Singapore's labour movement said tackling the issue of under-employed workers will be a big challenge in the coming year.
It said under-employment is becoming more pertinent among older Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians also known as (PMETs).
And efforts must be put in place to help them get jobs suited to their skills and qualifications.
PMETs were the hardest hit during the economic downturn. Many, like those in the financial sector, were left jobless and the labour movement said they had to settle for whatever job they could get to make ends meet.
But while this brings down unemployment levels, the issue of under-employment has been on the uptrend.
Halimah Yacob, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC, said: "He may be very qualified, very skilled, but the jobs that he wants to do and is willing to do is not available. H
“He ends up doing a job that does not make full capacity, productive use of his capabilities. It also involves the case where jobs are not paying them the kind of salary or earning that they feel is commensurate with their qualifications and skills."
Madam Halimah said she's seen many cases where middle-aged degree-holders who lost jobs during the downturn become taxi drivers.
She said such under-employment is unavoidable as with slow economic growth, job opportunities are limited.
But as the economy recovers, the labour movement will offer targeted help to under-employed workers.
Mdm Halimah said: "We recognise that the person cannot remain underemployed in perpetuity because that is going to be very frustrating and demoralising. That is where we then need to focus help to help him to transit so that he can make better use of his skills and capabilities to move to other sectors and to retrain them and move to other sectors that require their skills and qualifications.
“Of course it may not be easy because some of them may be working in one sector for so many years. So a re-tuning is needed to acquire other skills to move to other sectors."
The labour movement will work on job-matching assistance and training courses and Madam Halimah said workers must also actively find out more about job opportunities relevant to them.
- Channel News Asia
Dec 29, 2009
Hotel staff lured by thrill of IRs
A mini exodus of sorts is taking place in the hospitality industry as experienced staff quit to take up positions in the two upcoming integrated resorts (IRs).
It is understood that five front-end service staff from a boutique hotel in the Central Business District resigned in one day to take up jobs at either Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World Sentosa.
The Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Havelock Road said it has had about 10 operational staff leave for the IRs.
A spokesman said this was a low number compared with other hotels. She added that the hotel has since found replacements.
A spokesman for The Fullerton Hotel Singapore said several of its staff joined the IRs but the vacated positions were quickly filled.
Many hotels The Sunday Times contacted did not want to comment on this issue, but those in the human resource industry said the movements have been significant.
Mr Josh Goh, assistant director of corporate services of The GMP Group, said hospitality and wellness industry staff, particularly those who are experienced, have been poached by the IRs or by other hotels.
Mr Edmund Seng, managing partner of human resource company HRM3, said his company has seen more hotel clients asking for help to fill vacancies this year.
'Not only will the IRs need people with hotel experience, they'll need people with start-up experience. It's natural that they'll turn to the hotel industry for labour,' he said.
Ms Shirley Chua, manager of Adecco's events and exhibitions division, said many job-seekers do not even talk about the money when applying for positions in the IRs.
'What they are interested in is being part of such a significant project and to be part of the pioneering team that shapes the future of IRs in Singapore,' she said.
Mr Robin Goh, assistant director of communications for Resorts World Sentosa, said the resort has staff from a wide variety of industries, including tourism, entertainment, hospitality, retail, fashion and food and beverage.
A Marina Bay Sands spokesman said that although experience helps in most rank-and-file positions, more important are a good attitude, the passion to serve, enthusiasm and integrity.
He added: 'We are reaching out to a wide pool of candidates, including fresh graduates from tertiary institutions, job applicants who are crossing over from other service-related sectors, as well as existing hospitality staff.'
Some hotels are taking measures to retain their staff.
Mr Leslie Chua, the manager of boutique hotel Berjaya Singapore in Duxton Road which has only 21 employees, said he has offered an annual increment and a year-end bonus despite the weak economy.
'I'd rather reward them and keep them with us,' he said. 'I keep a good relationship with my staff to give them a sense of belonging and teamwork.'
- The Straits Times
It is understood that five front-end service staff from a boutique hotel in the Central Business District resigned in one day to take up jobs at either Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World Sentosa.
The Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Havelock Road said it has had about 10 operational staff leave for the IRs.
A spokesman said this was a low number compared with other hotels. She added that the hotel has since found replacements.
A spokesman for The Fullerton Hotel Singapore said several of its staff joined the IRs but the vacated positions were quickly filled.
Many hotels The Sunday Times contacted did not want to comment on this issue, but those in the human resource industry said the movements have been significant.
Mr Josh Goh, assistant director of corporate services of The GMP Group, said hospitality and wellness industry staff, particularly those who are experienced, have been poached by the IRs or by other hotels.
Mr Edmund Seng, managing partner of human resource company HRM3, said his company has seen more hotel clients asking for help to fill vacancies this year.
'Not only will the IRs need people with hotel experience, they'll need people with start-up experience. It's natural that they'll turn to the hotel industry for labour,' he said.
Ms Shirley Chua, manager of Adecco's events and exhibitions division, said many job-seekers do not even talk about the money when applying for positions in the IRs.
'What they are interested in is being part of such a significant project and to be part of the pioneering team that shapes the future of IRs in Singapore,' she said.
Mr Robin Goh, assistant director of communications for Resorts World Sentosa, said the resort has staff from a wide variety of industries, including tourism, entertainment, hospitality, retail, fashion and food and beverage.
A Marina Bay Sands spokesman said that although experience helps in most rank-and-file positions, more important are a good attitude, the passion to serve, enthusiasm and integrity.
He added: 'We are reaching out to a wide pool of candidates, including fresh graduates from tertiary institutions, job applicants who are crossing over from other service-related sectors, as well as existing hospitality staff.'
Some hotels are taking measures to retain their staff.
Mr Leslie Chua, the manager of boutique hotel Berjaya Singapore in Duxton Road which has only 21 employees, said he has offered an annual increment and a year-end bonus despite the weak economy.
'I'd rather reward them and keep them with us,' he said. 'I keep a good relationship with my staff to give them a sense of belonging and teamwork.'
- The Straits Times
Wanted: Women, older workers
THE labour movement will focus on roping in more women and older workers to increase the size of the workforce next year, said labour chief Lim Swee Say.
The movement also aims to increase productivity by helping companies to improve their processes, he added.
These actions will help the workforce take advantage of an upturn next year, he said.
He was outlining next year's plans and summing up the labour movement's efforts in the past year yesterday.
The movement has been successful at staving off record retrenchment and unemployment this year, he said.
Mr Lim, who is the secretary general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), added that after a year of defensive play on the job front, the new year will mark the beginning of an offensive campaign.
This means that the tripartite partners - comprising the Government, employers and unions - will strive to build a 'cheaper, better and faster' economy, by helping companies improve their productivity rates, capabilities and flexibility.
NTUC wants to nurse employment levels here back to a full-employment rate - where fewer than 3 per cent of working adults are jobless.
It also wants to go beyond that by encouraging a large pool of people, who are not in the job market currently, to re-enter or join the workforce.
The way to do so would be by re-training them, rather than by creating new jobs, said Mr Lim.
'We hope that re-employment in Singapore can be further increased, structural employment can be further reduced and, more importantly, under-employment among the middle-aged PMETs (professional, managers, executives and technicians) can be further avoided, through retraining and reskilling,' he said.
The number of these potential job entrants stands at an estimated 162,400, Mr Lim said.
About a third of them are first-timers to the job market; the remaining 116,000 have some job experience. Among them are 19,800 degree-holding women.
'Many of them are very employable, so the challenge lies in how we reach out to them and match them (to jobs),' Mr Lim said.
The Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), NTUC's one-stop job-matching and training centre, will step up efforts to train and match jobs to this group, he added.
The unemployment rate for the third quarter of this year is 5 per cent. About 20,000 people were retrenched this year, of whom about 95 per cent were from the manufacturing sector.
But despite a steeper drop in gross domestic product this year, significantly fewer workers were retrenched compared to the previous two downturns in 1998 and 2001, NTUC and e2i pointed out yesterday.
Up to last month, e2i has helped find jobs for 16,000 jobseekers. This comes up to three in five of its trainees, the same rate as last year.
Another 8,000 have been trained or are undergoing training, but are still jobless; the remaining 3,000 sought help from other agencies later.
e2i also helped 180 companies upgrade the skills of 33,000 workers through the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience.
NTUC has done well against the international benchmark, largely because of its strengthened tripartism ties during the crisis, said its deputy secretary- general, Madam Halimah Yacob, citing an International Labour Organisation report.
- mypaper
The movement also aims to increase productivity by helping companies to improve their processes, he added.
These actions will help the workforce take advantage of an upturn next year, he said.
He was outlining next year's plans and summing up the labour movement's efforts in the past year yesterday.
The movement has been successful at staving off record retrenchment and unemployment this year, he said.
Mr Lim, who is the secretary general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), added that after a year of defensive play on the job front, the new year will mark the beginning of an offensive campaign.
This means that the tripartite partners - comprising the Government, employers and unions - will strive to build a 'cheaper, better and faster' economy, by helping companies improve their productivity rates, capabilities and flexibility.
NTUC wants to nurse employment levels here back to a full-employment rate - where fewer than 3 per cent of working adults are jobless.
