Singapore banks on hiring binge: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_475246.html

But are they a little too trigger-happy in their approach, given how the global financial sector is still “fragile” according to the chairman of the FSB?

Let’s not create a situation where we over-hire, and then let go of headcounts when things take a dip along the way, shall we?

Product Packing and Mechanical Technician (Permanent role)

Global broadcasting and digital television equipment company seeking experienced individuals for the position of Product Packing & Mechanical Technician (permanent role)

Details:

• 5 day workweek, 9.30am – 6.30pm
• Reporting to the Manufacturing Manager
•  Product packing for shipment
•  Receiving of incoming parts
• Product mechanical assembly
• Inventory material count
• Product testing
• NITEC or Higher NITEC (mechanical or electronic)
• requires an organized person with good workmanship
• basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel is required

Interested applicants, please contact Roy at roy@thomas-j.com

Under-employment among older PMETs becoming an uptrend in Singapore

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

SINGAPORE: 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.

“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. – CNA/vm

We do know for a fact that PMETs were the hardest hit in the recent economic downturn– in my line of work, I come across many PMETs who have been unemployed for up to 18 months, falling into the category of the chronic unemployed.

While efforts are being made on the part of the government, particularly with training initiatives, the fact remains that the employability of PMETs in the coming year and beyond have more to do with economic outlook and confidence more than the skills and competencies of the individual: if companies are still not optimistic in their hiring, PMETs will continue to face challenges in terms of finding and securing new jobs.

Granted, the economic outlook according to the folks in the financial sector is optimistic for 2010, but until such optimism is translated into expanding productive capabilities, particularly in the manufacturing and technology sectors, I’m not so sure if this necessarily means a lowering of the unemployment rate next year.

For now, we can only hope for the best. While the partying goes on tonight to mark the start of 2010, let us all say a little prayer in our hearts that things will indeed be better, and may those who found the going tough in 2008 and 2009 find some glimmer of hope…and a new job.

 

Labour movement gears up to go on the offensive to cut unemployment in 2010

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

SINGAPORE: It’s been a tough year on the jobs front as the global recession took its toll on Singapore’s economy.

But after a year of defensive moves designed to save jobs and prevent mass retrenchments, the labour movement is set to go on the offence next year.

It aims to reduce unemployment to below three per cent in 2010 and get to full employment as soon as possible.

Currently the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2009 stands at 3.4 per cent.

Labour Chief Lim Swee Say said that Singapore has still performed comparably better than other parts of the world as it cut costs to save jobs and introduced schemes like Jobs Credit and Spur training.

Through the Employment and Employability Institute, about three in five jobseekers, or about 16,000, were placed in jobs and of these more than 60 per cent moved across industries.

Looking forward to the end of the year, the labour movement is hopeful that retrenchment figures will round up at 20,000 which is lower then the figures for the two previous downturns of 26,000 in 2001 and almost 30,000 in 1998.

Going forward, the labour movement also hopes to focus on three areas to boost employment next year, including among professionals, managers, executives and technicians or PMETs.

Mr Lim said: “At the end of the day, we hope re-employment rate in Singapore can be further increased, the structural employment can be further reduced and under-employment among the middle aged PMETs can be further avoided through re-skilling, re-training.”

One issue next year for firms used to getting help in keeping jobs is the withdrawal of the Jobs Credit scheme by June.

Mr Lim said the scheme is not a sustainable long-term solution and that businesses need to transform themselves to become more productive.

Still, he was hopeful that the Economic Strategies Committee or ESC report, due next month, would offer targetted help.

He added: “In the case of Jobs Credit, it applies to all companies big and small, all industries. In the case of ESC, we will expect that some of the incentive programmes will be targeted at companies that are committed to upgrade their abilities, to expand capacity.”

The Jobs Credit Scheme had previously been criticised as being too blunt a tool.

The Spur training scheme though, will remain in place for the year as Mr Lim said the bottleneck for next year is more likely to be skills development rather than job creation. – CNA/vm

2010 job market outlook remains bleak

Massive recovery of employment market not expected next year
[Source: ChannelNewsAsia]

SINGAPORE: It has been one of the worst recessions Singapore has faced since independence and the nation has taken several approaches to tackle it.

