities expected the healthcare sector to offer more than 10,000 vacancies by 2012.
- Channel News Asia
The fair focused on not just jobs but also education and skills upgrading, but it was clear that the majority there were more keen on getting a job.
Each day, four to five thousand people were aiming for one of the 800 vacancies at the upcoming Resorts World Sentosa.
But while the booth was the hot favourite at the fair, other recruiters were also having large number of applicants, such as this childcare company.
HR executive from Knowledge Universe, Wirma Asad, said: "We have 30 positions open and so far we have about 100 people signing up for the programme. It doesn't matter whether they have the experience or not, as long as they have the minimum five GCE ‘O’ Levels, with a B4 in English."
But some jobs, mainly those in healthcare and social work, require specific expertise, and these organisations were finding it tough to fill the vacancies.
Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society, Agatha Tan Mui Neo, said: "So far, no social workers (had applied), I must admit that. Only one from the US applied and he's a Caucasian. For the occupational therapists, zero (application). For the nurses, we seemed to have some potential but there were only about three applications and we're offering about six positions."
The search for health professionals would no doubt carry on, as authorities expected the healthcare sector to offer more than 10,000 vacancies by 2012.
- Channel News Asia
Both men and women equally at risk when it comes to job cuts, say unionists
Both men and women are just as equally likely to be laid off during this recession, said unionists.
The only difference is that unionists had started seeing a few cases where laid-off pregnant women felt discriminated against.
But these numbers are not alarming, said National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC’s) deputy secretary-general, Halimah Yaacob.
She made these comments Sunday at an International Women's Day event to launch a special help scheme for single mothers.
With the Singapore economy expected to shrink by as much as eight to 10 per cent this year, the end of the road for job cuts appeared nowhere in sight.
Secretary-general of NTUC, Lim Swee Say, said: "Every per cent drop in the economic growth will lead to one per cent increase in unemployment rate -- that is a very rule of thumb classical macro-economics. But in Singapore, we never believe that because we always believe what you do with workers during a downturn is more important."
And that the Labour chief said, is to build new capabilities because it would be a different world once this recession is over.
But would women feel a greater brunt of this downturn?
Not necessarily, said unionists.
When it comes to layoffs, it is not gender that plays a major role in retrenchment decisions, said unionists.
Mdm Halimah said: "Rather, (retrenchment is) very sector-specific. In sectors where you see a lot of women, like for instance, the manufacturing sector, where a fair number of women were employed as production operators. Then, obviously, when there were retrenchments, (these women) were affected because they were over-represented in these sectors."
And more could still be affected with unionists pointing to the retail and hospitality sectors as probably the next industries to feel the pinch of job cuts, although these sectors might not be as heavily female-centric as the manufacturing sector.
One group that is receiving additional help at this time is single mothers.
Single mother Jassia Jasmani, 49, had struggled on her own after her divorce, getting cancer and being laid off from a nursing job.
She said: "I couldn't get maintenance (from my ex-husband) because he was an ex-addict, a drug addict. He went back into remand and the worst part was that maintenance was cut off that way and we had difficulties in bringing up the kids."
One of the biggest problems single mothers face is the lack of a steady source of income especially when they do not get maintenance money from ex-husbands.
And the current economic climate with job cuts, shorter work weeks and lesser income is making the situation more difficult.
But while Mdm Jassia took on a job as a cleaner, not all single mothers are as tenacious.
And it is people like them unionists want to help, through a buddy system.
A unionist at the Union of Power and Gas Employees, Suseela A Singaram, said: "In our volunteer work with different kinds of projects, we did come across single mothers who said they did not have a sense of direction when they were in a predicament."
“They did not have a friend to bring them through so… (this buddy system had someone) to hold their hands and bring them through, no matter what their problems were."
The women's wing of NTUC had started a new project to help such women find jobs and become more legally aware by working with the Law Society to produce a legal guide and setting up reading programmes for children.
About a hundred women had signed up so far, and the union hoped to up this number to 500 by year-end.
- Channel News Asia
The only difference is that unionists had started seeing a few cases where laid-off pregnant women felt discriminated against.
But these numbers are not alarming, said National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC’s) deputy secretary-general, Halimah Yaacob.
She made these comments Sunday at an International Women's Day event to launch a special help scheme for single mothers.
With the Singapore economy expected to shrink by as much as eight to 10 per cent this year, the end of the road for job cuts appeared nowhere in sight.
Secretary-general of NTUC, Lim Swee Say, said: "Every per cent drop in the economic growth will lead to one per cent increase in unemployment rate -- that is a very rule of thumb classical macro-economics. But in Singapore, we never believe that because we always believe what you do with workers during a downturn is more important."
And that the Labour chief said, is to build new capabilities because it would be a different world once this recession is over.
But would women feel a greater brunt of this downturn?
Not necessarily, said unionists.
When it comes to layoffs, it is not gender that plays a major role in retrenchment decisions, said unionists.
Mdm Halimah said: "Rather, (retrenchment is) very sector-specific. In sectors where you see a lot of women, like for instance, the manufacturing sector, where a fair number of women were employed as production operators. Then, obviously, when there were retrenchments, (these women) were affected because they were over-represented in these sectors."
And more could still be affected with unionists pointing to the retail and hospitality sectors as probably the next industries to feel the pinch of job cuts, although these sectors might not be as heavily female-centric as the manufacturing sector.
One group that is receiving additional help at this time is single mothers.
Single mother Jassia Jasmani, 49, had struggled on her own after her divorce, getting cancer and being laid off from a nursing job.
She said: "I couldn't get maintenance (from my ex-husband) because he was an ex-addict, a drug addict. He went back into remand and the worst part was that maintenance was cut off that way and we had difficulties in bringing up the kids."
One of the biggest problems single mothers face is the lack of a steady source of income especially when they do not get maintenance money from ex-husbands.