It also wants to go beyond that by encouraging a large pool of people, who are not in the job market currently, to re-enter or join the workforce.
The way to do so would be by re-training them, rather than by creating new jobs, said Mr Lim.
'We hope that re-employment in Singapore can be further increased, structural employment can be further reduced and, more importantly, under-employment among the middle-aged PMETs (professional, managers, executives and technicians) can be further avoided, through retraining and reskilling,' he said.
The number of these potential job entrants stands at an estimated 162,400, Mr Lim said.
About a third of them are first-timers to the job market; the remaining 116,000 have some job experience. Among them are 19,800 degree-holding women.
'Many of them are very employable, so the challenge lies in how we reach out to them and match them (to jobs),' Mr Lim said.
The Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), NTUC's one-stop job-matching and training centre, will step up efforts to train and match jobs to this group, he added.
The unemployment rate for the third quarter of this year is 5 per cent. About 20,000 people were retrenched this year, of whom about 95 per cent were from the manufacturing sector.
But despite a steeper drop in gross domestic product this year, significantly fewer workers were retrenched compared to the previous two downturns in 1998 and 2001, NTUC and e2i pointed out yesterday.
Up to last month, e2i has helped find jobs for 16,000 jobseekers. This comes up to three in five of its trainees, the same rate as last year.
Another 8,000 have been trained or are undergoing training, but are still jobless; the remaining 3,000 sought help from other agencies later.
e2i also helped 180 companies upgrade the skills of 33,000 workers through the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience.
NTUC has done well against the international benchmark, largely because of its strengthened tripartism ties during the crisis, said its deputy secretary- general, Madam Halimah Yacob, citing an International Labour Organisation report.
- mypaper
Dec 27, 2009
More openings in financial services sector in Q3
Job vacancies in the financial services sector soared to 1,100 by the end of September - the highest so far this year and only 100 places shy of the September 2008 figure.
Hiring sentiment in the sector continued to improve in the third quarter, as in the overall labour market, according to the preliminary report released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday that breaks down job vacancies by industry.
Job vacancies at banks and other financial institutions worst hit by last year's global financial crisis fell to a low of 600 at the end of Q1. But an accelerating recovery in hiring saw the number of openings rise to 800 by June and 1,100 by the end of Q3.
The posts most actively recruited for in the financial sector are bank officers, financial analysts and administrative analysts, the statistics show. And the sector's job vacancy rate - the number of vacancies as a proportion of total employee demand - was 1.1 per cent in September, which compares to 1.3 per cent in September 2008, before the worst of the financial crisis struck.
Although hiring sentiment and job vacancies are improving, actual labour market recovery tends to lag that of the wider economy.
The Q3 labour market survey released this month showed a slight rise in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters.
Among residents, the Q3 unemployment rate hit a five-year high of 5 per cent.
For job-seekers, the good news is that, as at September, the number of available jobs had risen to 34,900. Of these, 25,900 spots came from the services sector. Manufacturing job vacancies also rose - to 5,600 from 3,900 in June and a low of 1,900 in March.
The ratio of job vacancies to the number of unemployed also rose in Q3 to 0.52, from about 0.3 in the first two quarters. But this was still some way off from September 2008's 0.8 ratio.
Hotels and restaurants posted a significant jump in vacancies to 3,000 by September from 1,300 in June, surpassing the 2,700 jobs on offer in September 2008.
Reflecting the government's move to raise its teacher recruitment target and campaign to recruit mid-career professionals into teaching this year, there were 2,760 teaching vacancies at end-September - the largest number for any single occupation.
The report also showed there were 1,390 openings for private security guards - the occupation with the second largest number of vacancies.
The government has been promoting the availability of jobs in that sector too, customising a Spur-Jobs scheme to improve working conditions and professionalise the security industry.
More private security posts are expected to need filling in coming years as malls, the integrated resorts (IRs) and the Youth Olympic Games are rolled out.
These developments, along with recovering consumer sentiment, are also reflected in the large number of vacancies for shop sales assistants and waiters - at more than 1,000 each.
- The Business Times
Hiring sentiment in the sector continued to improve in the third quarter, as in the overall labour market, according to the preliminary report released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday that breaks down job vacancies by industry.
Job vacancies at banks and other financial institutions worst hit by last year's global financial crisis fell to a low of 600 at the end of Q1. But an accelerating recovery in hiring saw the number of openings rise to 800 by June and 1,100 by the end of Q3.
The posts most actively recruited for in the financial sector are bank officers, financial analysts and administrative analysts, the statistics show. And the sector's job vacancy rate - the number of vacancies as a proportion of total employee demand - was 1.1 per cent in September, which compares to 1.3 per cent in September 2008, before the worst of the financial crisis struck.
Although hiring sentiment and job vacancies are improving, actual labour market recovery tends to lag that of the wider economy.
The Q3 labour market survey released this month showed a slight rise in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters.
Among residents, the Q3 unemployment rate hit a five-year high of 5 per cent.
For job-seekers, the good news is that, as at September, the number of available jobs had risen to 34,900. Of these, 25,900 spots came from the services sector. Manufacturing job vacancies also rose - to 5,600 from 3,900 in June and a low of 1,900 in March.
The ratio of job vacancies to the number of unemployed also rose in Q3 to 0.52, from about 0.3 in the first two quarters. But this was still some way off from September 2008's 0.8 ratio.
Hotels and restaurants posted a significant jump in vacancies to 3,000 by September from 1,300 in June, surpassing the 2,700 jobs on offer in September 2008.
Reflecting the government's move to raise its teacher recruitment target and campaign to recruit mid-career professionals into teaching this year, there were 2,760 teaching vacancies at end-September - the largest number for any single occupation.
The report also showed there were 1,390 openings for private security guards - the occupation with the second largest number of vacancies.
The government has been promoting the availability of jobs in that sector too, customising a Spur-Jobs scheme to improve working conditions and professionalise the security industry.
More private security posts are expected to need filling in coming years as malls, the integrated resorts (IRs) and the Youth Olympic Games are rolled out.
These developments, along with recovering consumer sentiment, are also reflected in the large number of vacancies for shop sales assistants and waiters - at more than 1,000 each.
- The Business Times
Dec 23, 2009
MOM figures show hiring demand up, with services leading the way
Latest figures from the Manpower Ministry showed that hiring is definitely on an upward trend.
Taking the lead was the service industries, with 26,000 openings in the third quarter. That is 30 per cent higher compared to the previous three months.
With the integrated resorts opening next year and new malls popping up on Orchard Road, demand for retail and hospitality staff is high.
As of September, there were 1,200 openings for shop assistants and close to 1,400 vacancies for waiters and cooks.
Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, Kelly Services, said: "Because of the festive seasons that we have right now - for Christmas and Chinese New Year - we see a lot of contract work coming on for the retail space. This will adjust itself after Chinese New Year."
The construction industry is also in need of close to 3,000 workers, including 780 labourers.
Construction and retail sales are two areas that normally have difficulty attracting Singaporeans. Recruiters said the impact of the recession has softened the resistance some Singaporeans have against retail jobs. But whether this will hold up as the economy continues to improve remains a big question mark.
Hiring in the financial services sector has also been picking up pace and recruiters are seeing "significant" recovery across sales, risk management and IT positions within the sector.
Roger Olofsson, associate director, Information Technology, Robert Walters, said: "A lot of organisations are getting headcounts approved and gearing up with sentiments and confidence for the new year. And they want to be up to staff levels that they potentially had in place before the crisis happened."
"We're actually seeing Q4 at the moment. It's busier this year than any Q4 we've experienced so far in the last 10, 11 years that we've operated in that market."
And with the government ramping up hiring of teachers and early childhood educators, there are 2,750 openings for teaching professionals. Of these, 2,320 openings require at least a polytechnic diploma.
Openings in the manufacturing sector also point to a steady recovery. As of September, there were 5,600 positions available, up from nearly 3,900 as of June.
- Channel NewsAsia
Taking the lead was the service industries, with 26,000 openings in the third quarter. That is 30 per cent higher compared to the previous three months.
With the integrated resorts opening next year and new malls popping up on Orchard Road, demand for retail and hospitality staff is high.
As of September, there were 1,200 openings for shop assistants and close to 1,400 vacancies for waiters and cooks.
Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, Kelly Services, said: "Because of the festive seasons that we have right now - for Christmas and Chinese New Year - we see a lot of contract work coming on for the retail space. This will adjust itself after Chinese New Year."
The construction industry is also in need of close to 3,000 workers, including 780 labourers.
Construction and retail sales are two areas that normally have difficulty attracting Singaporeans. Recruiters said the impact of the recession has softened the resistance some Singaporeans have against retail jobs. But whether this will hold up as the economy continues to improve remains a big question mark.
Hiring in the financial services sector has also been picking up pace and recruiters are seeing "significant" recovery across sales, risk management and IT positions within the sector.
Roger Olofsson, associate director, Information Technology, Robert Walters, said: "A lot of organisations are getting headcounts approved and gearing up with sentiments and confidence for the new year. And they want to be up to staff levels that they potentially had in place before the crisis happened."
"We're actually seeing Q4 at the moment. It's busier this year than any Q4 we've experienced so far in the last 10, 11 years that we've operated in that market."
