Call for help.

Dear Reader

Sorry for the lack of updates recently.

I finally found some time off a busy schedule the past couple of months to pen (type?) down some thoughts, and I felt I needed to share what’s been on my mind.

Those people who know me personally would know that I used to be a consultant at an executive search agency. I probably represented the most mercenary of all creatures who walk the face of the corporate world, and I do admit, I was having a good time while I was still in the business, money-wise.

Up until some close friends of mine got retrenched, and then I realized I lacked the capacity to help them even though I thought I was a top biller in my industry, did it strike me that perhaps I had let the mercenary part of the business get the better of me. I could have been using my networks and contacts to be doing something more meaningful to help others, but I guess being selfish, and wanting to be comfortable myself, it didn’t occur to me that I could have used the skills that I picked up professionally to help those in need.

For the past months since March 2010 (last recorded activity here on Sponsor a Job), I joined another headhunting firm, and recently I decided to quit for good. It may sound crazy, but after 5 years of being a gun for hire, I decided to quit an industry where I was adept at and making good money—because honestly I am getting sick of what I was becoming.

I’ll be starting a new business venture in the media industry soon, and at the same time, I would like to make Sponsor a Job a more active venture than a passive cry for assistance.

Which brings me to my next point. I’m wondering if there are people out there who believe in what I hope to do and achieve with Sponsor a Job, and if anyone would be keen to join me on this little mission. Ultimately, I am a one-man band, but I think having more on board would mean we can make that little difference.

I am still pretty much a one-man crusade. I need more people to believe in what Sponsor a Job can do, and come on board to help me achieve the vision of helping those in need seek gainful employment—without asking anything in return.

Granted, I may not be able to garner a large team to help me on this, but even if it is just one or two individuals who are willing, I think it’s a good start, and I welcome anyone to join me in this.

If you are keen to be part of Sponsor a Job, please write me at roy.phang@yahoo.co.uk.

Everything else, I hope that 6 months down the road, Sponsor a Job can become a credible platform to help fellow Singaporeans in their quest for finding jobs in an increasingly crowded job market.

Sincerely,

R.P.

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.

 

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.

Higher salaries in SG in 2010.

Bigger S’pore pay packets in 2010.

Good news for those who are currently in the workforce, yes. But what about those who are still struggling to find jobs?

While companies polled in the Mercer survey were reportedly optimistic about salary increases and putting an end to salary freezes, only four in 10 said they were looking to expand headcounts again.  18 months after a major global financial crisis, and despite news of economic recoveries the world over, the fact remains that there are companies that are still retrenching staff, if you talked to enough industry players. Recovery does not mean stabilization, and we can expect to see companie failures in the midst of a somewhat cautious global economic recovery– and more people may be unemployed in 2010. [FT: US jobless claims show unexpected rise]

What most people do not understand is that it takes a while for the various economic stimulus by governments to work their magic, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see joblessness rates to rise in the interim before the economy stabilizes. Job creation is highest during periods of economic stability, not recovery.

Here’s a thought though: is this the right time to be thinking about salary increases? Or could employers have directed budgets designed for better pay packages for existing staff be better invested in job creation, or improving their existing productive capabilities, or the training of staff to ensure they are better able to value-add to their organisations?

Next, who benefits most from salary increases: the top 10% earners in the organisation, or the remaining 90%? A 3.2 per cent increment to someone earning $200,000 a year is markedly more than an employee earning $40,000 a year (i.e. $6,400 vs $1,280) and unless salary increases are structured such that the bottom earners see a larger salary increment compared to the top tier earners, it is still the top earners who benefits most.

During the crisis, many companies adopted a flat-rate salary reduction across all levels, and the reverse was true: the bottom earners felt the pinch, while for the top earners, the salary freezes didn’t make much of a difference to them based on relative purchasing power parities. Now that companies are planning to “reward” staff for their sacrifices during the crisis, it is still the top earners who stand to gain more in terms of nominal salary increases.

If prudence is the way to go as we come out of this financial crisis, I would think it is more meaningful for companies to put their budgets to better use by reinvesting in themselves and improve on their operational and productive capabilities, strengthen reserves, and perhaps create new jobs, rather than think about increasing salaries too soon.

 Related:

• Merkel: economic crisis not over yet
• Irish Times: jobless rate climbs to 12.4%
• India: All’s not well, yet

5.5% growth in 2010 means…?