And the current economic climate with job cuts, shorter work weeks and lesser income is making the situation more difficult.
But while Mdm Jassia took on a job as a cleaner, not all single mothers are as tenacious.
And it is people like them unionists want to help, through a buddy system.
A unionist at the Union of Power and Gas Employees, Suseela A Singaram, said: "In our volunteer work with different kinds of projects, we did come across single mothers who said they did not have a sense of direction when they were in a predicament."
“They did not have a friend to bring them through so… (this buddy system had someone) to hold their hands and bring them through, no matter what their problems were."
The women's wing of NTUC had started a new project to help such women find jobs and become more legally aware by working with the Law Society to produce a legal guide and setting up reading programmes for children.
About a hundred women had signed up so far, and the union hoped to up this number to 500 by year-end.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 7, 2009
3,000 throng job fair
SOME 3,220 job-seekers turned up for upcoming mall Tampines 1's job fair on Saturday at the Tampines Central Community Complex.
They were hoping to secure some 400 jobs offered by 17 participating tenants come April when the mall opens.
These jobs ranged from supervisors, sales assistants and service crew in the retail, fitness, food and beverage and supermarket shops in Tampines 1.
The fair, Mall Jobs@ Tampines 1, was jointly organised by North East CDC and AsiaMalls (S.E.A) Management. It is also part of the North East CDC's Job Radar programme which helps match unemployed residents with available jobs in the district.
The crowd came from all walks of life, from students seeking a part-time job, to executives who are looking for a career switch, to senior citizens making full use of their time to work.
Ms Kalai Selvi, 34, was hired as a service manager at Thai Express within an hour of the fair, which started at 10am.
'I knew people who were unemployed for 2 years, hence I thought it would be difficult to get a job. I am very very lucky,' said the former customer service representative who resigned last December to look for jobs in the hospitality line.
The employers received a total of 4,763 applications, as some people applied for more than one job. Some like Japan Foods Holding (Ajisen) and VGO Corporation, which manages World of Sports, also hired on the spot.
The response was far beyond their expectations.
'This is the best job fair I have attended. The response and the quality of the applicants are good,' said Mr Calvin Koh, 35, the human resource manager of Chinese restaurant Dian Xiao Er.
- The Straits Times
They were hoping to secure some 400 jobs offered by 17 participating tenants come April when the mall opens.
These jobs ranged from supervisors, sales assistants and service crew in the retail, fitness, food and beverage and supermarket shops in Tampines 1.
The fair, Mall Jobs@ Tampines 1, was jointly organised by North East CDC and AsiaMalls (S.E.A) Management. It is also part of the North East CDC's Job Radar programme which helps match unemployed residents with available jobs in the district.
The crowd came from all walks of life, from students seeking a part-time job, to executives who are looking for a career switch, to senior citizens making full use of their time to work.
Ms Kalai Selvi, 34, was hired as a service manager at Thai Express within an hour of the fair, which started at 10am.
'I knew people who were unemployed for 2 years, hence I thought it would be difficult to get a job. I am very very lucky,' said the former customer service representative who resigned last December to look for jobs in the hospitality line.
The employers received a total of 4,763 applications, as some people applied for more than one job. Some like Japan Foods Holding (Ajisen) and VGO Corporation, which manages World of Sports, also hired on the spot.
The response was far beyond their expectations.
'This is the best job fair I have attended. The response and the quality of the applicants are good,' said Mr Calvin Koh, 35, the human resource manager of Chinese restaurant Dian Xiao Er.
- The Straits Times
More than 3,200 people throng job fair for jobs within North East CDC
More than 3200 people made a beeline for 400 job vacancies in the North East Community Development Council (CDC) on Saturday.
Positions available ranged from sales assistants and logistic officers to executives and supervisors, paying between S$800 to S$2500 a month.
The jobs were offered by tenants of Singapore's newest suburban mall that is opening in Tampines next month.
Amore Fitness wanted to fill 20 positions, ranging from front desk officers, gym instructors to personal trainers, offering a salary of at least S$1000 a month.
For the two front desk officer positions alone, there were 70 applicants.
Amore said training would be given to the successful applicants.
Human resource executive at Amore Fitness, Yap Hui Mei, said: "Depending on the position itself… sales, for example, we need someone with sales experience. For applicants without any training, let's say they are applying (for a job in the) spa (sector), we actually tie up with Spa Institute and they can go for training."
MP for Tampines GRC, Masagoes Zulkifli, said that training and retraining is the way to go.
But he stressed that job seekers should moderate their expectations when looking for a job.
Mr Masagos said: "You have to start upgrading yourself. SPUR and all sorts of programmes are available for you to go for if you want to change jobs."
Mr Masagos said he had been seeing more jobless professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) at the meet-the-people sessions.
He added that these people could consider the many positions that need to be filled in the public sector such as in the Home Affairs and Education Ministries.
Mr Masagos said: “I hardly saw PMETs looking for jobs in my meet-the-people sessions. They usually came for issues such as leakages in their houses. But now… (the number is) more than what I've seen before. But I'm happy to say that we have an agency which is the CDC… to ensure that there are some job matching and skills upgrading programmes that they can go for.”
Many job seekers Channel NewsAsia spoke to seem to heed the advice on job expectations.
One said: "Any job they offer me, as long as (they don’t mind) my age, I can take (up the job)."
The job fair was organised under the North East Job Radar programme which aimed to highlight jobs available within the North East CDC.
But the CDC itself also holds regular job recruitment exercises, offering jobs that are available islandwide.
At the end of the job fair, more than 4700 applications were received.
- Channel News Asia
Positions available ranged from sales assistants and logistic officers to executives and supervisors, paying between S$800 to S$2500 a month.
The jobs were offered by tenants of Singapore's newest suburban mall that is opening in Tampines next month.