And with the government ramping up hiring of teachers and early childhood educators, there are 2,750 openings for teaching professionals. Of these, 2,320 openings require at least a polytechnic diploma.
Openings in the manufacturing sector also point to a steady recovery. As of September, there were 5,600 positions available, up from nearly 3,900 as of June.
- Channel NewsAsia
Dec 22, 2009
'Recovery will take a while'
Even though the Republic's economy is on the mend, it would be a while before employment picks up again, according to Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Speaking to MediaCorp on the labour market outlook next year, Mr Gan said many employers had retained "excess workers" during the recession because of the various Government measures, including the Jobs Credit Scheme.
Said Mr Gan: "Many of these employers will tap on the excess manpower and capacity that they have before they start to expand and recruit new workers."
Moreover, employment opportunities typically lag behind economic recovery. "Over the next 12 months, we expect the employment market to remain more or less stable, but we do not see a massive recovery of the employment market," said Mr Gan.
He reiterated the importance of retraining affected workers "as it will take some time for them to get back to the job market" - many of the post-economic recovery job opportunities would require new skill sets.
Apart from retraining, workers' expectations also need to be adjusted. Despite having about 20,000 jobs "immediately available" on the database for 14,000 job-seekers, not all the workers could be matched to a job.
Said Mr Gan: "We have done much better in this recession than in the previous one because we have paid a lot of attention to helping the workers prepare themselves for employment rather than just simply job matching."
On their part, the tripartite partners - namely the unions, employers and the Government - were "already looking beyond Jobs Credit ... (to) asking ourselves how we can be cheaper, better and faster", said labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Said Mr Lim: "Being cheaper means enhancing our productivity so that every piece of equipment and worker can produce more output, so that we can reduce the costs of doing business and enhance our competitiveness."
More than just raising workers' productivity, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa called for a more resilient economy which practises "smart growth" by being "careful where our bottlenecks and constraints are ... (and) play on our niches".
"I have spoken to many business people and they have told me that they prefer to have a more steady growth... Excessive volatility tends to attract a risk premium to the business and thereby increasing overall costs," said Mr Liang, who is the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Finance and Trade and Industry).
- TODAY newspaper
Speaking to MediaCorp on the labour market outlook next year, Mr Gan said many employers had retained "excess workers" during the recession because of the various Government measures, including the Jobs Credit Scheme.
Said Mr Gan: "Many of these employers will tap on the excess manpower and capacity that they have before they start to expand and recruit new workers."
Moreover, employment opportunities typically lag behind economic recovery. "Over the next 12 months, we expect the employment market to remain more or less stable, but we do not see a massive recovery of the employment market," said Mr Gan.
He reiterated the importance of retraining affected workers "as it will take some time for them to get back to the job market" - many of the post-economic recovery job opportunities would require new skill sets.
Apart from retraining, workers' expectations also need to be adjusted. Despite having about 20,000 jobs "immediately available" on the database for 14,000 job-seekers, not all the workers could be matched to a job.
Said Mr Gan: "We have done much better in this recession than in the previous one because we have paid a lot of attention to helping the workers prepare themselves for employment rather than just simply job matching."
On their part, the tripartite partners - namely the unions, employers and the Government - were "already looking beyond Jobs Credit ... (to) asking ourselves how we can be cheaper, better and faster", said labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Said Mr Lim: "Being cheaper means enhancing our productivity so that every piece of equipment and worker can produce more output, so that we can reduce the costs of doing business and enhance our competitiveness."
More than just raising workers' productivity, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa called for a more resilient economy which practises "smart growth" by being "careful where our bottlenecks and constraints are ... (and) play on our niches".
"I have spoken to many business people and they have told me that they prefer to have a more steady growth... Excessive volatility tends to attract a risk premium to the business and thereby increasing overall costs," said Mr Liang, who is the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Finance and Trade and Industry).
- TODAY newspaper
42,000 workers have found jobs after Spur training
A year after the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) was launched, more than 260,000 workers have come on board. Of these, about one-third have been trained.
Giving an update on the initiative - launched in response to the onset of the recession - Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told MediaCorp that out of the retrained workers, who were mainly from the hotel, food and beverage, and retail sectors, 42,000 have found jobs.
The programme, which will run until December next year, was well-received by small and medium enterprises.
Some 80 per cent of the 4,000 companies that have tapped on Spur employ fewer than 200 workers.
So far, $350 million or half of the Spur budget have been committed to help companies retrain workers.
Still, Mr Gan was concerned that the economic recovery meant some companies were scaling back on training.
The number of workers signing up had fallen from 30,000 in July to 20,000 in November - "partly because the economy is recovering and some companies need their workers on their shop floor", said Mr Gan, who stressed that it was not the time to "slow down on training".
- TODAY newspaper
Giving an update on the initiative - launched in response to the onset of the recession - Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told MediaCorp that out of the retrained workers, who were mainly from the hotel, food and beverage, and retail sectors, 42,000 have found jobs.
The programme, which will run until December next year, was well-received by small and medium enterprises.
Some 80 per cent of the 4,000 companies that have tapped on Spur employ fewer than 200 workers.
So far, $350 million or half of the Spur budget have been committed to help companies retrain workers.
Still, Mr Gan was concerned that the economic recovery meant some companies were scaling back on training.
The number of workers signing up had fallen from 30,000 in July to 20,000 in November - "partly because the economy is recovering and some companies need their workers on their shop floor", said Mr Gan, who stressed that it was not the time to "slow down on training".
- TODAY newspaper
Why you should embrace that contract
For many workers the data may be unnerving. Instead of an increase in permanent employment, what's actually rising is contract employment.
The latest Singapore Workforce report from the Ministry of Manpower showed that nearly 13 per cent of resident employees are on term contracts. On top of this, the percentage of part-timers in the resident workforce rose from 6.8 per cent last year to 8.4 per cent this year. With such a high proportion of employees currently in contract and part-time positions - and with the percentages rising - the very nature of employment has changed substantially.
Comments by staffing firms seem to bear out this trend. With companies looking to employ more flexible workforces, "contracting is fast becoming a popular staffing solution in Singapore", according to recruitment firm Robert Walters. Similarly, staffing company Kelly Services notes that "demand for temporary and contract workers continues to rise as flexible working becomes a way of life in many companies".
For many in Singapore, this increase in contract and part-time work may come as a surprise. For years, living the good life has meant a permanent position in a large company. Even though many workers plan to change jobs every couple of years, and even though redundancies increased among supposedly permanent employees this past year, many workers still prefer - and assume they'll have - what is called a permanent position.
Some see the insurance, vacation and healthcare benefits for permanent employees as the real advantage, while others worry about being the first person to be laid off should hard times hit after they take up a contract position.
Yet the reality is that the job market is changing and more companies are hiring more contract staff. Some companies hire contract workers to increase flexibility; others need specialised staff for fixed periods; and still others hire contract staff to get around headcount freezes. For many it's part of a longer-term strategy rather than just a result of the economic downturn, and the trend seems likely to continue even as the economy improves.
Many employees view the changes with trepidation. Yet there can be big upsides to contract work, too, and workers who embrace the change can be at the head of the pack.
Even as it sees the shift happening, Kelly Services, for example, says that "temporary staff are becoming an integral part of business and the best can expect rich rewards". At higher levels there are changes too. Says Robert Walters: "We also anticipate that more professionals will become open to contract roles as the perceived job security of permanent roles lessens."
While some people may feel less secure if they accept a contract position, workers who take advantage of the shift - especially early in their working life, but sometimes later as well - may actually benefit in the long run. Some contract staff have found that they can get better experience, more flexibility, more control over their career, longer breaks and even higher pay in a contract position.
As one person interviewed by ZDNet said about having done IT-related contract work for several years: "At the end of day, I am better off than others. I know systems better than others. People working in one place for ages don't know what's out there."
R Ravindran of the Singapore Institute of Management found virtually the same thing - that contract work "provides opportunity to experience many different industries and many different corporate cultures" - and said as much in an article as far back as 2005. Further, he said, "contract positions tend to pay better than similar permanent positions".
And as Andrea Ross from Robert Walters put it: "Professionals on contract can get back into the workplace much more quickly. Candidates are also attracted by the opportunity to broaden their experience by working in different functions across a business."
While taking a contract position may at first seem risky, the actual results can be better than expected. More experience, more flexibility and higher pay can be quite positive. Very importantly, though, accepting contract work will require a change in how we view jobs.
For those who are open-minded and embrace the change, the upsides of the trend toward contracts can bring great benefits.
- TODAY newspaper
The latest Singapore Workforce report from the Ministry of Manpower showed that nearly 13 per cent of resident employees are on term contracts. On top of this, the percentage of part-timers in the resident workforce rose from 6.8 per cent last year to 8.4 per cent this year. With such a high proportion of employees currently in contract and part-time positions - and with the percentages rising - the very nature of employment has changed substantially.
Comments by staffing firms seem to bear out this trend. With companies looking to employ more flexible workforces, "contracting is fast becoming a popular staffing solution in Singapore", according to recruitment firm Robert Walters. Similarly, staffing company Kelly Services notes that "demand for temporary and contract workers continues to rise as flexible working becomes a way of life in many companies".
