Jun 29, 2010

More job seekers refusing job offers: survey

Many Singapore employers are getting rejections from candidates whom they've made offers to, given the buoyant job market.

According to recruitment firm, Hudson, 40 per cent of employers in Singapore it surveyed said that candidates had declined offers of jobs made to them in the last six months.

This is almost twice as many as the 21 per cent who said that they had not received any refusals at all in this period.

And as hiring expectations continue to rise, workers will be spoilt for choice.

Hudson's Executive GM, Georgie Chong, said this makes the recruitment process more challenging.

"That good candidate in the current market is going to be very protected by the current employer. If you look at Europe and the US, the economic outlook there is still weak. Therefore, most of the growth is going to be piled into Asia. The budget for Asia is more aggressive compared to the headquarters," said Chong.

The single most important reason for refusing a job offer was the expectation of higher salaries.

However, Chong pointed out that employers would be willing to meet these expectations for key positions.

She added that companies may need to pay at least 20 per cent more to attract these candidates.

Chong said: "In certain sectors, for example in banking, compliance roles for instance where we need very specialist knowledge or critical revenue generation positions, and faced with a very tight talent pool, candidates have an upper hand.

"We've even offered candidates 30 - 40 per cent more but they still won't move because their employers come back with very aggressive counter measures."

Such counter offers from the present employer are a significant issue, being mentioned by 38 per cent of employers in the survey.

The Hudson Report also indicated that many employers recognise they must increase salaries to retain top talent.

Nearly half of respondents are prepared to offer increments of more than 10 per cent.

Other reasons cited for turning down job offers include candidates having accepted job offers from other companies.

In addition, the report showed that hiring expectations in Singapore are at their highest levels in nearly a decade.

57 per cent of respondents across all sectors forecast headcount growth in the third quarter.

- Channel News Asia

Jun 21, 2010

More home-based jobs in future?

BESIDES faster Internet access, Singapore's ultra high-speed broadband highway could also help alleviate the peak-hour rush as authorities are now looking into having more home-based jobs when the new network is in place.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Ministry of Manpower are in discussions to see how they can potentially increase the number of work-from-home options with the arrival of the Next Gen NBN (Next-Generation Nationwide Broadband Network), said Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew.

Homemakers can also participate or rejoin the workforce through such flexible working arrangements, he added.

Mr Lui was speaking at the opening of Infocomm Experience (iExperience) Centre yesterday, a new 435 square-metre facility which has been set up by the IDA.

Located at the new Esplanade Xchange, it aims to give Singaporeans a glimpse of what high-speed broadband connectivity can bring to homes and businesses.

Singapore is in the midst of being wired up with new fibre-optic links by a company called OpenNet, a joint venture between Singapore Telecommunications, Canadian firm Axia Netmedia, Singapore Press Holdings and SP Telecom. The company expects to reach 60 per cent of local homes by the end of this year.

Once completed in end 2012, it will boost local Internet speeds by ten times or more and power new services such as telemedicine and high-definition videoconferencing.

A sample of these applications is currently on show at the new centre, which the public can visit for free from next month.

The IDA declined to reveal the amount it invested into the project but said it hopes to attract a 'few hundred thousand visitors' a year.

'Many people have asked what the Next Gen NBN is about. The iExperience Centre provides some of the answers to these questions,' said Mr Lui.

- The Business Times

Jun 15, 2010

36,500 jobs added in Q1

SINGAPORE employers added 36,500 more jobs in the first quarter, pushing the unemployment rate to the lowest level in almost two years as robust economic recovery spurred firms to hire again.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 2.2 per cent in March, from 2.3 per cent in December, according to figures released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday.

The job gains - for the third straight quarter - were comparable to the seasonal high of 37,500 in the last quarter of 2009. Employment fell by 6,200 in the first quarter a year ago due to the global economic downturn.

"The labour market strengthened in the first quarter of 2010, driven by the robust rebound from the economic downturn. Employment grew strongly, contributing to an improvement in unemployment for the second straight quarter as redundancies remained at pre-recessionary levels," said MOM in a statement.

"Amid rising job vacancies, labour turnover rose further signalling a tightening of the labour market. Reflecting the cyclical upturn, labour productivity grew strongly."

The bulk or 33,400 new jobs came from the services sector - thanks to the opening of Singapore's two casino resorts early this year, which boosted tourism and fuelled employment. The gains were higher than 31,500 in the fourth quarter and 7,500 in the first quarter of 2009.