Amore Fitness wanted to fill 20 positions, ranging from front desk officers, gym instructors to personal trainers, offering a salary of at least S$1000 a month.
For the two front desk officer positions alone, there were 70 applicants.
Amore said training would be given to the successful applicants.
Human resource executive at Amore Fitness, Yap Hui Mei, said: "Depending on the position itself… sales, for example, we need someone with sales experience. For applicants without any training, let's say they are applying (for a job in the) spa (sector), we actually tie up with Spa Institute and they can go for training."
MP for Tampines GRC, Masagoes Zulkifli, said that training and retraining is the way to go.
But he stressed that job seekers should moderate their expectations when looking for a job.
Mr Masagos said: "You have to start upgrading yourself. SPUR and all sorts of programmes are available for you to go for if you want to change jobs."
Mr Masagos said he had been seeing more jobless professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) at the meet-the-people sessions.
He added that these people could consider the many positions that need to be filled in the public sector such as in the Home Affairs and Education Ministries.
Mr Masagos said: “I hardly saw PMETs looking for jobs in my meet-the-people sessions. They usually came for issues such as leakages in their houses. But now… (the number is) more than what I've seen before. But I'm happy to say that we have an agency which is the CDC… to ensure that there are some job matching and skills upgrading programmes that they can go for.”
Many job seekers Channel NewsAsia spoke to seem to heed the advice on job expectations.
One said: "Any job they offer me, as long as (they don’t mind) my age, I can take (up the job)."
The job fair was organised under the North East Job Radar programme which aimed to highlight jobs available within the North East CDC.
But the CDC itself also holds regular job recruitment exercises, offering jobs that are available islandwide.
At the end of the job fair, more than 4700 applications were received.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 6, 2009
Employers say gender not a factor in retrenchment
With more job cuts expected during the economic crisis, some employers Channel NewsAsia spoke to said women employees do not face a higher chance of getting retrenched than men, simply because of their gender.
Some women employers said female employees are loyal, committed and give 160 per cent effort at work. And such saving graces help them stay in the workforce despite greater challenges in juggling career and family commitments.
One leading woman entrepreneur said different priorities during various life stages help women enjoy both work and family life.
Claire Chiang, senior vice-president, Banyan Tree Holdings, said: "At certain stage of your life, you take a pause or you move on, or you take a pause. And this is the woman's way.
"And we mustn't think, therefore, that this is a secondary way. Because the man is like going linear and we are going zigzagging. But by zigzagging, we have more opportunities to work smart and live well."
Ms Chiang was speaking at an event called "Women Mean Business - Celebrating International Women's Day 2009" on Friday.
Many at the event said talent, rather than gender, should be the factor for hiring.
Some players in the retail industry hire more women because of their aptitude for the service sector. But they admit it becomes a challenge when their staff have to juggle work and family commitments, especially when they start a family.
Elim Chew, president, 77th Street, said: "It's a little hard to manage for an SME because if they are important people, it's hard to let go of them for the next few months. If they are easily replaceable, then everybody is easily replaceable.
"But the thing is, because they are key people, then it's very hard for us to replace them because we always don't have enough people."
As for the impression that more women are being retrenched in Singapore than men, some at the event said that it is due to the fact that most of the layoffs currently occur in the lower ranks, which have more women than in the upper echelons.
- Channel News Asia
Some women employers said female employees are loyal, committed and give 160 per cent effort at work. And such saving graces help them stay in the workforce despite greater challenges in juggling career and family commitments.
One leading woman entrepreneur said different priorities during various life stages help women enjoy both work and family life.
Claire Chiang, senior vice-president, Banyan Tree Holdings, said: "At certain stage of your life, you take a pause or you move on, or you take a pause. And this is the woman's way.
"And we mustn't think, therefore, that this is a secondary way. Because the man is like going linear and we are going zigzagging. But by zigzagging, we have more opportunities to work smart and live well."
Ms Chiang was speaking at an event called "Women Mean Business - Celebrating International Women's Day 2009" on Friday.
Many at the event said talent, rather than gender, should be the factor for hiring.
Some players in the retail industry hire more women because of their aptitude for the service sector. But they admit it becomes a challenge when their staff have to juggle work and family commitments, especially when they start a family.
Elim Chew, president, 77th Street, said: "It's a little hard to manage for an SME because if they are important people, it's hard to let go of them for the next few months. If they are easily replaceable, then everybody is easily replaceable.
"But the thing is, because they are key people, then it's very hard for us to replace them because we always don't have enough people."
As for the impression that more women are being retrenched in Singapore than men, some at the event said that it is due to the fact that most of the layoffs currently occur in the lower ranks, which have more women than in the upper echelons.
- Channel News Asia
4,500 jobs at Marina IR
ITS first go-around was a big success.
Now, the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) are ready to team up with Marina Bay Sands again for another recruitment drive.
This time, it will be even bigger: e2i is looking to help fill 4,500 gaming positions at the integrated resort (IR).
It will invite applications from Singaporeans age 21 and above, screen them, and give them some rudimentary training if needed to increase their chances of landing a job.
Some of these jobs are plum ones: About 1,500 will be of a managerial or supervisory nature.
Other positions open include croupiers, scheduling supervisors and table games technicians.
The job-matching and training services provided by e2i are a key plank of the Spur programme, a $600 million training and skills upgrading scheme paid for by the Singapore Government.
e2i's first partnership with Marina Bay Sands, in October last year, paid handsome dividends.
It screened over 7,000 applicants, and dropped more than 3,000 in the first cut.
Those who were found suitable but who lacked skills were sent for pre-employment employability training, which included workshops and other programmes to impart knowledge of the industry, develop service and interview skills, as well as to instil the right mindset and attitude.
- The Straits Times
Now, the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) are ready to team up with Marina Bay Sands again for another recruitment drive.
This time, it will be even bigger: e2i is looking to help fill 4,500 gaming positions at the integrated resort (IR).