For many in Singapore, this increase in contract and part-time work may come as a surprise. For years, living the good life has meant a permanent position in a large company. Even though many workers plan to change jobs every couple of years, and even though redundancies increased among supposedly permanent employees this past year, many workers still prefer - and assume they'll have - what is called a permanent position.
Some see the insurance, vacation and healthcare benefits for permanent employees as the real advantage, while others worry about being the first person to be laid off should hard times hit after they take up a contract position.
Yet the reality is that the job market is changing and more companies are hiring more contract staff. Some companies hire contract workers to increase flexibility; others need specialised staff for fixed periods; and still others hire contract staff to get around headcount freezes. For many it's part of a longer-term strategy rather than just a result of the economic downturn, and the trend seems likely to continue even as the economy improves.
Many employees view the changes with trepidation. Yet there can be big upsides to contract work, too, and workers who embrace the change can be at the head of the pack.
Even as it sees the shift happening, Kelly Services, for example, says that "temporary staff are becoming an integral part of business and the best can expect rich rewards". At higher levels there are changes too. Says Robert Walters: "We also anticipate that more professionals will become open to contract roles as the perceived job security of permanent roles lessens."
While some people may feel less secure if they accept a contract position, workers who take advantage of the shift - especially early in their working life, but sometimes later as well - may actually benefit in the long run. Some contract staff have found that they can get better experience, more flexibility, more control over their career, longer breaks and even higher pay in a contract position.
As one person interviewed by ZDNet said about having done IT-related contract work for several years: "At the end of day, I am better off than others. I know systems better than others. People working in one place for ages don't know what's out there."
R Ravindran of the Singapore Institute of Management found virtually the same thing - that contract work "provides opportunity to experience many different industries and many different corporate cultures" - and said as much in an article as far back as 2005. Further, he said, "contract positions tend to pay better than similar permanent positions".
And as Andrea Ross from Robert Walters put it: "Professionals on contract can get back into the workplace much more quickly. Candidates are also attracted by the opportunity to broaden their experience by working in different functions across a business."
While taking a contract position may at first seem risky, the actual results can be better than expected. More experience, more flexibility and higher pay can be quite positive. Very importantly, though, accepting contract work will require a change in how we view jobs.
For those who are open-minded and embrace the change, the upsides of the trend toward contracts can bring great benefits.
- TODAY newspaper
Dec 21, 2009
Some Sands job seekers in a quandary
THEY were hired in July to work at the Marina Bay Sands casino. But the year is ending and some recruits have yet to be trained for their jobs as dealers and croupiers.
A few are jobless as well - they quit their previous jobs expecting the casino training to start in October. They say they were told by Sands to leave their jobs and be ready to be called up for training.
The training was to last three months, during which they would be paid. The basic pay for a trainee dealer is $1,500 a month; the pay is $1,800 for those working full-time.
At least 20 employees are grousing online about being left in the lurch. The Straits Times spoke to seven, who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising their jobs.
They admitted that their letters of appointment had not specified a starting date, but all claimed they had been told verbally that training was likely to begin in October.
A man in his 30s, hired as a dealer, said: 'I was told to send in my resignation early if I needed to serve three months' notice.'
But since stopping work in September, he is still waiting for the call to start training. He is living on his savings.
In the same boat is a 23-year-old who graduated from university in April. She said: 'I cannot even take up proper part-time work as I don't dare to commit to the minimum two or three months required.'
The lack of word from their new employer raises questions about when the integrated resort will open. It was initially slated to open at the end of this year, but the opening has been pushed back to some time in the first quarter, end-March at the latest, because of construction woes and labour shortages.
With no sign of their training beginning, the integrated resort's new staff are wondering exactly when it will open.
When contacted, a Marina Bay Sands spokesman confirmed that training had not begun and declined to say how many people had been hired. Sands has previously said some 4,500 workers are required in the casino.
Asked if there had been a verbal agreement on the training date, the spokesman would only say: 'We have issued employment agreements to successful applicants, with the mutual agreement that the starting date for training depends on the opening date of our property.
'As we continue to make good progress on our SkyPark and overall construction, we look to set a training commencement date at the earliest possible time.'
A copy of an employment agreement obtained by The Straits Times states: 'I understand that my work commencement date will be communicated to me on a later date subject to the opening date of Marina Bay Sands.'
Other employees hired later in the year said they were told they would be given a month's notice on the start of training.
Said a 22-year-old hired in November: 'It is already December, and the training is to take three months. If they are to give us one month's notice, we will not make it in time for March.'
Member of Parliament Charles Chong, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said even though they had only verbal agreements, it was not fair to keep people guessing as to when they would start work.
It is especially bad for those who need the income to support their families, he added. 'How long can you keep people waiting?'
In contrast to the dilemma faced by Marina Bay Sands employees, employment contracts for Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), the other integrated resort, clearly spell out work and training start dates.
Some 600 dealers have already been trained at the parent company's other casinos in the Philippines and Malaysia. The training started in August.
Several hundred are also being trained in Singapore, RWS spokesman Robin Goh said, adding that the resort is on track for a soft opening early in the new year.
Industry experts say employees have to be trained to be licensed to work in a casino. And without trained employees, a licence to operate a casino cannot be issued. Both casinos applied for their licences in October.
When asked, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) declined to comment on whether either had been awarded yet. But its spokesman said: 'The casino operators are required under Section 81(1)(c) of the Casino Control Act to provide the CRA with a certification of the applicant's competency to perform the specific special employee function(s) before CRA approves the special employee licence.'
- The Straits Times
A few are jobless as well - they quit their previous jobs expecting the casino training to start in October. They say they were told by Sands to leave their jobs and be ready to be called up for training.
The training was to last three months, during which they would be paid. The basic pay for a trainee dealer is $1,500 a month; the pay is $1,800 for those working full-time.
At least 20 employees are grousing online about being left in the lurch. The Straits Times spoke to seven, who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising their jobs.
They admitted that their letters of appointment had not specified a starting date, but all claimed they had been told verbally that training was likely to begin in October.
A man in his 30s, hired as a dealer, said: 'I was told to send in my resignation early if I needed to serve three months' notice.'
But since stopping work in September, he is still waiting for the call to start training. He is living on his savings.
In the same boat is a 23-year-old who graduated from university in April. She said: 'I cannot even take up proper part-time work as I don't dare to commit to the minimum two or three months required.'
The lack of word from their new employer raises questions about when the integrated resort will open. It was initially slated to open at the end of this year, but the opening has been pushed back to some time in the first quarter, end-March at the latest, because of construction woes and labour shortages.
With no sign of their training beginning, the integrated resort's new staff are wondering exactly when it will open.
When contacted, a Marina Bay Sands spokesman confirmed that training had not begun and declined to say how many people had been hired. Sands has previously said some 4,500 workers are required in the casino.
Asked if there had been a verbal agreement on the training date, the spokesman would only say: 'We have issued employment agreements to successful applicants, with the mutual agreement that the starting date for training depends on the opening date of our property.
'As we continue to make good progress on our SkyPark and overall construction, we look to set a training commencement date at the earliest possible time.'
A copy of an employment agreement obtained by The Straits Times states: 'I understand that my work commencement date will be communicated to me on a later date subject to the opening date of Marina Bay Sands.'
Other employees hired later in the year said they were told they would be given a month's notice on the start of training.
Said a 22-year-old hired in November: 'It is already December, and the training is to take three months. If they are to give us one month's notice, we will not make it in time for March.'
Member of Parliament Charles Chong, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said even though they had only verbal agreements, it was not fair to keep people guessing as to when they would start work.
It is especially bad for those who need the income to support their families, he added. 'How long can you keep people waiting?'
In contrast to the dilemma faced by Marina Bay Sands employees, employment contracts for Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), the other integrated resort, clearly spell out work and training start dates.
Some 600 dealers have already been trained at the parent company's other casinos in the Philippines and Malaysia. The training started in August.
Several hundred are also being trained in Singapore, RWS spokesman Robin Goh said, adding that the resort is on track for a soft opening early in the new year.
Industry experts say employees have to be trained to be licensed to work in a casino. And without trained employees, a licence to operate a casino cannot be issued. Both casinos applied for their licences in October.
When asked, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) declined to comment on whether either had been awarded yet. But its spokesman said: 'The casino operators are required under Section 81(1)(c) of the Casino Control Act to provide the CRA with a certification of the applicant's competency to perform the specific special employee function(s) before CRA approves the special employee licence.'
- The Straits Times
Dec 19, 2009
DBS chief's mantra: Do everything
THE newly installed DBS Group Holdings' chief executive, Mr Piyush Gupta, was in a reflective mood during one of his first public appearances as head of South-east Asia's largest bank yesterday.
As he ruminated on his widely varied banking career, he hinted that DBS staff might expect to be assigned a wider range of roles under his leadership.
Speaking to a group of students, he warned of the limitations of aspiring bankers aiming only for glamorous front office jobs.
To illustrate, he spoke of his professional journey and offered personal insights into banking as a career.
'As a general rule, when I hire, I want people to have the capacity to do a lot of different things,' he told tertiary students in a packed auditorium at Singapore Management University. 'I hire people for (a long-term) career, not for jobs.'
