Career Central takes a look at how the Singapore economy has fared in 2005, and more importantly, examines how its performance has affected jobs and wages for fresh graduates.

By Felicia Wong

Singapore’s economy has done very well last year. The latest figures released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reported an overall growth of 6.4% in GDP for 2005.

That robust performance has resulted in a buoyant mood among many Singaporeans, as there has been a very noticeable upswing in employment creation. According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the first quarter of 2006 saw employment growth of 45,000, double that of the 17,800 increase in the same period last year. This phenomenon is particularly noteworthy because employment creation traditionally tends to be sluggish in the first quarter of the year.

All major economic sectors saw substantial increases in employment, with the service sector accounting for the greatest number of new jobs created — 28,000 in the first quarter (Q1) of 2006.

On the other side of the coin, unemployment figures have also gone down. As of March 2006, the unemployment rate has stabilised at 3.4% for Singapore residents.

The figures also show that the trend towards the creation of “higher-quality” jobs continues unabated, with Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMET) accounting for 39% of all private sector job vacancies, which works out to a total of 8,200 openings.

Growth sectors
According to a survey of 2,300 executives from a range of industries, 56% of all Singapore-based companies plan to hire more staff in the third quarter (Q3) of 2006 (source: TheHudson Report, July to September 2006), the highest level in five years.

There is certainly a strong sense optimism sweeping through the job market this year. According to the Hudson Report, the following sectors show the most positive sentiments:

Banking and finance
The financial sector has always been a key pillar of Singapore’s economy. After going through a painful period of restructuring in response to industry liberalisation, the sector is now enjoying growth in retail and commercial banking, as well as wealth management. As a result, banks lead the way in terms of projected employment, with 66% of them anticipating new hires in Q3 of 2006.

Media, public relations and advertising
The buoyant economy has boosted advertising and marketing initiatives, which translates to 59% of media, public relations and advertising firms making plans to hire more staff in Q3.

As the recent World Cup has shown, media advertising is a huge business, but it has also become very fiercely competitive. The advertising industry is on the lookout for creative and account management professionals, while the PR industry wants to hire more consultants with IT experience.

Healthcare and life sciences
The healthcare and life sciences industry may be still be relatively young in Singapore, but it has already become a major regional hub, thanks in large part to Government action.

Major pharmaceutical firms such as Glaxo-Smith-Kline and Pfizer already have a major presence here, while medical tourism is becoming a significant growth factor for many private hospitals. The potential for growth is very high, and 57% of firms
have said that they expect to hire more people in Q3.

Infocommunications technology
Singapore continues to be the leading regional hub for information and communications technology. There are concerns that this status would be threatened by growing competition from China and India, but the IT industry has responded by moving up the value chain.

In this regard, Singapore holds a very powerful competitive advantage, as it has put in place a very tough intellectual property protection regime over the recent years. Growth therefore remains robust, with 54% of firms expecting to hire.

Manufacturing and construction
Without a doubt, Singapore’s economy has entered a mature stage, and is now overwhelmingly dominated by the service sector. Nonetheless manufacturing and construction still accounted for the creation of 16,700 new jobs in Q1 of 2006, so there is still clearly a need for many new people for these industries, particularly those with engineering backgrounds.

Sobering realities
Employment figures may have increased, but so have the number of working hours.

According to the Hudson report, 72% of respondents from a range of industries say they work more than 50 hours a week. The survey showed that professionals in the media, public relations and advertising industries work the longest hours, where 87% of respondents spend over 50 hours at work each week. Of these people, 40% work between 61 to 70 hours a week, and a substantial 14% work more than 70 hours!

Hours have also risen sharply for the those in consumer and hospitality services — one-third of people working in the fast-moving consumer goods, retail, tourism and hospitality industries work over 60 hours a week.

The banking and financial sector has long been notorious for very long working hours, but even this sector has reported a gradual increase. Middle and back office staff are clocking 50 hours a week, while 23% of client-servicing staff work more than 60 hours.

Not surprisingly then, the rate of job burnout is on the increase, most significantly in the media, public relations and advertising industries. The need for workers to achieve some kind of healthy work-life balance is no longer something to be taken lightly.

To this end, the Ministry of Manpower is spearheading an ambitious new scheme called the Work-Life Works! (WoW!) Fund. The Government is offering to co-fund as much as 70% of the costs incurred by employers for various work-life strategy projects, subject to a cap of $30,000 per organisation.

But this is a very new initiative that does not yet have an appreciable effect on the working crowd. For fresh graduates who are about to enter the current job market, the warning is clear — be prepared to slog it out, at least for the first few years of your new career.

Maiden foray
Putting aside the sobering news, happier figures show that nearly 92% of local university graduates found employment within six months of graduation, as indicated by MOM’s Report on Wages 2005, out of which 82.2% secured full-time permanent jobs. The mean starting salary for university graduates stands at $2,496 for 2005.

Law graduates topped the scale, averaging $3,905 in their starting salary. Medical school graduates were a close second at $3,746. Graduates from other schools such as the various engineering fields, business and accountancy all hovered between $2,000-$3,000 a month, while general Arts degree holders averaged just below $2,000.