SINGAPORE'S unemployment crept up to 2.1 per cent in the second quarter of this year, from a three-year low of 1.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
The Manpower Ministry, in releasing preliminary estimates, said the rise came as a result of slower job creation.
The 22,800 jobs created between April and June represented a 19 per cent fall from the previous quarter and is a second consecutive quarter-on-quarter decline in employment growth.
The services sector alone accounted for the drop, with new jobs in that sector falling from 26,500 to 18,800. Job creation picked up speed in the other two sectors - manufacturing and construction.
The Ministry estimates that 81,300 Singapore residents were unemployed as of June this year, up from 54,300 in March.
The figure reflects "the increase in job seekers as tertiary graduates entered the labour market and students sought employment during the mid-year school vacation", it said.
- The Straits Times
Jul 29, 2011
Jun 27, 2011
Job seekers need to keep realistic salary expectations
Recruitment firm Hays said candidates need realistic salary expectations or risk pricing themselves out of the jobs market.
That is because employers are being more cautiously optimistic and will not pay over market-rate salaries to potential candidates, regardless of their specialised skills.
General Manager of Hays in Singapore, Chris Mead, said employers will continue to invest heavily in talent as companies in Asia embark on a new leg of expansion in emerging markets.
At the same time, they are unwilling to consider candidates that they feel are pushing a salary agenda.
He said it is important for candidates to keep their salary expectations in line with the market as employers will only increase rates so far.
Mr Mead said the outlook in Singapore is positive for candidates who want career opportunities within global, progressive organisations - provided they remain realistic in terms of compensation and benefits.
However, there is one area that is bucking the trend.
Candidates who are are looking for specific jobs and in skill short areas can more or less choose their salary and package.
This includes those with digital or e-commerce marketing and brand management expertise.
Another example is the accountancy & finance sector, where employers view candidates as crucial hires with high-level exposure.
Employers are therefore willing to pay competitive salaries in most cases, although the rare skills these roles demand can often make the recruiting timetable longer.
Overall, Mr Mead advised candidates to be open to new opportunities and review their options in the market.
- Channel New Asia
That is because employers are being more cautiously optimistic and will not pay over market-rate salaries to potential candidates, regardless of their specialised skills.
General Manager of Hays in Singapore, Chris Mead, said employers will continue to invest heavily in talent as companies in Asia embark on a new leg of expansion in emerging markets.
At the same time, they are unwilling to consider candidates that they feel are pushing a salary agenda.
He said it is important for candidates to keep their salary expectations in line with the market as employers will only increase rates so far.
Mr Mead said the outlook in Singapore is positive for candidates who want career opportunities within global, progressive organisations - provided they remain realistic in terms of compensation and benefits.
However, there is one area that is bucking the trend.
Candidates who are are looking for specific jobs and in skill short areas can more or less choose their salary and package.
This includes those with digital or e-commerce marketing and brand management expertise.
Another example is the accountancy & finance sector, where employers view candidates as crucial hires with high-level exposure.
Employers are therefore willing to pay competitive salaries in most cases, although the rare skills these roles demand can often make the recruiting timetable longer.
Overall, Mr Mead advised candidates to be open to new opportunities and review their options in the market.
- Channel New Asia
Jun 24, 2011
10,000 to get skills upgrading by WDA
Some 10,000 port industry employees will stand to benefit from training and skills upgrading under the first Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) collaboration among industry players.
This was made possible by an agreement signed on Friday by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), PSA Corporation and Jurong Port.
The WDA said the framework will provide nationally-recognised and structured training and certification for port employees.
It will start with mobile equipment operators and lashing specialists whose job includes securing containers on vessels using lashing equipment.
Previously, industry employees took stand-alone courses accredited by parties such as the Ministry of Manpower and Institute of Technical Education.
Wong Hong Kuan, the Chief Executive of WDA said: "If they upgrade themselves and take on greater job responsibilities as their skill sets allow them to, and with the WSQ Framework, they can look at much better pay prospects and growth prospects as well."
The WDA said the industry has good job prospects and expects to create another 5,000 jobs in the next three years.