Mr Gupta, 49, a veteran Citibanker appointed as DBS CEO last month, said young people wanting to work at banks often confine themselves to the more glamorous front office roles such as investment banking and corporate finance.
They eschew back office operations, such as accounting and payroll, thinking these roles may be less interesting.
However, this is the wrong mentality, stressed the Indian-born banker, a permanent resident here who has applied for Singapore citizenship.
He said that when he first graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, he was given a back office role within Citi and wound up in technology and operations for four years.
Rather than despair, he found plenty of opportunities to learn in those roles.
'Working in operations and technology, you learn how things actually work. To me, the experience was invaluable.'
He also recalled that he had worked at a small Citi branch at Kolkata during the early stages of his career and had to juggle all sorts of roles - from sitting at the teller counter to calling corporate clients.
'It doesn't sound sexy, but the ability to allow you to connect the dots is invaluable,' he said.
Mr Gupta, who has dabbled in a wide range of roles, from transaction banking to corporate and consumer banking, praised firms where employees are given the chance to move around within their organisation.
'I've had 21 different roles in 28 years,' said Mr Gupta, who spent 27 years at Citi before leaving for DBS.
'In my previous company, you could move anywhere you want. So in my current company, I hope that is something I can institute.'
He was part of a panel comprising high-powered financial executives including ANZ Singapore's chief executive Bill Foo and OCBC Bank's head of global treasury Lam Kun Kin.
Lion Global Investors chief executive Daniel Chan, a panel member, said a humble attitude is very important for those entering the fund management business.
'If somebody comes and says, 'I've got this degree or training and know it all', that is a dangerous starting point.'
When hiring analysts and fund managers, Mr Chan looks for candidates with a healthy dose of scepticism and a questioning mind, clear thinking, an ability to work with numbers - and the art of good communication.
'A lot of people don't communicate well or express their ideas clearly. A lot don't write well either.'
- The Straits Times
As he ruminated on his widely varied banking career, he hinted that DBS staff might expect to be assigned a wider range of roles under his leadership.
Speaking to a group of students, he warned of the limitations of aspiring bankers aiming only for glamorous front office jobs.
To illustrate, he spoke of his professional journey and offered personal insights into banking as a career.
'As a general rule, when I hire, I want people to have the capacity to do a lot of different things,' he told tertiary students in a packed auditorium at Singapore Management University. 'I hire people for (a long-term) career, not for jobs.'
Mr Gupta, 49, a veteran Citibanker appointed as DBS CEO last month, said young people wanting to work at banks often confine themselves to the more glamorous front office roles such as investment banking and corporate finance.
They eschew back office operations, such as accounting and payroll, thinking these roles may be less interesting.
However, this is the wrong mentality, stressed the Indian-born banker, a permanent resident here who has applied for Singapore citizenship.
He said that when he first graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, he was given a back office role within Citi and wound up in technology and operations for four years.
Rather than despair, he found plenty of opportunities to learn in those roles.
'Working in operations and technology, you learn how things actually work. To me, the experience was invaluable.'
He also recalled that he had worked at a small Citi branch at Kolkata during the early stages of his career and had to juggle all sorts of roles - from sitting at the teller counter to calling corporate clients.
'It doesn't sound sexy, but the ability to allow you to connect the dots is invaluable,' he said.
Mr Gupta, who has dabbled in a wide range of roles, from transaction banking to corporate and consumer banking, praised firms where employees are given the chance to move around within their organisation.
'I've had 21 different roles in 28 years,' said Mr Gupta, who spent 27 years at Citi before leaving for DBS.
'In my previous company, you could move anywhere you want. So in my current company, I hope that is something I can institute.'
He was part of a panel comprising high-powered financial executives including ANZ Singapore's chief executive Bill Foo and OCBC Bank's head of global treasury Lam Kun Kin.
Lion Global Investors chief executive Daniel Chan, a panel member, said a humble attitude is very important for those entering the fund management business.
'If somebody comes and says, 'I've got this degree or training and know it all', that is a dangerous starting point.'
When hiring analysts and fund managers, Mr Chan looks for candidates with a healthy dose of scepticism and a questioning mind, clear thinking, an ability to work with numbers - and the art of good communication.
'A lot of people don't communicate well or express their ideas clearly. A lot don't write well either.'
- The Straits Times
Dec 16, 2009
Grads dealt harder job blow
Despite signs of a turnaround in the job market, university graduates are no better off.
In fact, more of them are without jobs and taking longer to land a job, according to revised official figures released yesterday.
Part of the reason is that they often tend to seek jobs that pay close to what they used to earn, said MP Josephine Teo, who is also assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.
However, economists interviewed foresee their lot improving in the new year, when growth is expected to hit 5.5 per cent, according to a recent poll of 20 private-sector economists by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Meanwhile, the labour market in the third quarter, following Singapore’s exit from recession, shows “encouraging signs of a turnaround”, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The revised figures show more jobs were added, fewer people were laid off and there were more vacancies between June and September.
In all, employment grew by 14,000, offsetting the 13,900 jobs lost in the first half of this year. Still, the resident unemployment rate among Singaporeans and permanent residents hit 5 per cent, a five-year high.
Also, more residents, regardless of their education level, are taking beyond six months to get a job.
Known technically as the long-term unemployed, their numbers have doubled, from 9,600 in the third quarter last year to 18,400 in September this year.
Worst off are university graduates. Their numbers have swelled from 1,600 to 4,700, which works out to one in four of these unemployeds.
It is the same story in other areas.
Degree-holders form more than one-third of workers made redundant, either retrenched or released prematurely from their contracts. They form 36 per cent of the 2,470 workers made redundant, although they make up only 27 per cent of Singapore’s workforce of two million.
It is a similar situation with the re-hiring of laid-off residents. Though this re employment rate rose for workers at all educational levels, the rate for graduates remains the lowest, at 44.4 per cent.
It was the same case in the second quarter, when it was 39.3 per cent.
Teo said graduates tend to hold jobs, such as supervisors, which are the first to be chopped in a downturn.
She also said retrenched graduates typically take longer to find jobs because they have savings to fall back on and look for work that pays almost as much as their previous job.
Graduate Chris Lim seems to fit the mould. The 31-year-old has been jobless since she quit her marketing job in a bank in June last year. She had wanted a similar job in the service industry but the economic crisis has made it tough.
Said the business administration graduate: “I’ve had a few job offers but I rejected them because they weren’t suitable. I’m not super desperate because I have some savings.”
She is working part-time as a receptionist and is hopeful because headhunters are calling her more often now.
MOM, in its statement, said organisations and jobseekers should not be discouraged by the slight rise in the unemployment rate to 3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters. It also pointed out the 5 per cent resident unemployment rate is below the record 6.2 per cent in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.
Economists say the peculiar situation of jobs growth coupled with high unemployment is a result of more residents entering the job market as the economy improves.
Singapore, which came out of recession at the end of June, grew by 14.2 per cent in the third quarter,
Also, the rise in the unemployment rate could be due to a mismatch between skills and jobs.
Economist Tan Khee Giap expects the resident jobless rate to fall by next June.
But there is a need to shorten the time the jobless take to find work, he added.
Heather Chua of hiring firm Kelly Services noted that 50 per cent of residents retrenched in the second quarter found work in the third quarter.
“This is a strong indication more companies are positioning themselves to prepare for the nascent recovery,” she said.
However, MOM’s Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan, noted that the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.
He said: “The Government remains focused on job creation and training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as possible.”
— The Straits Times
In fact, more of them are without jobs and taking longer to land a job, according to revised official figures released yesterday.
Part of the reason is that they often tend to seek jobs that pay close to what they used to earn, said MP Josephine Teo, who is also assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.
However, economists interviewed foresee their lot improving in the new year, when growth is expected to hit 5.5 per cent, according to a recent poll of 20 private-sector economists by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Meanwhile, the labour market in the third quarter, following Singapore’s exit from recession, shows “encouraging signs of a turnaround”, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The revised figures show more jobs were added, fewer people were laid off and there were more vacancies between June and September.
In all, employment grew by 14,000, offsetting the 13,900 jobs lost in the first half of this year. Still, the resident unemployment rate among Singaporeans and permanent residents hit 5 per cent, a five-year high.
Also, more residents, regardless of their education level, are taking beyond six months to get a job.
Known technically as the long-term unemployed, their numbers have doubled, from 9,600 in the third quarter last year to 18,400 in September this year.
Worst off are university graduates. Their numbers have swelled from 1,600 to 4,700, which works out to one in four of these unemployeds.
It is the same story in other areas.
Degree-holders form more than one-third of workers made redundant, either retrenched or released prematurely from their contracts. They form 36 per cent of the 2,470 workers made redundant, although they make up only 27 per cent of Singapore’s workforce of two million.
It is a similar situation with the re-hiring of laid-off residents. Though this re employment rate rose for workers at all educational levels, the rate for graduates remains the lowest, at 44.4 per cent.
It was the same case in the second quarter, when it was 39.3 per cent.
Teo said graduates tend to hold jobs, such as supervisors, which are the first to be chopped in a downturn.
She also said retrenched graduates typically take longer to find jobs because they have savings to fall back on and look for work that pays almost as much as their previous job.