Key Indicators: [Source: Statistics Singapore]

• GDP up 0.6% in Q32009
• CPI down 0.8% in Oct 2009
• Total Trade down 12.4% in Oct 2009
• Retail Sales down 11.8% in Sep 2009
• Index of Industrial Production up 3.6% in Oct 2009
• Total Population 4.99M in Jun 2009
• Employment 2.95M in Sep 2009
• Unemployment Rate (SA) 3.4% in Sep 2009
• Wages/Earnings (monthly average for quarter) S$3,562

It seems that despite the economic recovery ["Singapore declares its recession over"], unemployment is still pretty much a big concern in this country. We can always analyse the statistics and say things like “unemployment persist because of structural rigidities, especially since we recently came out of recession”, but try telling a PMET who had been retrenched and unable to find a job for the past 18 months just that, and see what kind of response you would get.

In a latest survey, private sector economists (from the financial institutions, obviously) projected optimistic figures for Singapore’s growth in 2010 – 5.5% [link here] but at the same time cautioned that economic growth will likely be “subdued”.

In all honesty, I don’t think the projected growth figures make sense to understanding and solving unemployment in Singapore– for one, you were polling fund managers and financial professionals whose agenda is more aligned towards making sure their clients’ financial portfolios remain attractive for them to stay invested. There has been a long-standing assumption that a recovery in the financial markets will always trigger actual economic activity and hence growth, but don’t be misled: it’s not always the case, even if the financial dudes in pin-stripe suits driving flashy cars and working from well-furnished offices continually try to convince you thus.

For one, consider the following sentence:

They are also counting on major economies stabilising so that consumer confidence can rebound and support manufacturing and export activity here.

Granted, we are an export oriented economy. It would then appear to make sense that if the major economies stabilise, consumer spending will necessarily increase, and with our manufacturing and export levels going up, it indirectly means more jobs to go around. Hurrah.

Take a good look at the words in bold– what these financial people (I don’t even want to call them economists) are telling you is this: we have no idea IF it happens but WHEN economies like the US and Europe recover, and we are very optimistic they will come back in a big way, the whole world will be happy once again. And please publish this in front-page news headlines so more people will purchase financial products. Past performance does not guarantee future performance–check with your banker to see how we fit you into a new “global economic recovery structured note (GERN)” that will target recovering economies.

And what then, for people hoping the economic recovery will bring about more employment opportunities? Well, more or less the response will be thus: Employment? Oh, don’t worry, because we have already said the economy will recover, you will find a job– I can’t gurantee what job, but you will have one. And oh, please go and invest in GERN– do your part, stimulate the economy. Past performance does not guarantee future performance, LISTEN to your banker…oh, you’re unemployed and can’t afford? Who cares then! I’m not a freaking charity, am I??

In Economics 101, we were taught that while GDP growth is a function of Consumer Expenditure, Investment, Government Spending and Net Exports, Consumer Expenditure takes up the large gist of the pie accounting for more than 70% in some economies. If you asked me, we’re better off having more Great Singapore Sales or putting up with more roadworks in Singapore to stimulate the economy than to count on the US, European and Japanese consumers buying made-in-Singapore products, or trying to get more people invested in pseudo-Ponzi schemes.

And here’s the thing: no job, no income, where got money to spend??

 

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

Unemployed for 12 mths, looking for career change in training

Hi,

I have been unemployed since Nov 2008. I have 14 years experience in Project Management and Customer Quality. I worked 3 years in Shenzhen China as Sect. Mgr Customer Quality before returning to Singapore in Dec 2007 after my contract expired. I am now looking for a career change in Training and Development. I completed the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) course in Jul 09. Currently I’m a freelance Trainer conducting Cover Letter & Resume Writing and Interview & Jobsearch skills course at South East CDC to help the unemployed better equip themselves to find a job.

I am looking for a full-time job to have a stable income. I’m able to facilitate training in soft skills such as communication, presentation and personal effectiveness skills as well as manufacturing skills in process and quality improvements.

If you know of any opportunities, do email me at tangim@singnet.com.sg. I would be glad to send you my Resume.

Thanks for your help.

Regards

Gim Leong

Step out of your comfort zones, Singaporeans!

Refer to the following letter from Mr Jeffrey Law in today’s MyPaper (Dec 11)

I REFER to the letter, “Pay too paltry in those jobs Singaporeans shun” (my paper,Dec 10).

Various reasons have been given for why Singaporeans are leery of certain jobs, and we should determine if they are valid.

A monthly salary of $1,000 is meagre in Singapore, where the cost of living is high, but, then, one should also consider the nature of the particular job.

It is not cost-effective to pay,say, a general worker in a coffee shop more than that amount.Ditto for a pump attendant at a petrol station.

Salaries are usually commensurate with the work and one’s skills, experience and qualifications

While it may sound cliched, a respectable company would not want to pay peanuts to get monkeys. Money aside, many Singaporeans dislike working shifts and irregular hours.

In our vibrant business environment,most companies such as banks and retail outlets operate long hours and even on weekends.

Gone are the days when most people worked from 9am to 5pm. As Singapore has progressed from Third World to First World, our mindsets should move in tandem with the rapid changes, lest we get left behind.

