Feb 25, 2010

20,000 'green collar' jobs

SINGAPORE'S burgeoning clean technology industry is to boast a cutting-edge green business park that will help create 20,000 'green collar' jobs by 2030.

Plans for the 50 ha park in Nanyang Avenue, to be built in three phases for $52 million, were unveiled by industrial landlord JTC Corp and the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Thursday.

The park will feature green technologies such as stormwater recycling, solar power generation and buildings with the highest standards of environmental performance set in a lush green landscape.

The park will also serve as Singapore's first large-scale integrated development allowing firms to test-bed cleantech products and solutions - especially those catering to the tropics - before they are commercialised for the market.

JTC chief executive Manohar Khiatani said that infrastructure works on the park's first phase, spanning 17 ha, will begin in July. Due for completion by 2018, it will offer 425,000 sq m of built-up space.

The park is located next to the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which will be the park's first tenant. When completed, the park will house some 20,000 workers on a site set to offer one million sq m of business space.

- The Straits Times

Marina IR to hire 5,000

TO GEAR up for its April 27 opening, Marina Bay Sands (MBS) - Singapore's second integrated resort - is ramping up the hiring of staff to fill up all the necessary positions so that it get off to 'as perfect a start' as possible in the final stretch.

Its president and chief executive officer Thomas Arasi on Thursday morning unveiled its recruitment centre at Mountbatten Square, which is also its training headquarters. Mr Arasi said the IR needs to fill some 5,000 positions in the hotels, restaurants, retail front as it prepares for its opening.

The casino posts have all been filled with some 1,500 dealers, all of whom are Singaporeans and permanent residents, who started training this month. Another 350 more senior casino dealers were put through their paces last month. Training can take up to seven weeks and will be conducted around the clock in eight-hour shifts to simulate a working casino.

MBS has more than 3,000 staff on its payroll now and aims to boost that number to more than 8,000 in six weeks. The positions it is looking to fill include waiters, bartenders, butlers, retail shop supervisors and guest service agents in hotels, to name a few.

Mr Arasi said the casino posts must be filled first because dealers need the most training. The rest of the positions require a shorter lead time. He said the IR is aiming to achieve an opening as close to perfection as possible.

MBS will open in phases, with the casino, some hotel rooms, restaurants, part of the shopping mall an convention centre opening first. A grand opening ceremony has been planned for June 23, when the Skypark and several other attractions will begin to take in visitors. Other areas, such as its theatres and museums, will open their doors progressively till the end of the year.

- The Straits Times

Feb 11, 2010

CDCs see 54% jump in number of job seekers asking for help in 2009

More job seekers approached Singapore's Community Development Councils (CDCs) for help in 2009.

According to the latest figures released by the People's Association, 38,000 job seekers applied for employment assistance at the CDCs from January to December 2009. This was a 54 per cent jump compared to 2008.

The People's Association added that about half of the job seekers were mature workers aged 40 and above, and the bulk of the increase came in the first quarter of 2009, peaking at 5,000 job seekers in March.

The CDCs added that they were able to successfully place 20,000 job seekers in employment. This was a 56 per cent increase over 2008.

Among professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) job seekers, 2,800 were placed, more than double the 1,200 in 2008.

For this group, the CDCs also provided targeted assistance, including workshops on job search and resume writing skills, and one-to-one counselling services.

Teo Ser Luck, Mayor, North East District, explained: "Last year, while helping residents to look for jobs, North East CDC had encountered a 'twist' because the number of job seekers had peaked in the first half of the year, but at the third quarter, the situation improved. We saw more jobs available in the market.

"North East CDC had also worked closely with the three North East Local Job Placement Centres to provide job seekers with job opportunities. The CDC had stepped in to beef up these centres by setting aside S$1 million and with the additional resources, the centres were able to supplement the CDC's efforts in reaching out to the unemployed in the district."

The number of recruitment events organised by the CDCs in collaboration with various grassroots bodies and the Workforce Development Agency also went up in 2009. Four hundred and ninety recruitment events were held in 2009, up from about 320 in 2008.

Commenting on the trends in 2010, South West CDC Mayor, Dr Amy Khor, said: "In January 2010, for instance, even though the number of job seekers seen by the CDC has declined from the previous month, and is also 44 per cent below the number logged for January 2009, 55 per cent of the job seekers are aged 40 years and above and 58 per cent have secondary education and below.