Graduate Chris Lim seems to fit the mould. The 31-year-old has been jobless since she quit her marketing job in a bank in June last year. She had wanted a similar job in the service industry but the economic crisis has made it tough.
Said the business administration graduate: “I’ve had a few job offers but I rejected them because they weren’t suitable. I’m not super desperate because I have some savings.”
She is working part-time as a receptionist and is hopeful because headhunters are calling her more often now.
MOM, in its statement, said organisations and jobseekers should not be discouraged by the slight rise in the unemployment rate to 3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters. It also pointed out the 5 per cent resident unemployment rate is below the record 6.2 per cent in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.
Economists say the peculiar situation of jobs growth coupled with high unemployment is a result of more residents entering the job market as the economy improves.
Singapore, which came out of recession at the end of June, grew by 14.2 per cent in the third quarter,
Also, the rise in the unemployment rate could be due to a mismatch between skills and jobs.
Economist Tan Khee Giap expects the resident jobless rate to fall by next June.
But there is a need to shorten the time the jobless take to find work, he added.
Heather Chua of hiring firm Kelly Services noted that 50 per cent of residents retrenched in the second quarter found work in the third quarter.
“This is a strong indication more companies are positioning themselves to prepare for the nascent recovery,” she said.
However, MOM’s Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan, noted that the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.
He said: “The Government remains focused on job creation and training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as possible.”
— The Straits Times
Vacancies up; still, a note of caution
It is a strong indicator that the job market is showing a turnaround.
But even as the Manpower Ministry confirmed employment growth in the third quarter, Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan made caution the watchword.
"The unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time, as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery," he said yesterday.
The question is: Will workers take note, given that total employment grew by 14,000 between July and September, enough to offset declines in the previous two quarters?
Job vacancies, too, were up 42 per cent from June to 34,900, only slightly below September 2007's figure. And the employment outlook for the fourth quarter moved further into positive territory, with a net weighted balance of 16 per cent of services firms expecting to increase headcount.
Last week, recruitment agency Manpower Inc's employment outlook survey showed that just over one in four employers here were looking to hire in the first quarter next year. And already, Singapore National Employers Federation executive director Koh Juan Kiat has noted that more workers have quit their jobs to take up better offers.
In these times, companies, too, are not as focussed as before on retraining, as one employer specialising in electronic goods admitted.
But apart from growth within the hospitality sector - on account of the integrated resorts opening early next year - CIMB-GK Research regional economist Song Seng Wun believes most employers will practice "selective hiring" as "it's not a broad-based recovery just yet".
And unionist G Muthu Kumar does not think many Singaporeans are aware more jobs are available, as many still think the job market is tight.
Some fresh entrants to the job hunt have not had it easy, either. Said Diyana Lubis, 21: "Job hunting is tough, especially in the design sector which I am looking at. Every interview I go for, it seems employers would rather hire me as an intern and pay me $200 than offer a full package."
Among residents who had been retrenched in the second quarter, half were re-employed within a quarter - an improvement from the record low of 43 per cent in the previous quarter, but still below the 62 per cent recorded a year ago.
Long-term unemployment doubled from 9,600 in September last year to 18,400.
- TODAY newspaper
But even as the Manpower Ministry confirmed employment growth in the third quarter, Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan made caution the watchword.
"The unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time, as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery," he said yesterday.
The question is: Will workers take note, given that total employment grew by 14,000 between July and September, enough to offset declines in the previous two quarters?
Job vacancies, too, were up 42 per cent from June to 34,900, only slightly below September 2007's figure. And the employment outlook for the fourth quarter moved further into positive territory, with a net weighted balance of 16 per cent of services firms expecting to increase headcount.
Last week, recruitment agency Manpower Inc's employment outlook survey showed that just over one in four employers here were looking to hire in the first quarter next year. And already, Singapore National Employers Federation executive director Koh Juan Kiat has noted that more workers have quit their jobs to take up better offers.
In these times, companies, too, are not as focussed as before on retraining, as one employer specialising in electronic goods admitted.
But apart from growth within the hospitality sector - on account of the integrated resorts opening early next year - CIMB-GK Research regional economist Song Seng Wun believes most employers will practice "selective hiring" as "it's not a broad-based recovery just yet".
And unionist G Muthu Kumar does not think many Singaporeans are aware more jobs are available, as many still think the job market is tight.
Some fresh entrants to the job hunt have not had it easy, either. Said Diyana Lubis, 21: "Job hunting is tough, especially in the design sector which I am looking at. Every interview I go for, it seems employers would rather hire me as an intern and pay me $200 than offer a full package."
Among residents who had been retrenched in the second quarter, half were re-employed within a quarter - an improvement from the record low of 43 per cent in the previous quarter, but still below the 62 per cent recorded a year ago.
Long-term unemployment doubled from 9,600 in September last year to 18,400.
- TODAY newspaper
Dec 14, 2009
Jobless rate to stay up
DESPITE the encouraging signs of turnaround in the Singapore's job market, the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time, said Minister of State for Manpower and Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan on Tuesday.
The third quarter labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday showed that overall employment expanded by 14,000 in the third quarter, reversing the losses from the preceding two quarters.
Significantly fewer workers were made redundant and job vacancies were up for the second straight quarter.
Commenting on the report, Mr Lee said: 'Although the economic outlook has improved and total employment grew in the third quarter, the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.'
'The Government remains focused on job creation and training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as possible.'
- The Straits Times
The third quarter labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday showed that overall employment expanded by 14,000 in the third quarter, reversing the losses from the preceding two quarters.
Significantly fewer workers were made redundant and job vacancies were up for the second straight quarter.
Commenting on the report, Mr Lee said: 'Although the economic outlook has improved and total employment grew in the third quarter, the unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.'
'The Government remains focused on job creation and training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as possible.'
- The Straits Times
Q3 job vacancies up 46%
SINGAPORE'S labour market is showing encouraging signs of a turnaround, reflecting the improving economic climate.
Total employment grew by 14,000 in the third quarter, offsetting the losses in the earlier two quarters, which saw jobs growing by 6,200 in Q1 and 7,700 in Q2. The improvement in the job situation led to total employment in September recovering to around the level in December last year, said the Ministry of Manpower in a statement on Tuesday.
Service jobs grew by 12,700, significantly higher than the gains of 3,800 in the second quarter, while construction, which added 7,400 jobs, expanded at a faster pace than in the previous quarter. But manufacturing shed 6,400 workers for the fourth consecutive quarter, although the losses were substantially lower than in the first two quarters.
The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.4 per cent in September from 3.3 per cent in June. Among the resident labour force, the jobless rate climbed to 5 per cent in Q3 or 83,800, after a decline from 4.8 per cent in March to 4.6 per cent in June, when some residents then had deferred their job search and pursued courses amid the difficult job market. The seasonally adjusted figure was 100,300, higher than 91,500 in Jun 09.
MOM added that long-term unemployment has worsened, as it takes longer for job seekers to find jobs amid cautious hiring sentiments during the downturn. The number of resident job seekers who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks almost doubled from 9,600 from a year ago to 18,400 in September, with the share of resident job seekers rising from 17 per cent to 22 per cent.
They formed 0.9 per cent of the resident labour force compared with 0.5 per cent a year ago, but remained below the highs registered in the same period of 2003 (1.6 per cent) and 2002 (1.4 per cent).
- The Straits Times
Total employment grew by 14,000 in the third quarter, offsetting the losses in the earlier two quarters, which saw jobs growing by 6,200 in Q1 and 7,700 in Q2. The improvement in the job situation led to total employment in September recovering to around the level in December last year, said the Ministry of Manpower in a statement on Tuesday.
Service jobs grew by 12,700, significantly higher than the gains of 3,800 in the second quarter, while construction, which added 7,400 jobs, expanded at a faster pace than in the previous quarter. But manufacturing shed 6,400 workers for the fourth consecutive quarter, although the losses were substantially lower than in the first two quarters.
The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.4 per cent in September from 3.3 per cent in June. Among the resident labour force, the jobless rate climbed to 5 per cent in Q3 or 83,800, after a decline from 4.8 per cent in March to 4.6 per cent in June, when some residents then had deferred their job search and pursued courses amid the difficult job market. The seasonally adjusted figure was 100,300, higher than 91,500 in Jun 09.
MOM added that long-term unemployment has worsened, as it takes longer for job seekers to find jobs amid cautious hiring sentiments during the downturn. The number of resident job seekers who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks almost doubled from 9,600 from a year ago to 18,400 in September, with the share of resident job seekers rising from 17 per cent to 22 per cent.
They formed 0.9 per cent of the resident labour force compared with 0.5 per cent a year ago, but remained below the highs registered in the same period of 2003 (1.6 per cent) and 2002 (1.4 per cent).
- The Straits Times
Singapore firms using social media to step up job recruitment efforts
Most people use social media to connect with their friends and some Singapore companies are now using it as a recruitment tool.
Online marketing agency Oasis Interactive uses social media to reach out to its customers. Now, it is turning to social media to attract job seekers.
Earlier this year, it placed an online advertisement asking job seekers to apply through LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking website.
Jason Low, director, Oasis Interactive, said: "The quantity of resumes have been relatively smaller. But in terms of the quality, it's very good because they're more relevant and more earnest in their job applications.