The agency has already committed some S$8 million to train about 10,000 workers over the next three years.
Labour chief Lim Swee Say commented:"Education background is just the starting point in our lives but it should not be the factor to determine our ending point in our lives.
Because along the way, we'll pick up new skills, new competencies, and develop a new attitude. So the WSQ system is skill-based, competency based."
- Channel News Asia
This was made possible by an agreement signed on Friday by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), PSA Corporation and Jurong Port.
The WDA said the framework will provide nationally-recognised and structured training and certification for port employees.
It will start with mobile equipment operators and lashing specialists whose job includes securing containers on vessels using lashing equipment.
Previously, industry employees took stand-alone courses accredited by parties such as the Ministry of Manpower and Institute of Technical Education.
Wong Hong Kuan, the Chief Executive of WDA said: "If they upgrade themselves and take on greater job responsibilities as their skill sets allow them to, and with the WSQ Framework, they can look at much better pay prospects and growth prospects as well."
The WDA said the industry has good job prospects and expects to create another 5,000 jobs in the next three years.
The agency has already committed some S$8 million to train about 10,000 workers over the next three years.
Labour chief Lim Swee Say commented:"Education background is just the starting point in our lives but it should not be the factor to determine our ending point in our lives.
Because along the way, we'll pick up new skills, new competencies, and develop a new attitude. So the WSQ system is skill-based, competency based."
- Channel News Asia
Jun 2, 2011
More professionals here likely to job-hop in next three months
More professionals in Singapore will be likely to job-hop in the next three months compared to their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.
The survey - which polled more than 2,800 workers - showed that 61 per cent of Singaporeans are looking to change jobs in the period ahead, compared to 57 per cent of professionals in Hong Kong, 56 per cent in Malaysia and 52 per cent in Thailand.
The figures indicate that professionals are optimistic about the job market, said Ms Andrea Ross, managing director at Robert Walters Singapore & Malaysia. However, the challenge will be ensuring that appropriate roles are available, she added.
And with so many professional looking to move, employers will likely face an increase in staff turnover and greater pressure to retain their top talent.
The poll also revealed that among the respondents from Singapore, 24 per cent are hoping to move jobs in the next 3 to 6 months, 7 per cent of respondents are hoping to move in the next 6 to 12 months, and 8 per cent are looking to move in 12 to 18 months.
- TODAY newspaper
The survey - which polled more than 2,800 workers - showed that 61 per cent of Singaporeans are looking to change jobs in the period ahead, compared to 57 per cent of professionals in Hong Kong, 56 per cent in Malaysia and 52 per cent in Thailand.
The figures indicate that professionals are optimistic about the job market, said Ms Andrea Ross, managing director at Robert Walters Singapore & Malaysia. However, the challenge will be ensuring that appropriate roles are available, she added.
And with so many professional looking to move, employers will likely face an increase in staff turnover and greater pressure to retain their top talent.
The poll also revealed that among the respondents from Singapore, 24 per cent are hoping to move jobs in the next 3 to 6 months, 7 per cent of respondents are hoping to move in the next 6 to 12 months, and 8 per cent are looking to move in 12 to 18 months.
- TODAY newspaper
Apr 26, 2011
Fewer layoffs, but manufacturing still vulnerable
FAR fewer workers lost their jobs last year as the economy recovered, but Singapore's manufacturing sector workers remain vulnerable to layoffs, according to a Manpower Ministry report yesterday.
It showed that 9,800 workers were laid off last year, a significant drop from the 23,430 who lost their jobs in the recession year of 2009.
The rate of layoffs - at 5.7 workers for every 1,000 employees - was also the lowest since the ministry's Redundancy and Re-employment data series began in 1998.
In fact, the manufacturing sector, which was hard hit by the 2009 recession, recorded the largest drop in the number of workers laid off. This came mostly from the electronics, machinery and transport equipment sectors.
Yet, manufacturing workers are still more likely to be retrenched or have their contracts terminated early, the report said.
Last year, 12 workers were laid off for every 1,000 employed in manufacturing. This compares with 3.5 for services and 5.4 for construction.