It will invite applications from Singaporeans age 21 and above, screen them, and give them some rudimentary training if needed to increase their chances of landing a job.
Some of these jobs are plum ones: About 1,500 will be of a managerial or supervisory nature.
Other positions open include croupiers, scheduling supervisors and table games technicians.
The job-matching and training services provided by e2i are a key plank of the Spur programme, a $600 million training and skills upgrading scheme paid for by the Singapore Government.
e2i's first partnership with Marina Bay Sands, in October last year, paid handsome dividends.
It screened over 7,000 applicants, and dropped more than 3,000 in the first cut.
Those who were found suitable but who lacked skills were sent for pre-employment employability training, which included workshops and other programmes to impart knowledge of the industry, develop service and interview skills, as well as to instil the right mindset and attitude.
- The Straits Times
Job fair draws 120,000
THERE was no questioning which were the main attractions at this job fair.
Despite having more than 400 exhibitors present, many of the 120,000 visitors to the Career 2009 and Education 2009 fair yesterday made a beeline for booths set up by Resorts World and Marina Bay Sands.
The two integrated resorts, which were offering thousands of jobs, drew them all: Young and old, Singaporeans and foreigners, the retrenched and those with jobs.
Singaporean Simon Pay was among them. The 27-year-old, who has a job in the tourism industry, said: 'I see this as a growing market and I want a new job experience. So I'm just trying my luck here.'
For those like Mr Kelvin Lian, however, the situation is more dire. The 25-year-old Singaporean graduated with a business degree last September, but has been unsuccessful so far in his job hunt.
He said: 'It's a tough year ahead. I have no particular preference for job positions, as long as I can get one.'
Interest in the IR jobs was so high that the Resorts World at Sentosa booth received more than 1,000 job applications within the first 90 minutes of the fair's opening. By the end of the day, it had received over 5,000 applications.
Speaking for Marina Bay Sands, its president Nigel Roberts said: 'We were delighted with the number of people who visited us today.'
- The Straits Times
Despite having more than 400 exhibitors present, many of the 120,000 visitors to the Career 2009 and Education 2009 fair yesterday made a beeline for booths set up by Resorts World and Marina Bay Sands.
The two integrated resorts, which were offering thousands of jobs, drew them all: Young and old, Singaporeans and foreigners, the retrenched and those with jobs.
Singaporean Simon Pay was among them. The 27-year-old, who has a job in the tourism industry, said: 'I see this as a growing market and I want a new job experience. So I'm just trying my luck here.'
For those like Mr Kelvin Lian, however, the situation is more dire. The 25-year-old Singaporean graduated with a business degree last September, but has been unsuccessful so far in his job hunt.
He said: 'It's a tough year ahead. I have no particular preference for job positions, as long as I can get one.'
Interest in the IR jobs was so high that the Resorts World at Sentosa booth received more than 1,000 job applications within the first 90 minutes of the fair's opening. By the end of the day, it had received over 5,000 applications.
Speaking for Marina Bay Sands, its president Nigel Roberts said: 'We were delighted with the number of people who visited us today.'
- The Straits Times
Mar 5, 2009
Media industry still hiring despite recession and layoffs
Singapore's media industry is aggressively training and recruiting professionals in support of the burgeoning sector.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) says some 10,000 jobs are expected to be created in the industry over the next six years.
But more immediate are the jobs and apprenticeship places on offer within the creative industries and by the multi-agency Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office.
Amid the gloomy economic environment, there is a bright spark within the fast changing media industry.
Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) Lee Boon Yang said: "Despite the recession and retrenchments, the demand for creative talent remains robust with companies still on the lookout for good staff."
The good news is that the media industry tends to do better during a downturn.
CEO of MDA, Christopher Chia, said: "It is said that sometimes it is actually anti-cyclical. If the economy generally goes down, the media sector actually comes up and one reason we found behind this is that it (media) allows people to be actually entertained at a cost much lower than say, to travel somewhere else. So it does allow a lot of consumption to actually happen."
For a start, some 300 skilled jobs and over 400 apprenticeship places are on offer within the creative industries.
Another 450 jobs will be created over the next one to two years for start-ups within the Interactive and Digital Media sector.
This will be done through supporting 150 iJAM Jump-start and Mentor projects to the tune of S$50,000 per project.
On top of that, up to 6,000 individuals are expected to get media training this year.
Dr Chia said: "The whole idea is really a continuum of skills -- from very experienced people who need to upgrade to people who are thinking of moving into this sector. So it's conversion skills as well."
Dr Lee says companies like Japanese game studio Koei Entertainment plans to double the size of its operations in Singapore adding up to 60 new staff over the next two years.
Likewise, Ubisoft is looking to expand its headcount from 50 to 300, while Lucasfilms' studio in Singapore is also expanding and looking to hire digital artists.
Separately, a public service broadcast animation programme called "Once Upon A Cyberspace", targetted at 10 to 14 year olds, was also launched.
The aim of the programme is to raise awareness on responsible use of new media.
The series comprises six short clips which are slated for broadcast on April 6 and will run for six weeks.
The initiative comes under the S$10 million Cyber Wellness fund.
To find out more about the changing media landscape, you can come down to the four-day exhibition at Marina Square.
There are also 40 fringe activities to be held islandwide during the entire month of March. The idea is to get people interested, boost consumption and hopefully attract the right kind of people for when the economic upswing happens.
- Channel News Asia
The Media Development Authority (MDA) says some 10,000 jobs are expected to be created in the industry over the next six years.
But more immediate are the jobs and apprenticeship places on offer within the creative industries and by the multi-agency Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office.
Amid the gloomy economic environment, there is a bright spark within the fast changing media industry.
Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) Lee Boon Yang said: "Despite the recession and retrenchments, the demand for creative talent remains robust with companies still on the lookout for good staff."
The good news is that the media industry tends to do better during a downturn.