"The resumes that we're getting is not just (from) Singapore or Malaysia. They actually expand to Australia and United States as well. We have corporate accounts in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Delicious.
"It's natural for us to think that our potential staff would be savvy enough to look for us in these business social networks."
Oasis Interactive said they also use social media to keep in touch with ex-staff, some of whom have become their clients.
But some industry players remain sceptical that social media is a reliable hiring tool. They said it is more effective for jobs in technology-related sectors or for companies hiring junior to mid-level staff.
They added that it is usually the younger job seekers that are less averse to using technology to help them secure jobs.
Joanne Chue, HR specialist division manager, Robert Walters, said: "It's beyond just looking at the job description. It's about looking at the company's plans for development. It's about understanding the culture, things that you can't see from a website."
Ms Chua also highlighted another danger of using social media to look for jobs.
She said: "Who knows who's reading your profile, it may be the boss you're reporting to that's surfing on LinkedIn and the last thing you want your boss to know is that you're potentially looking out for job opportunities."
Industry players said using social media as a recruitment tool could help companies gather additional information about potential employees. But at the same time, it could also allow their competitors to access information on their hiring habits.
However, the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) said the HR industry still has some way to go before it can fully harness the power of social media as a recruitment tool.
Mr David Ang, executive director of the SHRI, said bigger companies are more likely to use social media as a recruitment tool as small and medium enterprises may not have the time or resources to maintain an online presence.
- Channel News Asia
Online marketing agency Oasis Interactive uses social media to reach out to its customers. Now, it is turning to social media to attract job seekers.
Earlier this year, it placed an online advertisement asking job seekers to apply through LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking website.
Jason Low, director, Oasis Interactive, said: "The quantity of resumes have been relatively smaller. But in terms of the quality, it's very good because they're more relevant and more earnest in their job applications.
"The resumes that we're getting is not just (from) Singapore or Malaysia. They actually expand to Australia and United States as well. We have corporate accounts in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Delicious.
"It's natural for us to think that our potential staff would be savvy enough to look for us in these business social networks."
Oasis Interactive said they also use social media to keep in touch with ex-staff, some of whom have become their clients.
But some industry players remain sceptical that social media is a reliable hiring tool. They said it is more effective for jobs in technology-related sectors or for companies hiring junior to mid-level staff.
They added that it is usually the younger job seekers that are less averse to using technology to help them secure jobs.
Joanne Chue, HR specialist division manager, Robert Walters, said: "It's beyond just looking at the job description. It's about looking at the company's plans for development. It's about understanding the culture, things that you can't see from a website."
Ms Chua also highlighted another danger of using social media to look for jobs.
She said: "Who knows who's reading your profile, it may be the boss you're reporting to that's surfing on LinkedIn and the last thing you want your boss to know is that you're potentially looking out for job opportunities."
Industry players said using social media as a recruitment tool could help companies gather additional information about potential employees. But at the same time, it could also allow their competitors to access information on their hiring habits.
However, the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) said the HR industry still has some way to go before it can fully harness the power of social media as a recruitment tool.
Mr David Ang, executive director of the SHRI, said bigger companies are more likely to use social media as a recruitment tool as small and medium enterprises may not have the time or resources to maintain an online presence.
- Channel News Asia
Dec 13, 2009
More jobs and better pay likely next year
Upbeat is the word. The outlook on the job and compensation front for Singapore next year looks promising.
More jobs will be available and pay packages will improve marginally, several human resource consultancies report, offering a ray of hope even as they add a few words of caution.
Much of the optimism stems from an improved forecast for the Singapore economy, though bud- get constraints and conservative projections for global economic growth suggest that the recovery, while firm, is still in its early stages.
- The Straits Times
More jobs will be available and pay packages will improve marginally, several human resource consultancies report, offering a ray of hope even as they add a few words of caution.
Much of the optimism stems from an improved forecast for the Singapore economy, though bud- get constraints and conservative projections for global economic growth suggest that the recovery, while firm, is still in its early stages.
- The Straits Times
Dec 7, 2009
Hirings picking up
FIRMS are hiring again, and the new year should bring job prospects that match pre-crisis levels, according to a survey.
The latest employment outlook survey by the Singapore arm of global human resource consultancy Manpower Inc, released on Monday, shows that employers expect a third consecutive quarter of positive hiring, reported The Business Times on Tuesday.
The net employment outlook - the difference between the proportion of bosses likely to recruit more and those likely to cut jobs - rose to 26 per cent. This seasonally adjusted figure was nine percentage points up from Q4's outlook - and a sharp 60-point turnaround from the survey's negative result in Q1 this year.
Back then, Singapore had the worst overall employment outlook among the 35 countries and territories that Manpower surveyed worldwide. But its current outlook for the first quarter of 2010 surpasses all markets but India, said the BT report.
Of 699 employers interviewed across seven industry sectors in October, the majority - 65 per cent - expect to retain their present headcount in Q1 next year, while 27 per cent plan to raise headcount, nine points up from this quarter. But 5 per cent indicate they plan to cut staff strength and 3 per cent are unsure of plans.
Job prospects seem brightest in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, which has a net employment outlook of 37 per cent. The public administration and education sector expects brisk hiring too, with an overall net outlook of 36 per cent. Services reported a net outlook of 31 per cent, while manufacturing also expect to add headcount, with a net outlook of 20 per cent in the coming quarter.
- The Straits Times
The latest employment outlook survey by the Singapore arm of global human resource consultancy Manpower Inc, released on Monday, shows that employers expect a third consecutive quarter of positive hiring, reported The Business Times on Tuesday.
The net employment outlook - the difference between the proportion of bosses likely to recruit more and those likely to cut jobs - rose to 26 per cent. This seasonally adjusted figure was nine percentage points up from Q4's outlook - and a sharp 60-point turnaround from the survey's negative result in Q1 this year.
Back then, Singapore had the worst overall employment outlook among the 35 countries and territories that Manpower surveyed worldwide. But its current outlook for the first quarter of 2010 surpasses all markets but India, said the BT report.
Of 699 employers interviewed across seven industry sectors in October, the majority - 65 per cent - expect to retain their present headcount in Q1 next year, while 27 per cent plan to raise headcount, nine points up from this quarter. But 5 per cent indicate they plan to cut staff strength and 3 per cent are unsure of plans.
Job prospects seem brightest in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, which has a net employment outlook of 37 per cent. The public administration and education sector expects brisk hiring too, with an overall net outlook of 36 per cent. Services reported a net outlook of 31 per cent, while manufacturing also expect to add headcount, with a net outlook of 20 per cent in the coming quarter.
- The Straits Times
Dec 6, 2009
Contract work a growing trend
WHEN she completed a one-year contract as a secretary in August, Ms Brenda Ang looked forward to securing a permanent job.
But the 41-year-old had no such luck despite a three-month search. Instead, she will start work tomorrow as a team administrator in a multinational company under a five-month contract.
'I was looking for a permanent job but, under current circumstances, it's very tough, even though the economy's picking up,' she lamented. She lost her permanent job last year when her expatriate boss returned home.
Her situation is not unique. According to a Ministry of Manpower survey whose findings were released last month, the number of term-contract workers rose to 197,200 as of June.
That was a 4.3 per cent jump from the same period last year, and made up 12.7 per cent of the total number of Singaporeans and permanent residents employed.
The duration for most of the jobs was less than three months. Such jobs soared 21 per cent from 72,200 last year to 87,400 this year. In contrast, the number employed on a permanent basis went up by only 0.8 per cent over the same period.
- The Straits Times
But the 41-year-old had no such luck despite a three-month search. Instead, she will start work tomorrow as a team administrator in a multinational company under a five-month contract.
'I was looking for a permanent job but, under current circumstances, it's very tough, even though the economy's picking up,' she lamented. She lost her permanent job last year when her expatriate boss returned home.
Her situation is not unique. According to a Ministry of Manpower survey whose findings were released last month, the number of term-contract workers rose to 197,200 as of June.
That was a 4.3 per cent jump from the same period last year, and made up 12.7 per cent of the total number of Singaporeans and permanent residents employed.
The duration for most of the jobs was less than three months. Such jobs soared 21 per cent from 72,200 last year to 87,400 this year. In contrast, the number employed on a permanent basis went up by only 0.8 per cent over the same period.
- The Straits Times
Dec 4, 2009
300 jobs for mature, empathetic Singaporeans
A SEARCH was launched yesterday for mature, friendly and empathetic Singaporeans to fill more than 300 vacancies in the new hospital in Yishun, the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH).
The positions are for housekeeping staff and patient assistants, who will help in the operating theatres, provide financial counselling and transport patients, among other duties.
KTPH, run by public-health group Alexandra Health, will open in phases. Its specialist outpatient clinics will start operating on March 28 next year, followed by the acute and emergency care centre and inpatient wards in September.
It will need about 2,500 staff members. Most of Alexandra Hospital's current 1,700 employees will move over in about nine months' time.
At the recruitment exercise yesterday, staff from the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) - a skills-based institute for jobseekers, employers and training providers initiated by the National Trades Union Congress - screened jobseekers.
They shortlisted some for interviews with Alexandra Health to be held at a job fair, which will be on two weeks later.
Most of the 400 jobseekers who turned up yesterday were aged over 40, and lived in the area.
