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.