CEO of MDA, Christopher Chia, said: "It is said that sometimes it is actually anti-cyclical. If the economy generally goes down, the media sector actually comes up and one reason we found behind this is that it (media) allows people to be actually entertained at a cost much lower than say, to travel somewhere else. So it does allow a lot of consumption to actually happen."
For a start, some 300 skilled jobs and over 400 apprenticeship places are on offer within the creative industries.
Another 450 jobs will be created over the next one to two years for start-ups within the Interactive and Digital Media sector.
This will be done through supporting 150 iJAM Jump-start and Mentor projects to the tune of S$50,000 per project.
On top of that, up to 6,000 individuals are expected to get media training this year.
Dr Chia said: "The whole idea is really a continuum of skills -- from very experienced people who need to upgrade to people who are thinking of moving into this sector. So it's conversion skills as well."
Dr Lee says companies like Japanese game studio Koei Entertainment plans to double the size of its operations in Singapore adding up to 60 new staff over the next two years.
Likewise, Ubisoft is looking to expand its headcount from 50 to 300, while Lucasfilms' studio in Singapore is also expanding and looking to hire digital artists.
Separately, a public service broadcast animation programme called "Once Upon A Cyberspace", targetted at 10 to 14 year olds, was also launched.
The aim of the programme is to raise awareness on responsible use of new media.
The series comprises six short clips which are slated for broadcast on April 6 and will run for six weeks.
The initiative comes under the S$10 million Cyber Wellness fund.
To find out more about the changing media landscape, you can come down to the four-day exhibition at Marina Square.
There are also 40 fringe activities to be held islandwide during the entire month of March. The idea is to get people interested, boost consumption and hopefully attract the right kind of people for when the economic upswing happens.
- Channel News Asia
Mar 4, 2009
800 jobs with Resorts World Sentosa up for grabs
FANCY dealing cards and chips, or collecting bets for a living?
Eight hundred jobs from Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) are up for grabs at the Career 2009 & Education 2009 fair, which begins today and ends on Sunday.
Around 15,000 jobs will be available at the four-day fair held at Suntec Singapore, Halls 601 to 603.
Casino jobs such as dealers and slot ambassadors are among the thousands of vacancies offered by the two upcoming integrated resorts.
RWS told my paper it expects at least 30,000 jobseekers at its booth over the next four days. Non-gaming positions will make up the majority of RWS' vacancies, such as in technical services, human resources and resort services in its Universal Studios theme park.
Ms Seah-Khoo Ee Boon, RWS' senior vice-president for human resources and training, said would-be applicants should be 'passionate about service, adaptable and quick thinking'.
'Those are some of the most important criteria,' she said.
JOB NO. 1
Job: Croupier.
Duties: Responsible for dealing table games.
Academic qualifications: Secondary-school education with ability to converse fluently in English.
Other requirements: Minimum height: Male - 1.65m, female - 1.58m.
Normal colour vision.
JOB NO. 2
Job: Gaming analyst.
Duties: Design computer software and evaluate gaming technologies.
Academic qualifications:
Degree in computer science or relevant fields.
Other requirements: Project management and programming experience.
JOB NO. 3
Job: Casino accounting.
Duties: Operate cage, chip bank, collection and counting functions. Manage a chip bank and a cage's financial-accounting instruments.
Other requirements: Preference for existing shift or assistant managers, and those with experience in a treasury environment.
JOB NO. 4
Job: Supervisor, ride and show attractions.
Duties: Supervise rides and show operations. Implement safety procedures.
Academic qualifications: Diploma or degree with one to three years' supervisory experience. Those with lower qualifications may still apply if they have more working experience.
- My Paper
Eight hundred jobs from Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) are up for grabs at the Career 2009 & Education 2009 fair, which begins today and ends on Sunday.
Around 15,000 jobs will be available at the four-day fair held at Suntec Singapore, Halls 601 to 603.
Casino jobs such as dealers and slot ambassadors are among the thousands of vacancies offered by the two upcoming integrated resorts.
RWS told my paper it expects at least 30,000 jobseekers at its booth over the next four days. Non-gaming positions will make up the majority of RWS' vacancies, such as in technical services, human resources and resort services in its Universal Studios theme park.
Ms Seah-Khoo Ee Boon, RWS' senior vice-president for human resources and training, said would-be applicants should be 'passionate about service, adaptable and quick thinking'.
'Those are some of the most important criteria,' she said.
JOB NO. 1
Job: Croupier.
Duties: Responsible for dealing table games.
Academic qualifications: Secondary-school education with ability to converse fluently in English.
Other requirements: Minimum height: Male - 1.65m, female - 1.58m.
Normal colour vision.
JOB NO. 2
Job: Gaming analyst.
Duties: Design computer software and evaluate gaming technologies.
Academic qualifications:
Degree in computer science or relevant fields.
Other requirements: Project management and programming experience.
JOB NO. 3
Job: Casino accounting.
Duties: Operate cage, chip bank, collection and counting functions. Manage a chip bank and a cage's financial-accounting instruments.
Other requirements: Preference for existing shift or assistant managers, and those with experience in a treasury environment.
JOB NO. 4
Job: Supervisor, ride and show attractions.
Duties: Supervise rides and show operations. Implement safety procedures.
Academic qualifications: Diploma or degree with one to three years' supervisory experience. Those with lower qualifications may still apply if they have more working experience.
- My Paper
Mar 3, 2009
A 'strategic' move
LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say on Tuesday rebutted criticisms that the Government should have cut the employers' Central Provident Fund contribution rate instead of having the Jobs Credit wage support scheme as a way to save jobs.
The latter would achieve more than a CPF cut, he said, and it would also strengthen the trust that now exists among the tripartite partners - the Government, workers, and employers.
This was because the labour movement, together with the Government, spent the past 20 years urging workers and companies to move towards a flexible wage system in which some components are variable.