- The Straits Times
It showed that 9,800 workers were laid off last year, a significant drop from the 23,430 who lost their jobs in the recession year of 2009.
The rate of layoffs - at 5.7 workers for every 1,000 employees - was also the lowest since the ministry's Redundancy and Re-employment data series began in 1998.
In fact, the manufacturing sector, which was hard hit by the 2009 recession, recorded the largest drop in the number of workers laid off. This came mostly from the electronics, machinery and transport equipment sectors.
Yet, manufacturing workers are still more likely to be retrenched or have their contracts terminated early, the report said.
Last year, 12 workers were laid off for every 1,000 employed in manufacturing. This compares with 3.5 for services and 5.4 for construction.
- The Straits Times
Mar 21, 2011
Class of 2010: More jobs, better starting pay for grads
WITH the economic recovery, the Class of 2010 from the three local universities is reporting higher employment rates and better starting salaries compared to graduates from the year before.
In particular, graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) last year had a record employment rate of 99.9 per cent and higher starting salaries across five of the university's degree programmes, surpassing the performance of graduates in 2009, when 96.8 per cent found employment.
At the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), about 90 per cent found jobs within six months.
These were among the findings of the Graduate Employment Survey just released by the Education Ministry.
The average monthly salary among SMU graduates in full-time jobs was $3,271, an improvement of 5.8 per cent over 2009's figure of $3,093 - it is also the highest for SMU graduates since its first cohort graduated in 2004.
In addition, the top 20 per cent of its graduates, usually those working in financial institutions, took home an average salary of $5,062. There were some among the 125 top-earners who were paid up to $13,000 a month.
- The Straits Times
In particular, graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) last year had a record employment rate of 99.9 per cent and higher starting salaries across five of the university's degree programmes, surpassing the performance of graduates in 2009, when 96.8 per cent found employment.
At the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), about 90 per cent found jobs within six months.
These were among the findings of the Graduate Employment Survey just released by the Education Ministry.
The average monthly salary among SMU graduates in full-time jobs was $3,271, an improvement of 5.8 per cent over 2009's figure of $3,093 - it is also the highest for SMU graduates since its first cohort graduated in 2004.
In addition, the top 20 per cent of its graduates, usually those working in financial institutions, took home an average salary of $5,062. There were some among the 125 top-earners who were paid up to $13,000 a month.
- The Straits Times
More found jobs; higher salaries
WITH the economic recovery, the Class of 2010 from the three local universities are reporting higher employment rates and better starting salaries compared to graduates from the year before.
In particular, graduates from the Singapore Management University(SMU) last year had a record employment rate of 99.9 per cent and higher starting salaries across five of the university's degree programmes, surpassing the performance of graduates in 2009, when 96.8 per cent found employment.
At the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, about 90 per cent found jobs within six months.
These were among the findings of the Graduate Employment Survey just released by the Education Ministry.
The average monthly salary among SMU graduates in full-time jobs was $3,271, an improvement of 5.8 per cent over 2009's figure of $3,093 - it is also the highest for SMU graduates since its first cohort graduated in 2004.
In addition, the top 20 per cent of its graduates, usually those working in financial institutions, brought home an average salary of $5,062. There were some among the 125 top-earners who were paid up to $13,000 a month.
- The Straits Times
In particular, graduates from the Singapore Management University(SMU) last year had a record employment rate of 99.9 per cent and higher starting salaries across five of the university's degree programmes, surpassing the performance of graduates in 2009, when 96.8 per cent found employment.
At the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, about 90 per cent found jobs within six months.
These were among the findings of the Graduate Employment Survey just released by the Education Ministry.
The average monthly salary among SMU graduates in full-time jobs was $3,271, an improvement of 5.8 per cent over 2009's figure of $3,093 - it is also the highest for SMU graduates since its first cohort graduated in 2004.
In addition, the top 20 per cent of its graduates, usually those working in financial institutions, brought home an average salary of $5,062. There were some among the 125 top-earners who were paid up to $13,000 a month.
- The Straits Times
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