The government, employers and workers have made a collective effort to cut costs and save jobs. And for the first time, Singapore has drawn on its past reserves to fund a major resilience package.

The economic downturn started in the middle of 2008 and the economic situation worsened as it spilled over into the new year. The government responded by bringing the Budget forward to January 2009, announcing a S$20 billion resilience package.

Liang Eng Hwa, deputy chair, Government Parliamentary Committee (Finance and Trade and Industry), said: “We need to build more resilience in the economy so that in the event there is another downturn of this magnitude, Singapore will not be that badly affected. Secondly, this crisis also drives home the point that we need to maintain high reserves and have a strong fiscal position.”

With the use of past reserves, the Jobs Credit scheme was launched to help companies reduce labour costs and save jobs through cash grants. The scheme has been extended for six months till June 2010.

More than S$3.6 billion of Jobs Credit would have been paid out by the government after its fourth payment on December 24. Another two, stepped-down payments in March and June 2010 will cost the government another S$675 million.

“The six months, hopefully, will be helpful to companies as they start to build new orders for the businesses, find new markets and if need be, further restructure the business so that they can stay viable for the long term,” said Mr Liang.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and NTUC’s secretary-general, Lim Swee Say, said: “For Singapore, we are already looking beyond Jobs Credit because we know Jobs Credit is not here to stay. So the tripartite partners are now working very closely… asking ourselves how we can be cheaper, better and faster.

“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.

“The good news is that many countries are thinking along the same way, but in Singapore, we are one step ahead of them. That’s because the trust and unity among the tripartite partners during the downturn were not weakened but in fact, further strengthened. As a result, come 2010, the tripartite partners are able to run together, ahead of the competition elsewhere.”

The Economic Strategies Committee was formed earlier this year to focus on developing and recommending strategies to grow Singapore’s future as a leading global city in the heart of Asia. Its report is expected to be released at the end of January 2010.

Mr Liang said: “I have spoken to many business people and they have told me that they prefer to have a more steady growth, even though the growth may be at a lower rate, as opposed to high growth where there will be volatility.

“Businesses want to have some stability and certainty so that they can plan for the longer term. Excessive volatility tends to attract a risk premium to the business and thereby increasing overall costs.

“I would hope that the next phase of growth would be smart growth. In the last three to four years, we have seen strong growth in our economy. While it is good to have strong growth, it has also caused other problems. We have seen bottlenecks in certain segments of the economy, we have seen costs risen and that has led to inflationary pressures, eroding our competitiveness.

“I think we have to be careful where our bottlenecks and constraints are, and identify our comparative advantages, play on our niches so that we can have targeted growth where there is potential.”

Also witnessing its fair share of ups and downs is Singapore’s labour market, which has seen some improvements in the past few months.

Even though Singapore’s economy appears to be recovering, the Ministry of Manpower said it will take some time before its employment situation stabilises.

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: “One main reason is that many of the employers have held on to excess workers in the recession because of the various measures we have put in. Therefore, as the economy recovers, many of these employers will tap on the excess manpower and capacity that they have before they start to expand and recruit new workers.

“Recruitment and employment opportunities will typically lag behind economic recovery and therefore it is important for us to take that into account while the economy recovers. Over the next twelve months, we expect the employment market to remain more or less stable, but we do not see a massive recovery of the employment market.

“It is important for us to continue to help workers who are affected as it will take some time for them to get back to the job market. It is important for us to continue to train them and give them skills.

“It is also important to remember that many of the new opportunities that are coming along after the recovery will be new investments and they will have new skill sets. So we have to prepare our workers, train them and upgrade them so that they will be able to tap the new opportunities.”

Asked about some of his key concerns for workers as Singapore recovers from the global downturn, Mr Gan explained that he is always worried about the employment of workers.

He said: “At the moment, we have some 20,000 jobs which are immediately available on our database. We have 14,000 job-seekers on our register and this has come down significantly from the peak.

“Theoretically, they should match each other and we should have excess jobs short of workers. But we could not match them because of a variety of reasons. Skills mismatch is one – therefore training is one – and expectation is another factor.