Cutting the employers' CPF contribution rate now before trying other cost-saving measures would only break the tripartite trust, he said.
He defended, in particular, the Government decision to draw on past reserves to introduce the $4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme, as a 'strategic' move.
The scheme pays employers 12 per cent of the first $2,500 of each month's wages for each resident worker. This is equivalent to a 9 percentage point CPF cut.
Mr Lim, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, made these comments on Tuesday at a conference for civil servants, in the wake of former permanent secretary Ngiam Tong Dow's criticisms of the decision not to cut CPF in this downturn.
The Government had made the cut in the 1985 recession, a move which he described as 'strategic' in a talk to African policymakers at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and condensed in an article published in this newspaper last Saturday.
By comparison, Jobs Credit was a 'tactical' one to prevent massive unemployment, he said. It simply gave uncompetitive enterprises a short reprieve.
Without referring to Mr Ngiam by name, Mr Lim said: 'There's a school of thought...that CPF cut is a strategic move. Jobs Credit is a tactical move. I disagree.'
- The Strait Times
The latter would achieve more than a CPF cut, he said, and it would also strengthen the trust that now exists among the tripartite partners - the Government, workers, and employers.
This was because the labour movement, together with the Government, spent the past 20 years urging workers and companies to move towards a flexible wage system in which some components are variable.
Cutting the employers' CPF contribution rate now before trying other cost-saving measures would only break the tripartite trust, he said.
He defended, in particular, the Government decision to draw on past reserves to introduce the $4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme, as a 'strategic' move.
The scheme pays employers 12 per cent of the first $2,500 of each month's wages for each resident worker. This is equivalent to a 9 percentage point CPF cut.
Mr Lim, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, made these comments on Tuesday at a conference for civil servants, in the wake of former permanent secretary Ngiam Tong Dow's criticisms of the decision not to cut CPF in this downturn.
The Government had made the cut in the 1985 recession, a move which he described as 'strategic' in a talk to African policymakers at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and condensed in an article published in this newspaper last Saturday.
By comparison, Jobs Credit was a 'tactical' one to prevent massive unemployment, he said. It simply gave uncompetitive enterprises a short reprieve.
Without referring to Mr Ngiam by name, Mr Lim said: 'There's a school of thought...that CPF cut is a strategic move. Jobs Credit is a tactical move. I disagree.'
- The Strait Times
NTUC chief says 12,668 job openings available at E2i
About forty per cent of jobs available at Singapore's Employment and Employability Institute (E2i) are offering salaries of more than S$2,000.
The National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) secretary general, Lim Swee Say, added that these job openings form almost half of the 12,668 jobs openings which some employers had posted at the institute.
Mr Lim was speaking on Tuesday at an organisational learning conference on the challenges NTUC is facing to help workers.
The NTUC chief said the government's decision to introduce the S$4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme is a strategic move.
Firstly, the scheme would help companies implement their flexible wage systems as far as possible. And secondly, the scheme would also help to strengthen the tripartite partnership between the government, employers and unions.
Mr Lim said under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), more job seekers were coming forward to upgrade themselves. In fact, 7,500 had done so at E2i.
Mr Lim added that through the various employability camps, confidence levels of workers to adapt to new jobs improved tremendously.
He said: "While on one hand, we are seeing an increase in retrenchment, but yet at the same time, we are very determined to ensure that retrenchment does not necessarily mean unemployment.
"So our determination is to keep helping these job seekers, retrenched workers to go back for retraining under SPUR, and at the same time through the job matching services provided at E2i, the community development councils and various organisations, to go back to jobs as soon as possible."
The bigger challenge now is to redesign jobs so as to minimise the mismatch of not just skills but also expectations.
Mr Lim said: "What we hope is that as we go through this downturn, we can actually upturn the employment mobility of Singapore’s workers because job openings are there. What we have to overcome is the mismatch between the jobs and job seekers.
"Our biggest challenge today is to overcome and minimise structural unemployment. There are jobs and there are job seekers. How can we bring the two together by minimising the job gap, skills gap and more importantly the mindset and expectations gaps."
The latest sector to address the retraining needs of workers is the logistics sector, which said the collapse in world trade had severely affected transport and storage.
NTUC’s assistant secretary-general, Josephine Teo, said: "The logistics sector is an important contributor to the Singapore economy. It not only supports the global trans-shipment of goods, which is the basis of our port activities, it strengthens Singapore's position as a manufacturing and distribution hub.
"The sector employs 180,000 workers and contributes about nine per cent to the GDP. The recent global financial crisis had dampened business confidence and consumer spending. As a result, international trade had fallen.
"In Singapore, non-oil domestic exports fell sharply by 34.8 per cent in January this year compared to last year. While the news is sobering, we would all be better off if we stay positive, keep our spirits high, and focus our minds on weathering the downturn.
"The government's Resilience Package worth S$20.5 billion had been welcomed by businesses and workers alike. In particular, the Jobs Credit scheme would provide relief to companies which had been hit by lower volumes or revenues, and faced intense pressures to cut cost."
The Singapore Logistics Association is working with NTUC's Learning Hub to come up with programmes to address the training needs of its excess manpower.
- Channel News Asia
The National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) secretary general, Lim Swee Say, added that these job openings form almost half of the 12,668 jobs openings which some employers had posted at the institute.
Mr Lim was speaking on Tuesday at an organisational learning conference on the challenges NTUC is facing to help workers.
The NTUC chief said the government's decision to introduce the S$4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme is a strategic move.
Firstly, the scheme would help companies implement their flexible wage systems as far as possible. And secondly, the scheme would also help to strengthen the tripartite partnership between the government, employers and unions.
Mr Lim said under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), more job seekers were coming forward to upgrade themselves. In fact, 7,500 had done so at E2i.
Mr Lim added that through the various employability camps, confidence levels of workers to adapt to new jobs improved tremendously.
