According to a recent poll we conducted, most people agree with the government’s latest move to raise foreign worker levies in order to curb the influx of foreigners in Singapore.

However, is it really the best solution in the long run? Users of the JobsCentral Forum have an interesting variety of opinions on the issue. Botakboy89 agrees with the government that “if access to labour is too easy, companies will have little incentive to invest in productivity improvements, which will affect (their) efforts to upgrade the skills and wages of lower-income Singaporean workers”.

On the other hand, Whistler thinks that “they (employers) will go overseas if their operations become too expensive, meaning less jobs for Singaporeans, especially if Singaporeans don't have the right skill sets”.

Other hot topics on the JobsCentral Forum currently include:

females reach certain age, hard to find job? is it a bad thing 2 keep chnging job?
How to NOT put on weight @ work
Too old for a degree?
Should i call up the interviewer?

So check out these hot topics and share what YOU think with other jobseekers and working professionals today!

Companies Focus More on Career and Personal Progression of Their Staff

The Ministry of Manpower today issued its Employment Situation report for the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q2009). With the economy firmly on the recovery track, job creation continued to rise as unemployment shrank. Total employment is estimated to have grown by 38,700 in 4Q2009, much higher than the gains of 14,000 in the earlier quarter.

For the whole of 2009, total employment jumped by 38,800 as job gains in the second half of the year more than offset the losses in the first half. With the strong employment growth, unemployment improved significantly to 2.1% in December 2009 from 3.4% in September 2009.

The bulk of employment gains came from services, which added 32,100 workers in 4Q2009. According to Robert Half Singapore, this was supported by hirings within the finance sector, boosted by increasing demand for permanent hires as companies recognise their importance in riding out a downturn. Robert Half also observes that organisations are now also looking to invest more heavily in the personal and career progression of their employees as they seek to retain their best people amid the fast-recovering job market.

The following are comments by Mr Tim Hird, Managing Director of Robert Half Singapore.

Singapore employees recognise the importance of a global workforce but are not adequately trained for it, according to a survey by recruitment agency Kelly Services.

Nine in ten workers agree that being more globally oriented in the way they work is important for their career prospects. Over 3,000 workers in Singapore responded to the survey.

However, figures show that the younger generation is not well-equipped with the skills to deal with a diverse work environment. Only 69% of the Gen Y respondents (18-29 years old) felt that they have the skills to work with people of different nationalities and cultures, as compared to 88% of the Gen X (30-47 years old) and 86% of the baby boomers (48-65 years old).

“Generally, older employees have greater exposure and working experience in their fields. Hence, they are more equipped to interact with their foreign counterparts from different countries and cultures, whereas Gen Y employees are still in the early stages of their career and need to build a more solid foundation in the workplace,” explains Asia Pacific Senior Vice-president of Kelly Services, Mr Dhirenda Shantilal.

Also, 52% of the respondents said that they are not receiving the training they need to deal with other cultures. This makes Singapore fall behind other Asian countries like India (34%), Malaysia (41%) and Hong Kong (50%) in terms of preparing workers for a global workforce.

The private education sector in Singapore has been growing swiftly over the past decade. However, recent events have led to much scrutiny of the sector, and calls to raise the standards of private education institutions here.

In light of these developments, which are the preferred private schools in Singapore currently? Who are the people interested in pursuing further education and why do they want to do so? Which are the most popular courses and how much are they willing to spend on their next level of qualification? What are the key factors of consideration when deciding which institution to apply for?

The JobsCentral Learning Survey Report answers these questions and more.

With 7,761 respondents, we believe this is the largest and most comprehensive private education survey in Singapore. Packed with interesting information and insightful analyses, this is a survey report that all prospective students and stakeholders of private education institutions will not want to miss.

CLICK HERE to download a complimentary (regular price: S$3,300) copy of the Survey report.

To find out more about academic and professional development courses, visit JobsCentral Learning here.

4/1/10

Poll Results: Do you think that university graduates have unrealistic career expectations?


“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations” – Edward de Bono

“The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations” – Eli Khamarov

Unrealistically high expectations may eventually lead to greater unhappiness.

21/12/09
Poll Results: How much bonus are you expecting to get this year?

219 respondents responded to our poll on the number of months of bonus they expect to get this year. Results of the poll indicate mixed sentiments as 2009 draws closer to an end. While close to 4 in 10 (39%) do not expect to receive any bonus this year, one-third (33%) expect to receive about 1-2 months' bonus. 14% expected to receive less than 1 month’s bonus while 14% expect more than 3 months’ bonus.

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About half of the respondents (51%) who voted in our poll feel that stricter penalties should be imposed on employers who discriminate pregnant staff. On the other hand, slightly over a third (35%) felt that subsidies should be given to employers to help companies to cope when their staff gets pregnant. Only 13% were for the idea of raising awareness of employees' rights via campaigns.

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Pregnancy-related complaints have been on the rise lately and it seems that Singaporeans prefer a more pragmatic approach of implementing penalties in order to deter employers from discriminating against pregnant staff or denying them their proper compensation. Subsidies to help employers tide through and cope with the rising costs of hiring additional staff is the next most popular choice of action while raising awareness of staff's rights takes the backseat here.

If you have something to say about this issue, tell us what you think on the JobsCentral Forum here: http://forum.jobscentral.com.sg/showthread.php?p=9660#post9660

Out of a total of 330 votes, three-quarters (75%) agreed that most scholars today have poor attitudes. 11% disagreed while the remaining 15% were unsure. This response comes after Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Mr Eddie Teo gave a speech on "Defending Scholarships but not all Scholars" at the Singapore Seminar 2009 in London. In his speech, Mr Teo spoke of some examples of bad behavior exhibited by a handful of young scholars which invited the general public's criticism of scholarships and expressing the desire to end the scholarship system altogether.

Out of a total of 253 votes, 84% feel that employers should not have the option of cutting pay for workers aged 60 and above. 11% agreed that employers should have the option while 5% were unsure. Despite the Government's recent announcement that the option to cut pay for workers aged 60 will stay, the large majority have differing opinions on this issue.