“We need to send some of these workers for career counselling so that they would have a realistic expectation as to what kind of jobs they can do. It is also important to enhance their basic employability skills.

“Some of them have not worked in a big company before, so interpersonal skills, how to deal with your superior and peers are important employment skills… 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.”

For 2010, Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry has forecast economic growth of between 3 and 5 per cent.

Would like those formerly from medical devices/healthcare industries to get in touch with me: headhunter@asia.com

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 on Tuesday.

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.

Kor Kian Beng, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times (16 Dec 2009)

Interview cancelled, but why?

A friend of mine who has a hearing-impairment problem was supposed to have an interview with Xilinx on Wednesday, and he had been looking forward to a change in his career after spending 10 years with his company.

The friend of mine currently works as an operations executive, and the position he applied for with Xilinx was for Data Analyst. The position is a lot different from what he was doing, but I had advised him to go for it, as it may represent an opportunity for a different job scope that enhances his work experience.

On Friday, he was supposed to send over an application form and confirm his attendance at the interview, and it was there and then he was told the interview was cancelled, and that “the position is closed”. We went to check out the Xilinx job posting on JobsDB.Com, and it’s still listed as open [see link here]

Now, in my years of headhunting, I have never come across a company that says it’s interested in interviewing a candidate one moment, and in a matter of 2 days, before you even met the candidate you scheduled to meet, says the position is closed and the interview is cancelled.

Here’s the email correspondence forwarded to me by my friend (names omitted):

 

—– Forwarded Message —-
From:
To:
Sent: Fri, December 11, 2009 4:40:07 PM
Subject: RE: Cancelled: Your interview confirmation – 16 Dec’09 (Wed) 3pm – Application for Data Analyst (Code :IRC42049)

The position is closed.

---

From:
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 4:20 PM
To:
Subject: Re: Cancelled: Your interview confirmation – 16 Dec’09 (Wed) 3pm – Application for Data Analyst (Code :IRC42049)Hi,May I know the reason for this cancellation?
Please do feel free to be frank as it would help me to fine tune my job search.

With best regards,

---

From:
To:
Sent: Fri, December 11, 2009 9:20:12 AM
Subject: Cancelled: Your interview confirmation – 16 Dec’09 (Wed) 3pm – Application for Data Analyst (Code :IRC42049)HiI am sorry that this appointment has to be cancelled.

Please feel free to browse our website for other positions.  If you found another position you are keen on, please re-send your resume to jobs@xilinx.com .

Thanks & Best regards,

---

From: Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 8:59 AM
To:
Subject: Re: Your interview confirmation – 16 Dec’09 (Wed) 3pm – Application for Data Analyst (Code :IRC42049)Hi,Thank you for confirming the interview timing.
I have completed the job application form and attached it in PDF format with this email.

With best regards,

---

From:To:
Sent: Thu, December 10, 2009 3:36:21 PM
Subject: Your interview confirmation – 16 Dec’09 (Wed) 3pm – Application for Data Analyst (Code :IRC42049)Hi,

Your interview with Xilinx has been scheduled on 16 Dec, 3pm at:

Please print and complete the attached application form.  Thereafter, please scan and send it back to me.  If you do not have a scanner, please bring the form on the day of interview.  Alternatively, you may arrive 10min before the interview to get a copy from our reception and fill it up at our place.

• Do a registration at main lobby and the security will bring you up to the 4th floor 

First World country,First World work terms

Reader’s reponse in today’s mypaper (14 Dec 2009)

I REFER to the letter, “Jobseekers must leave comfort zone” (my paper, Dec 11).

The writer mentioned that,as Singapore has moved from Third World to First, the mindsets of Singaporean workers
should move in tandem.

Hence, Singaporeans should not take working regular hours or high pay for granted, so that they can remain competitive relative to foreign workers.

This line of argument is mistaken.

Developed countries move towards greater work-life balance and higher standards of living.

An example would be France, which has moved towards a 35-hour work week and better benefits for mothers, with four months’ maternity leave.