Manufacturing added 3,100 workers, the second consecutive quarter of increase after shedding workers from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009. Construction lost 400 workers, after 20 successive quarters of employment gains.

The strong job gains pushed the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate declined to 2.2 per cent in March. Similarly, among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate dipped to 3.2 per cent Q1, from from 3.3 per cent in December. An estimated 63,300 residents were unemployed in March, compared to the the seasonally adjusted 66,200.

Long-term unemployment also improved. The number of residents who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks shrank to 14,600 in March, from 16,600 a year ago, forming 0.7 per cent of the resident labour force.

MOM said 1,800 workers were retrenched and 600 workers had their contracts terminated prematurely. This was comparable to 2,220 in the fourth quarter of 2009 and only one-fifth of the record number - 12,760 - laid off in the first quarter of last year.

- The Straits Times

Job vacancies up 4.3%

Job vacancies up 4.3%

JOB vacancies rose by 4.3 per cent, or 37,300 in March, for the fourth straight quarter, as labour turnover continued to rise, signalling a tightening of the labour market.

The job openings were 63 higher than the low of 22,900 a year ago, said the Ministry of Manpower which released the first quarter labour market report on Tuesday.

Coupled with the reduction in unemployment, the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons went up to 0.90, from the low of 0.36 in March last year.

Based on CPF records, MOM said half of the residents made redundant in the fourth quarter of 2009 were re-employed by March. This re-employment rate within six months of redundancy was broadly comparable to the 52 per cent in December and 51 per cent in September 2009, after improving from the low of 43 per cent last June.

'Labour turnover continued to increase. The average monthly recruitment and resignation rates rose significantly to 2.6 per cent and 2 per cent respectively in the first quarter - from 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent in the same period last year. After adjusting for seasonality, both the recruitment and resignation rates rose for the third successive quarter.

Driven by the cyclical upturn, labour productivity rose over the year by 13 per cent in the first quarter, improving sharply from the growth of 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter and 0.6 per cent in the third quarter last year.

The average nominal monthly earnings grew over the year by 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, following four consecutive quarters of decline. After adjusting for inflation (0.9 per cent), the rise in real earnings was 2.8 per cent.

On the back of strong productivity growth, the overall unit labour cost (ULC) for the whole economy fell by 8.7 per cent in the first quarter, steeper than the 6.1 per cent decline in the preceding quarter.

- The Straits Times

Graduates less sought after

THE strong economic recovery has given jobs to more people, but degree holders are not getting them fast enough. Those snapped up quickest are diploma holders. Their jobless rate shrunk the most, halving from 4.1 per cent during the recession in March last year to 2.1 per cent a year later.

In contrast, graduates were less sought after as their jobless rate had barely improved. It dipped slightly, from 3 per cent to 2.8 per cent during the same period, according to the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) first quarter labour market report released on Tuesday.

What makes diploma holders more attractive to employers is that they tend to command lower salaries, say analysts. As for degree holders, they may also be a little more picky with jobs.

As labour economist, Professor Chew Soon Beng from the Nanyang Technological University, puts it: 'The degree holders want a better job so they are not in a hurry to find jobs. If you are not as educated, you know this is the best you can do, so better grab it.'

He was commenting on the labour report which fleshes out earlier estimates which showed that 36,500 jobs were added in the midst of a robust rebound in January to March.

The strong job gains soaked up more job seekers, resulting in the unemployment rate for residents heading south. It moved from 4.6 per cent last March to 3.2 per cent a year later.

- The Straits Times

Jun 4, 2010

More rehire retirees

MOST bosses believe in keeping their workers beyond the retirement age of 62, but there is still some way to go in getting more to rehire their retirees.

Nearly two-thirds of private sector companies allow their workers to stay on after 62, but the rest do not have any re-employment measures in place, a new Government survey has shown.

The most commonly cited reason for not doing so is: None of their workers have reached the age of 62. But a sizable number of employers have also not thought about this issue, or do not see any need for such a measure.

These findings emerged in a retirement and re-employment practices report which was released by the Manpower Ministry. The ministry polled 3,200 private sector companies which employ over 800,000 workers.

The survey, conducted between last October and December, provides a good gauge of how companies view the issue of re-employment ahead of the legislation that will be put in place in 2012. It will compel companies to offer to rehire their workers beyond 62.

Commenting on the findings, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: 'We are quite encouraged by the progress of our efforts to improve the employment of older workers... but we must not become complacent.'

- The Straits Times