He said: "While on one hand, we are seeing an increase in retrenchment, but yet at the same time, we are very determined to ensure that retrenchment does not necessarily mean unemployment.
"So our determination is to keep helping these job seekers, retrenched workers to go back for retraining under SPUR, and at the same time through the job matching services provided at E2i, the community development councils and various organisations, to go back to jobs as soon as possible."
The bigger challenge now is to redesign jobs so as to minimise the mismatch of not just skills but also expectations.
Mr Lim said: "What we hope is that as we go through this downturn, we can actually upturn the employment mobility of Singapore’s workers because job openings are there. What we have to overcome is the mismatch between the jobs and job seekers.
"Our biggest challenge today is to overcome and minimise structural unemployment. There are jobs and there are job seekers. How can we bring the two together by minimising the job gap, skills gap and more importantly the mindset and expectations gaps."
The latest sector to address the retraining needs of workers is the logistics sector, which said the collapse in world trade had severely affected transport and storage.
NTUC’s assistant secretary-general, Josephine Teo, said: "The logistics sector is an important contributor to the Singapore economy. It not only supports the global trans-shipment of goods, which is the basis of our port activities, it strengthens Singapore's position as a manufacturing and distribution hub.
"The sector employs 180,000 workers and contributes about nine per cent to the GDP. The recent global financial crisis had dampened business confidence and consumer spending. As a result, international trade had fallen.
"In Singapore, non-oil domestic exports fell sharply by 34.8 per cent in January this year compared to last year. While the news is sobering, we would all be better off if we stay positive, keep our spirits high, and focus our minds on weathering the downturn.
"The government's Resilience Package worth S$20.5 billion had been welcomed by businesses and workers alike. In particular, the Jobs Credit scheme would provide relief to companies which had been hit by lower volumes or revenues, and faced intense pressures to cut cost."
The Singapore Logistics Association is working with NTUC's Learning Hub to come up with programmes to address the training needs of its excess manpower.
- Channel News Asia
Retrenched parents get help
SOME 200 retrenched parents will get help from a new financial aid scheme introduced by OCBC Bank and NTUC First Campus on Tuesday.
The OCBC-Bright Horizons Fund (OCBC-BHF) Retrenchment Relief Scheme aims to help those who have lost their jobs to send their children to pre-school.
The scheme is worth $500,000 over two years. OCBC Bank has donated $200,000 to the cause and the Bright Horizons Fund (BHF) will match this with $300,000 over the two years.
Parents who have been retrenched and whose net household income is below $2,200 a month or $600 per capita are eligible to receive aid when they send their children to NTUC First Campus' My First Skool. The scheme will cover three months school fees.
Depending on the child's age, school fees at My First Skool range from $480 to $585 per month.
The scheme was officially launched on Tuesday at My First Skool at Toa Payoh by OCBC Bank Chairman Dr Cheong Choong Kong and Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Chairman of the Fund's Board of Trustees.
'This scheme, very appropriately launched in these difficult times, will ensure that no child at NTUC First Campus will have to stay home because of financial problems,' said Dr Cheong.
Mr Lim pointed out the importance of pre-school education, saying it is 'vital' for children during their foundation years.
'We want to ensure that their learning process continues seamlessly, regardless of the economic situation,' said Mr Lim. 'We started this new scheme because we expect a bigger need for financial assistance for this recession.'
The OCBC-BHF Retrenchment Relief Scheme is on top of the Government's centre-based financial assistance scheme (CFAS) for low-income families.
- The Straits Times
The OCBC-Bright Horizons Fund (OCBC-BHF) Retrenchment Relief Scheme aims to help those who have lost their jobs to send their children to pre-school.
The scheme is worth $500,000 over two years. OCBC Bank has donated $200,000 to the cause and the Bright Horizons Fund (BHF) will match this with $300,000 over the two years.
Parents who have been retrenched and whose net household income is below $2,200 a month or $600 per capita are eligible to receive aid when they send their children to NTUC First Campus' My First Skool. The scheme will cover three months school fees.
Depending on the child's age, school fees at My First Skool range from $480 to $585 per month.
The scheme was officially launched on Tuesday at My First Skool at Toa Payoh by OCBC Bank Chairman Dr Cheong Choong Kong and Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Chairman of the Fund's Board of Trustees.
'This scheme, very appropriately launched in these difficult times, will ensure that no child at NTUC First Campus will have to stay home because of financial problems,' said Dr Cheong.
Mr Lim pointed out the importance of pre-school education, saying it is 'vital' for children during their foundation years.
'We want to ensure that their learning process continues seamlessly, regardless of the economic situation,' said Mr Lim. 'We started this new scheme because we expect a bigger need for financial assistance for this recession.'
The OCBC-BHF Retrenchment Relief Scheme is on top of the Government's centre-based financial assistance scheme (CFAS) for low-income families.
- The Straits Times
10,000 to lose jobs in Q1
MORE than 10,000 workers are likely to be laid off in the first three months of this year, said labour chief Lim Swee Say who gave an early estimate of retrenchment numbers on Tuesday.
It is an increase from 7,000 layoffs in the previous quarter, but analysts believe the final figures for January to March could be higher.
'We cannot stop retrenchment from going up,' Mr Lim told some 800 civil servants at a conference on organisational learning. "But we die die, must try our best to help every one of these retrenched workers to go back to the job market again to learn new skills, to take on a new job.'
This is the first time that official projections for first quarter retrenchment figures for both the unionised and non-unionised sectors are made public.
In a CNBC interview aired last Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the unions will see nearly 5,000 layoffs in this period.
Referring to the 5,000 figure, Mr Lim said: 'If you multiply that to include the whole non-unionised sector, the number would easily exceed 10,000 for the first quarter.'