It is ludicrous to decline a job offer just because one has to travel to a remote area to work and travelling from one end of the island to the other should not be considered a bugbear.

Besides a good public-transport system, many companies also provide free transport for employees to and from work.
In neigbouring countries, it is common for workers and students to travel for two hours to their workplaces and schools. In other words, they leave home before dawn breaks and return home late.

The corporate world is becoming increasingly competitive and, unless Singaporeans emerge from their comfort zone, they will find it difficult to compete with foreigners for jobs.

MR JEFFREY LAW LEE BENG

Mr Law brought up some rather valid points in my opinion, and I have to agree to some of the views he brought up, while disagreeing with others. Incidentally, I don’t really like the use of the words “First World” and “Third World” to describe developed and emerging economies — the terms smack of colonialist prejudices, in my opinion.

That aside, I have to say that in my line of work, I am amazed sometimes when candidates tell me they reject a job offer because (as Mr Law points out) of the need to travel from, say Sengkang to Jurong East– some of these people drive, for goodness sakes, and it makes you wonder about the sincerity and commitment of these candidates. I also had candidates (both male and female) who tell me they don’t want to work in an environment that requires them to go out in the sun too often, and these are people who are supposed to be engineers!

However, I do disagree with viewpoints that perhaps people should be less fussy about salaries. Yes, most companies pay reasonably and commensurate with job expertise, experience and qualifications, but there is a huge difference between taking a 10-20% paycut, and a job that demands you do the exact same thing but only compensates the person 40% (or in excess) less than what they were paid previously. Case to highlight: I once had a candidate who was paid about $8,000 a month as a plant manager in a factory, but following the closure of his plant due to the economic downturn and bad business, decided to take up a position as an operations manager in another company that paid him $5,000 a month. When I presented him to a client, a renowned multi-national corporation, I was surprised that they overlooked his credentials and achievements and assessed him to be “worth” only $6,000 a month. I had thought that surely being an MNC, and in recognition of his contributions at his first company (he stayed there for close to 10 years), he would be offered something closer to his original $8,000 a month salary, but instead someone must have decided the pay-cut he took was an opportunity to pay “peanuts” to get a golden goose.

I would, however like to reiterate one point that Mr Law brought up to my fellow Singaporeans: foreign competition. Law Minister Mr K. Shanmugam commented in today’s Straits Times that “Singapore’s openness to foreigners enables the economy to thrive” [link here] and he was talking about how Singapore should join the “war for talent” to attract more talents into Singapore. What this means is that if Singaporeans do not step out of their “comfort zones” when it comes to jobs, there will always be that one foreign talent who will– and it would be a mistake to think these foreigners are necessarily less qualified or less experienced to want the jobs that Singaporeans shun.

[this post can also be found on my blog at http://sgheadhunter.wordpress.com]

Prejudice and bias.

What would you think of such a person: girl born to an unwed mother who’s a high school dropout, and growing up in one of the poorest rural neighbourhoods in the United States who later becomes pregnant at 14 after being raped, and having to endure other episodes of sexual abuse? Later on, she would face strong resistance and challenges in her career because of her looks and build, and succumbs to bouts of depression and substance abuse?

Surely you wouldn’t think or even believe such a person would ever have what we would call “a bright future”; fewer of us would have guessed right away that the person in question is one of America’s most influential African-American celebrities named Oprah Winfrey.

Some of us may ask who are we to judge, especially since none of us is perfect; prejudices and bias abound in the world we live in, and it’s not even a question of right or wrong—at one point or another, all of us are guilty of prejudice and bias—question we should be asking ourselves is more a case of how our prejudices would adversely affect that someone else we encounter or make a victim of.

What if our prejudice and bias have led directly or indirectly to someone either losing their jobs, or is being denied or deprived of an opportunity to seek employment?

Our biasness may extend beyond the cases of people with criminal records or have physical disabilities—anyone of us could potentially fall prey to discrimination or prejudice at the work place.

It’s easy for companies to wear a tagline that says “equal opportunity employer”—how many actually live up to that tag?

Here in Singapore, we have certain structures, legal statutes and tri-partite agreements that are designed to remove the elements of bias and discrimination and to ensure fair employment opportunities. Even so, it would be naïve to think such structures, rules and laws necessarily mean everyone and anyone who applies for jobs will be treated fairly—hiring managers and employers have their hiring preferences, and many don’t even relate to the job descriptions and hiring criteria already stated.

Let’s take a moment to think this through, and be honest: if you were an employer, and a candidate applies to an opening you have who has the right education qualifications or is sufficiently experienced, BUT is of a minority race or a particular nationality, has a juvenile criminal record, is an unwed single mother, or has a physical disability that renders certain inconveniences at the workplace, would you even think of granting that person a first interview?