To align our expectations of pay and work-life balance with those of foreign workers from Third World countries is for our society to move backwards.

Another example would be Australia, where labour policies dictate that employers must show evidence that no citizen is able to fill a vacancy before a foreigner can be hired.

In addition, certain jobs which are considered by Singapore employers to be menial, thus leading them to hire “monkeys for peanuts” (such as pump attendants, construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, postmen, cleaners and sanitation workers), are considered respectable in Australia.

This is because over there, the contribution of such workers is not measured solely in monetary terms.

Menial workers in Singapore are not well-paid as many are not academically well-qualified. Ignoring such workers’ intangible contributions and rewarding them based solely on academic qualifications is unfair.

After all, if there should come a day when office workers are all stuck at home without their access to computers for a week because of some crisis, there may well be little disruption to our daily lives.

Compare this with what could unclog sinks and toilets for a whole week.

Also, if we insist that Singaporeans should be able to compete with foreign workers by expecting less pay, longer hours and poorer work conditions, there will definitely be citizens who cannot compete, such as mothers who cannot work long hours because of family commitments, and older workers.

If a business in a First World country is not earning enough to provide decent incomes and First World working conditions for its employees, then it is not a sustainable business by First World standards.

MS ELLEN TAN

IT company looking for sales staff

Hi all:

Posting this for a friend of mine who runs an IT-start-up.

PortalOne Pte Ltd  is a IT start-up looking for people who are passionate about what they do and motivated in achieving excellence because they want to grow themselves continually. PortalOne Pte. Ltd. currently runs a premier motoring and mapping service online portal, oneshift.com, focused on empowering drivers in Singapore.

Accounts Manager (Sales)

Your responsibility requires you to lead a team of sales people (account executives), hold key accounts, develop, and strategize sales plans, executing them with the help of the team. You should be an excellent communicator, a team player and possess a keen eye for marketing opportunities. You should be interested to meet new people and have a positive, go-getter attitude. You will assist and report directly to the Managing Director.

Requirements

• Min.3 years experience in sales or related account servicing positions.
• Experience with online media ad sales is highly advantageous.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• Internet aware and PC literate.

Job Scope and Responsibilities:

• Plan and strategize pricing and promotional plans to achieve targets.
• Motivate and track the performance of the sales team.
• Develop fresh sales leads and maintain key client relationships.
• Possess keen deal-making and opportunity-spotting acumen

Account Executive / Manager – Oneshift.com

Your responsibility requires you to actively meet people to talk about our publications and maximise/sell banner ad spaces and suggest activities to support an effective marketing campaign. – Meet and maintain relationships with existing clients. Prospect for new clients and create new working opportunities. You should have an interest in meeting new people, speak and write articulately, keen eye for marketing opportunities and have a go-getter attitude.

Requirements

• Min. 1 year experience in sales or related account servicing positions.
• Experience with media ad sales is advantageous
• Good written and spoken communications skills
• Internet aware and PC literate.

Job Scope and Responsibilities:

• Develop and establish sales leads
• Research, understand and develop marketing proposal plans for clients
• Making the case and closing advertising deals.
• Maintain client relationships and following-up.
• Possess keen deal-making, opportunity spotting acumen.

Accounts Manager (Sales)

Your responsibility requires you to lead a team of sales people (account executives), hold key accounts, develop, and strategize sales plans, executing them with the help of the team. You should be an excellent communicator, a team player and possess a keen eye for marketing opportunities. You should be interested to meet new people and have a positive, go-getter attitude. You will assist and report directly to the Managing Director.

Requirements

• Min.3 years experience in sales or related account servicing positions.
• Experience with online media ad sales is highly advantageous.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• Internet aware and PC literate.

Job Scope and Responsibilities:

• Plan and strategize pricing and promotional plans to achieve targets.
• Motivate and track the performance of the sales team.
• Develop fresh sales leads and maintain key client relationships.
• Possess keen deal-making, opportunity spotting acumen.

Work Location: Hong Kong Street (Opposite Clarke Quay MRT)

All applicants should be diploma holders and above. Singaporean Citizens or PR.

Send in your resume to: hr@portalone.com.sg