This means retrenchment figures for the first three months will surpass the usual average of 10,000 layoffs in a year, signalling the extent of the impact caused by the global financial crisis. Official first quarter retrenchment figures from the Manpower Ministry will be released only in late April.
Analysts interviewed said job losses could be much higher than 10,000 if early termination of part-timers and contract workers are included. Employers prematurely terminated the contracts of 1,500 workers in the previous quarter, on top of laying off 7,000 workers.
But Mr Lim also assured Singaporeans that there are jobs available.
He said the Employment and Employability Institute has a list of 12,700 job openings, from sectors across the board such as in services, pharmaceuticals and the public sector. About four in ten of these jobs pay more than $2,000 a month.
'Jobs are still being created, demand is still there. What we have to do is to keep narrowing this gap in terms of skills, mindset and expectations between the jobs and job seekers,' he said.
- The Straits Times
It is an increase from 7,000 layoffs in the previous quarter, but analysts believe the final figures for January to March could be higher.
'We cannot stop retrenchment from going up,' Mr Lim told some 800 civil servants at a conference on organisational learning. "But we die die, must try our best to help every one of these retrenched workers to go back to the job market again to learn new skills, to take on a new job.'
This is the first time that official projections for first quarter retrenchment figures for both the unionised and non-unionised sectors are made public.
In a CNBC interview aired last Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the unions will see nearly 5,000 layoffs in this period.
Referring to the 5,000 figure, Mr Lim said: 'If you multiply that to include the whole non-unionised sector, the number would easily exceed 10,000 for the first quarter.'
This means retrenchment figures for the first three months will surpass the usual average of 10,000 layoffs in a year, signalling the extent of the impact caused by the global financial crisis. Official first quarter retrenchment figures from the Manpower Ministry will be released only in late April.
Analysts interviewed said job losses could be much higher than 10,000 if early termination of part-timers and contract workers are included. Employers prematurely terminated the contracts of 1,500 workers in the previous quarter, on top of laying off 7,000 workers.
But Mr Lim also assured Singaporeans that there are jobs available.
He said the Employment and Employability Institute has a list of 12,700 job openings, from sectors across the board such as in services, pharmaceuticals and the public sector. About four in ten of these jobs pay more than $2,000 a month.
'Jobs are still being created, demand is still there. What we have to do is to keep narrowing this gap in terms of skills, mindset and expectations between the jobs and job seekers,' he said.
- The Straits Times
Mar 2, 2009
Workers, employers urged to have sense of balance when dealing with retrenchments
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged workers and employers to have a sense of balance when dealing with retrenchment forecasts during these difficult economic times.
He added that despite the gloom, Singapore is not in a bad position.
Mr Lee made the statements during his interview with the Singapore media at the end of the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin on Sunday.
There have been several reports recently of retrenchment forecasts in Singapore this year, with the latest being from DBS Bank which put the figure at 99,000.
This prompted some ministers to emphasise the need to be focused and not be overwhelmed by the numbers.
Mr lee said: "Everyday we see bad news, another 50 here, another 100 there, and such and such job cuts. After a while, even if you were not depressed, we become depressed.
"There are things happening which are positive, there are things which will turn good in time, there are things in the pipeline - the IR (integrated resort) is coming along, two IRs are both coming along.
"Every time I drive past the Marina, I watch to see whether another level has come up or not and it has nearly reached the top now."
Mr Lee stressed Singapore has the resources and has done the right things with this year's Budget.
He said: "I know people say 'why didn't you help the households more directly'. But the right way to help people now is not to give them vouchers or coupons to spend, but to help them keep their jobs.
"And this is where the emphasis of the Budget was, and that is something which we have to explain to the people and help them to understand."
On investments by the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore, Mr Lee said they are long term in nature. In bad years, there would be shrinkage, but overall they have performed well.
He said: "If you jump up and down and you want to break even and make money every quarter, you will not be able to have a sensible policy. You will end up not protecting your value, you cannot discuss Citigroup as Citigroup.
"We have to look at the whole portfolio and overall... performance - some ups and some downs, some good years, some bad years and overall over 20 years, it has done well."
Mr Lee said how soon Singapore will recover from this downturn will depend on the world.
What is important now is for the country to remain stable and emerge as a strong economy when the recovery comes.
- Channel News Asia
He added that despite the gloom, Singapore is not in a bad position.
Mr Lee made the statements during his interview with the Singapore media at the end of the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin on Sunday.
There have been several reports recently of retrenchment forecasts in Singapore this year, with the latest being from DBS Bank which put the figure at 99,000.
This prompted some ministers to emphasise the need to be focused and not be overwhelmed by the numbers.
Mr lee said: "Everyday we see bad news, another 50 here, another 100 there, and such and such job cuts. After a while, even if you were not depressed, we become depressed.
"There are things happening which are positive, there are things which will turn good in time, there are things in the pipeline - the IR (integrated resort) is coming along, two IRs are both coming along.
"Every time I drive past the Marina, I watch to see whether another level has come up or not and it has nearly reached the top now."
Mr Lee stressed Singapore has the resources and has done the right things with this year's Budget.
He said: "I know people say 'why didn't you help the households more directly'. But the right way to help people now is not to give them vouchers or coupons to spend, but to help them keep their jobs.
"And this is where the emphasis of the Budget was, and that is something which we have to explain to the people and help them to understand."
On investments by the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore, Mr Lee said they are long term in nature. In bad years, there would be shrinkage, but overall they have performed well.
He said: "If you jump up and down and you want to break even and make money every quarter, you will not be able to have a sensible policy. You will end up not protecting your value, you cannot discuss Citigroup as Citigroup.
"We have to look at the whole portfolio and overall... performance - some ups and some downs, some good years, some bad years and overall over 20 years, it has done well."
Mr Lee said how soon Singapore will recover from this downturn will depend on the world.
What is important now is for the country to remain stable and emerge as a strong economy when the recovery comes.
- Channel News Asia
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