BLOGStreet, from JobStreet.com

Employment adjusting to new market dynamics

The latest Hays Asia annual salary survey says that employers and employees in Singapore who had grown accustomed to the broader candidate short market are now adjusting to a new market dynamic in which some sectors are experiencing a reverse scenario where there is a slowdown in jobs and an increase in available candidates.

Some of Hays Asia’s findings:

• Salary rises for accountancy and finance professionals continue at a rate of around 10 to 15 per cent.
• In the banking sector, while financially stable companies are still looking to secure top talent, salaries are expected to remain stable over the next 12 months. Salaries for experienced candidates in the insurance sector will continue to rise moderately particularly for those with strong business development skills
• Finance technology leads the way in utilizing contract staff to provide adequate support for projects nearing completion. Higher rates of pay are still available in pockets of the sector, particularly where specific skills are required on a short-term basis.
• Solid hiring in the IT sector is expected to continue into 2009 with the biggest salary winners being the technically skilled senior sales executives and managers with salary increases of 15 to 20 per cent over the last year.
• The effect of the economic downturn on salaries in almost every sector this year has been a stabilizing one. Dramatic salary increases have largely been replaced by modest salary increases, with very few instances to date of salary reductions in the Asia market.

As for demand, the human resources sector is looking at diversity in candidates with experience across a range of functions. However, strong demand is not expected to return until the second half of 2009. Sales and marketing candidates will find their skills to be in continuing demand. The IT&T sector is pushing demand and candidates with experience in product development and marketing communications will find opportunities.

New projects are uncertain in the construction and property sector. As for the oil and gas sector, companies are cutting allowances and emphasizing more on recruiting local staff. This is creating the dual effect of reducing salaries for expatriates while inflating locally trained remuneration.

Finally, Hays Asia has some advice for candidates looking to secure work such as:

• Be more flexible and prepare for a competitive recruitment process;
• Be mindful of cultural and job fit before accepting a role;
• Look towards long-term objectives such as career progression, job security and learning and development opportunities rather than short-term financial gain;
• Accept contracting and temporary jobs as an alternative to permanent jobs;
• Skills that will always be in demand, even in this current climate, are those of true specialists; Bilingual and multilingual candidates are best placed to compete in the current market.

Coping with Recession

For many, 2009 is approached with much caution and apprehension. A reminder of the worsening economic situation is always around the corner, with news splashed across the papers, blasted over the radio and discussed over meals. In fact, the government has just announced that Singapore is facing its worst-ever recession.

For the luckier ones who are employed, they are clinging on to their jobs with uncertainty for everyone knows the cruel reality that restructuring and downsizing exercises are inevitable occurrences during times of recession.

With that, JobStreet would like to share true life accounts contributed by some fellow Jobseekers on how they coped with recession and retrenchment...we are certain that they are stories many can identify with.

If you have been affected too by the current recession, or would like to share on your experiences, please leave a comment! Remember, you don’t have to be alone in this.

Best Regards,
JobStreet.com Singapore

 

Spotted the JOBSTREET TEDDY?

17 Jan 2009, Saturday

Sunny skies, gentle breeze, a perfect day indeed! Armed with excitement, we sprinted down to Orchard Road where the rest of the team had gathered. After a few fusses over the nitty gritty, finally, JobStreet Teddy was ready to make its first appearance.

“Mummy, LOOK!!! It’s a TEDDY BEAR!” a little girl squealed excitedly, as she ran towards Teddy for a big bear hug and a firm hand shake. In fact, she happily posed for her mother, as she whipped out a camera and clicked away.

Little did we realise that this would set the trend for the rest of the day. It seemed that Teddy’s appeal was not restricted to children alone. Teenagers, adults and tourists alike swarmed to snap a quick picture with our friendly bear. Even the drivers on the road stole a second look!

 
      

It was really heartwarming to see how Teddy magically inflicted people with smiles, laughter and childlike excitement with ease. Considering the current climate of our economy, coupled with depressing news that is splashed across the papers day after day, it was refreshing to notice the wide grins on everyone’s faces that day.

We wrapped up the day feeling exhausted yet extremely fulfilling. It was tremendous fun making new friends and inflicting loads of laughter among the crowd. This had indeed been an eventful day for all of us.

 

Did you witness this event? Let us know your thoughts!

Meanwhile, Teddy will be taking a well deserved break before revealing itself again. Check out this space for upcoming activities!

Till then,
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR
JobStreet.com Singapore

Be surveyed: How much time do you spend looking for a job?

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JECI Poll, Dec 2008

Another month has come and gone, and if there is any consolation where the JobStreet.com Employee Confidence Indices (JECI) are concerned, the steep falls in November were somehow checked in December.