Those who were deemed not up to the mark yet were referred to attend e2i courses, which will prepare them for the jobs.
The courses are fully subsidised for citizens and permanent residents by the Government and e2i.
The courses, which range from two to five days, will cover communication skills and hygiene habits, among other things.
What is more important is having the right "can do" spirit and the willingness to learn and to promote a healthy lifestyle, said Alexandra Health's chief executive, Mr Liak Teng Lit.
Jobseeker Brenda Tan, 38, a former preschool teacher, decided to apply for a role in serving patients, as the last two years she spent caring for her sickly father after quitting her job helped her realise that "caring for others is immensely rewarding".
The next recruitment exercise for jobs in the hospital will be held in January next year. For more details, call the e2i hotline on 6474-3777.
- mypaper
The positions are for housekeeping staff and patient assistants, who will help in the operating theatres, provide financial counselling and transport patients, among other duties.
KTPH, run by public-health group Alexandra Health, will open in phases. Its specialist outpatient clinics will start operating on March 28 next year, followed by the acute and emergency care centre and inpatient wards in September.
It will need about 2,500 staff members. Most of Alexandra Hospital's current 1,700 employees will move over in about nine months' time.
At the recruitment exercise yesterday, staff from the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) - a skills-based institute for jobseekers, employers and training providers initiated by the National Trades Union Congress - screened jobseekers.
They shortlisted some for interviews with Alexandra Health to be held at a job fair, which will be on two weeks later.
Most of the 400 jobseekers who turned up yesterday were aged over 40, and lived in the area.
Those who were deemed not up to the mark yet were referred to attend e2i courses, which will prepare them for the jobs.
The courses are fully subsidised for citizens and permanent residents by the Government and e2i.
The courses, which range from two to five days, will cover communication skills and hygiene habits, among other things.
What is more important is having the right "can do" spirit and the willingness to learn and to promote a healthy lifestyle, said Alexandra Health's chief executive, Mr Liak Teng Lit.
Jobseeker Brenda Tan, 38, a former preschool teacher, decided to apply for a role in serving patients, as the last two years she spent caring for her sickly father after quitting her job helped her realise that "caring for others is immensely rewarding".
The next recruitment exercise for jobs in the hospital will be held in January next year. For more details, call the e2i hotline on 6474-3777.
- mypaper
Dec 2, 2009
More jobless in June
THE proportion of residents here who are employed fell for the first time in six years, because of the financial crisis.
The proportion of those aged 25 to 64 who had a job fell to 75.8 per cent in June this year, from a peak of 77 per cent a year ago, an annual survey by the Ministry of Manpower found.
This was largely due to job losses suffered by those in the group with the prime working ages of between 25 and 54, the ministry said yesterday.
Despite the downturn, the employment rate of older residents aged between 55 and 64 remained at the record high of 57.2 per cent reached last year. Overall, 5.9 per cent of residents were jobless this June, up from 4 per cent a year ago.
The weak economy also meant that income for those who held down jobs has stayed largely flat this year, after strong gains in the previous two years.
The median monthly income among full-time workers rose slightly by 0.5 per cent to $2,600 in June this year, from $2,590 a year ago. Part-time workers' median income rose from $600 to $620 during the same period.
But that for all employed residents dipped by 1.2 per cent, from $2,450 to $2,420 in the same period, as more people were hired part-time this year, the ministry said.
The number of contract workers grew by 4.3 per cent over a year to reach 197,000 in June this year, continuing a rising trend noted since 2006.
This growth rate exceeded the 0.8 per cent increase in the number of permanent employees in the same period.
This reflected the economic uncertainty, the ministry said.
- mypaper
The proportion of those aged 25 to 64 who had a job fell to 75.8 per cent in June this year, from a peak of 77 per cent a year ago, an annual survey by the Ministry of Manpower found.
This was largely due to job losses suffered by those in the group with the prime working ages of between 25 and 54, the ministry said yesterday.
Despite the downturn, the employment rate of older residents aged between 55 and 64 remained at the record high of 57.2 per cent reached last year. Overall, 5.9 per cent of residents were jobless this June, up from 4 per cent a year ago.
The weak economy also meant that income for those who held down jobs has stayed largely flat this year, after strong gains in the previous two years.
The median monthly income among full-time workers rose slightly by 0.5 per cent to $2,600 in June this year, from $2,590 a year ago. Part-time workers' median income rose from $600 to $620 during the same period.
But that for all employed residents dipped by 1.2 per cent, from $2,450 to $2,420 in the same period, as more people were hired part-time this year, the ministry said.
The number of contract workers grew by 4.3 per cent over a year to reach 197,000 in June this year, continuing a rising trend noted since 2006.
This growth rate exceeded the 0.8 per cent increase in the number of permanent employees in the same period.
This reflected the economic uncertainty, the ministry said.
- mypaper
POSB to hire more older workers to help customers
A PILOT programme to hire and train those aged 45 and above to assist POSB customers, especially seniors, has been so successful that the bank is doubling the number of people on it.
This was announced yesterday at a recognition ceremony for the first batch of 60 participants of the POSB Active Neighbours programme.
It is one of three key initiatives under an agreement between POSB and the Council for Third Age (C3A): hiring elderly workers, providing financial education and giving privileges to seniors.
Some 1,200 applied for the 60 positions offered earlier this year. Successful applicants underwent a three-day training workshop and have been working since July.
The participants, mostly retirees or full-time housewives, work up to 10 hours a week - mostly on Saturdays - for $8 an hour.
Their job includes combing the queues to find out what transactions customers want to perform at POSB branches and directing people with simple transactions to automated machines and assisting them.
They also help elderly customers with transactions, filling in forms and using bank technology like ATMs.
Mr Rajan Raju, the head of DBS Bank's Consumer Banking Group, said the programme had made elderly customers feel more comfortable with dealing with the bank.
He also said that many of the Active Neighbours are so involved with their jobs that they have asked to work longer hours, and that the bank would look into this.
Next year, it will train some of them to conduct some financial literacy workshops for seniors.
Madam Betty Lee, who had 17 years' experience in customer service before her retirement, is among the Active Neighbours.
She works at the bank's Suntec City branch on Saturdays, serving everyone from executives to the mall's cleaners.
Said the 62-year-old: 'I enjoy meeting all these people. All these customers come from all walks of life and their needs are so diversified.'
Speaking at the event yesterday, the guest of honour, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng, noted that Singapore still has some way to go to hit its 2012 target of having 65 per cent of the people in the 55 to 64 age group employed.
Mr Lim, who is in charge of ageing issues, said later that many smaller companies seem to be waiting for new laws, or for others to take the lead, before acting.
But he hoped examples of what companies like POSB have done will encourage other firms.
C3A's chairman, Mr Gerard Ee, said of the bank's initiative: 'It tells people it is okay at 67 to go back to work. It's exciting, it's fun. It tells other employers this is the way to do it as well, that there are people in this age group who can be an important asset.'
Those interested in applying to be Active Neighbours can visit any POSB branch from tomorrow.
Those who applied in the past need not do so again, as the bank will review their applications.
- The Straits Times
This was announced yesterday at a recognition ceremony for the first batch of 60 participants of the POSB Active Neighbours programme.
It is one of three key initiatives under an agreement between POSB and the Council for Third Age (C3A): hiring elderly workers, providing financial education and giving privileges to seniors.
Some 1,200 applied for the 60 positions offered earlier this year. Successful applicants underwent a three-day training workshop and have been working since July.
The participants, mostly retirees or full-time housewives, work up to 10 hours a week - mostly on Saturdays - for $8 an hour.
Their job includes combing the queues to find out what transactions customers want to perform at POSB branches and directing people with simple transactions to automated machines and assisting them.
They also help elderly customers with transactions, filling in forms and using bank technology like ATMs.
Mr Rajan Raju, the head of DBS Bank's Consumer Banking Group, said the programme had made elderly customers feel more comfortable with dealing with the bank.
He also said that many of the Active Neighbours are so involved with their jobs that they have asked to work longer hours, and that the bank would look into this.
Next year, it will train some of them to conduct some financial literacy workshops for seniors.
Madam Betty Lee, who had 17 years' experience in customer service before her retirement, is among the Active Neighbours.
She works at the bank's Suntec City branch on Saturdays, serving everyone from executives to the mall's cleaners.
Said the 62-year-old: 'I enjoy meeting all these people. All these customers come from all walks of life and their needs are so diversified.'
Speaking at the event yesterday, the guest of honour, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng, noted that Singapore still has some way to go to hit its 2012 target of having 65 per cent of the people in the 55 to 64 age group employed.
Mr Lim, who is in charge of ageing issues, said later that many smaller companies seem to be waiting for new laws, or for others to take the lead, before acting.
But he hoped examples of what companies like POSB have done will encourage other firms.
C3A's chairman, Mr Gerard Ee, said of the bank's initiative: 'It tells people it is okay at 67 to go back to work. It's exciting, it's fun. It tells other employers this is the way to do it as well, that there are people in this age group who can be an important asset.'
Those interested in applying to be Active Neighbours can visit any POSB branch from tomorrow.
Those who applied in the past need not do so again, as the bank will review their applications.
- The Straits Times
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