"With this renewed focus on worker productivity spelt out by the ESC (Economic Strategies Committee), the older and less educated workers will become even more vulnerable, unless they go for skills training or retraining. We need therefore to build deeper resilience into this segment of the workforce.

"Hence one of the key foci of the South West CDC going forward is to help such workers remain employable. We will do so by making job preparatory and mindset change courses, and skills training and retraining, more easily accessible to them.

"At the CDC, our career consultants will play an even more active role in identifying workers' barrier to employment and make appropriate recommendations on training during their interview.

"On the recruitment aspect, besides stepping up on the number of mini recruitment events, we will continue with our efforts to organise more targeted thematic job fairs, which we have found to be more effective."

- Channel News Asia

Feb 9, 2010

Surge in job ads

EMPLOYER confidence has returned in Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan, according to the latest Robert Walters Asia Job Index report.

The fourth quarter of 2009 saw a 12.8 per cent surge in job advertisements for professionals across the region's leading job boards and national newspapers, compared with the previous quarter.

The recruitment consultancy attributed the healthier hiring environment to improved consumer confidence and revival of projects that were suspended during the darkest period of the recession.

China was the main engine behind the region's growth, registering a 14.13 per cent increase in job adverts in the last three months of 2009. Coming in 1.29 percentage points behind Japan was Singapore, which recorded 205,392 new postings for jobs in the fourth quarter - a 2.44 per cent rise from Q3's 200,496.

For Singapore, the index showed a 8.23 per cent increase from the same period in 2008, a good sign that the financial crisis is over.

Robert Walters said that the main feature of the final quarter was that all banks in Singapore are hiring again.

'Financial services has bounced back and is showing no signs of slowing down, particularly within operations, product control, risk management and project management,' said Andrea Ross, managing director of Singapore. ' There remains a talent shortage within some sectors of financial services and we will continue to see hiring of expatriates into those positions albeit on local terms.

'The IT, fast moving consumer goods, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors remained very stable throughout quarter four and continued to hire top talent in Singapore.'

- The Straits Times

Feb 8, 2010

13,000 new jobs

A STARTLING 13,000 new jobs, and $4.5 billion worth of extra value to Singapore's economy.

That is the broad extent of help given by productivity agency Spring Singapore to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) amid last year's recession.

As the downturn took its toll on SMEs, a growing number turned to Spring for help in the form of loans, grants and other assistance, said its chief executive Png Cheong Boon yesterday. Take, for example, Yang Kee Logistics, which will create about 100 jobs, thanks in part to assistance from Spring.

Mr Png was speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony for Yang Kee's new chemical hub, which the company is building with the help of a loan from Spring. The firm declined to disclose the amount.

The new hub on Jurong Pier Road will centralise the operations of the company's six warehouses in Singapore. This, according to managing director Koh Yang Kee, will reduce its operating costs by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

The project is in two phases. The first phase, scheduled for completion by the second quarter of next year, will come up to about $45 million. Another $45 million is estimated for the second phase, which is expected to be completed in 2012.

- The Straits Times

Feb 4, 2010

NUS partners jobs agency

THE National University of Singapore (NUS) has, for many years, been able to boast that 90 per cent of its graduates found jobs within three months of graduation, but that rate took a hit during last year's economic downturn.

Though exact figures were unavailable, the past year was a 'wake-up call', said Dean of Students Professor Tan Teck Koon.

To get employment rates up again, the university has partnered recruiting agency Kelly Services, to tap its database to match more employers to fresh NUS graduates.

The partnership was announced on Thursday at the launch of NUS' Career Fair, at which some 3,500 jobs were on offer.

Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, Senior Vice-President of Kelly Services Asia Pacific, said he hopes that the partnership will add 10 to 15 per cent more job openings for fresh graduates.

He sees Kelly Services' role not only in getting jobs for more graduates, but also in equipping them so they know what to expect from the job landscape.

- The Straits Times

Feb 2, 2010

500 jobs for grabs at fair

MORE than 500 job vacancies are up for grabs at the Community Connect Career Fair organised by the North-east CDC.

It is held at the Paya Lebar Kovan CC on Wednesday from 10am to 4pm.

The ten employers participating in the career fair include firms from the food and beverage, retail, security, manufacturing and logistics industries.

The career fair is an outreach effort by the North-east CDC to bring employment services to jobseekers.

- The Straits Times