Indeed among all the countries where we have been running the JobStreet.com ECI, the Index in the Philippines recovered and even posted a positive gain by bouncing back to 58.2 points from the previous month's 56.7 points.

Last week, a Bloomberg analysis quoted an economics expert in saying that the world will be in for a protracted U-shaped recession. With the world continuing to be beset by economic and financial concerns, how much of the job market will be affected and when will we finally see the start of some recovery?

In the meantime, Malaysia's JobStreet ECI in December fell minimally by 0.3 point to 47.3 points. In Singapore, the Index lost 0.8 point to 42.4 points while in India, the Index shed 1.4 points to 59.7 points.

Finally, here is a comparison of the JobStreet ECI in the four countries for December 2007 and 2008.  Apart from the Philippines where the year-on-year index showed a flat zero change, the indices in Malaysia, Singapore and India registered net declines as employee confidence in finding jobs were battered by bad news in the economy and job markets. Singapore's decline was the steepest with a 27 percent drop, followed by a 14 percent drop in India and a five percent in Malaysia.

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The JobStreet.com Employment Confident Index is a measurement of job seeker confidence in finding a job in the countries where we hold our monthly polls.

Survey: How stressful is your job?

Recently, we were running a quick poll on our website to ask visitors how stressful their jobs have become. 

We were expecting a bell-shaped curve with the majority of the respondents falling into the middle Stressful Enough or Just A Little Stress categories so the results were a surprise.

Of the 4,000 people that participated in the survey, more than 50 percent of them admitted that their jobs were extremely stressful.

At the other end of the scale, about 30 percent claimed that there was no stress in their jobs. Which left only about 20 percent of the survey takers falling in the two middle categories.

Good food for thought during this period where our local economies are caught up in the world's economic turbulence.

JECI Poll, Nov 2008

In all the countries where we have been running the JobStreet.com Employee Confidence Index, November was a particularly bad month with their respective indices experiencing significant falls.

In Malaysia, the JobStreet Employee Confidence Index fell by two points to 47.6 points in November. This is now the lowest that the JobStreet ECI had sunk since the beginning of the year.

Singapore found its job seeker confidence eroding even further as the JobStreet ECI there sank to its lowest point of 43.2 points since Nov 2005. 

In India, the JobStreet ECI went down by 1.4 points to 61.1 points while in the Philippines, their JobStreet ECI lost ground to 56.7 points after attempting to hold steady in the past few months.

The JobStreet.com Employment Confident Index is a measurement of job seeker confidence in finding a job in the countries where we hold our monthly polls.

Opportunity knocks in Singapore’s short-term employment market

A Hays Australia press release says that the global market uncertainty is creating opportunities for temporary and contract workers. In Singapore, temporary and contract recruitments are now more common as employers become aware of the value of short-term staffing options under these economic conditions.

The financial services sector is cited as an example, where line managers are considering this alternative to work around headcount freezes. In addition, temporary and contract staff have been found useful to supplement workloads during cyclical peaks. In the I.T. sector these candidates are hired for their additional expertise in completing projects tasks on time.

"Try before you buy" is the current catch phrase. Hays' general manager in Singapore, Chris Mead, said these staff could supplement and complement the skills of existing permanent staff to meet deadlines for specific projects and better manage staff workloads.

According to him, temporary and contract positions were traditionally filled locally but employers are now casting their nets wider to tap into a broader skill set. "These employers are now keen to take on international candidates," he said.

Temporary and contract staff can also provide emergency support, allowing the company to buy in skills to complete specific projects. "The best part is that these staff will hit the ground running, giving you immediate results for your investment."

The Hays report gave some additional benefits of short-term hires, such as:

• Avoiding paperwork as temporary staff hired through outsourced recruitment providers are not on company payroll,
• Overcoming short-term headcount issues by providing leave cover,
• The additional skill set can help to upskill existing staff, and
• The permanent staff can focus on core responsibilities without distraction.

There are also benefits to the temporary and contract staff as such roles allow them opportunities to work across a range of organisations and industries and gain a broader working experience. Work-life balance is also better managed as candidates are able to choose their own hours and work conditions. While many candidates prefer the stability of permanent work, this is offset by the opportunity for higher rates of pay than would be available for permanent roles.

Singapore economy may be hardest hit Asian economy

According to a news report that we've picked up, both the Singapore and Hongkong economies may be the hardest hit in this region as a result of the global slowdown and recession. Economists are saying that the technology, electronics and certain parts of the services sector in Singapore will be the most severely affected.

The Straits Times newspaper quoted CIMB-GK regional economist Song Seng Wun as explaining that the two economies were “the most exposed, most trading-oriented, with the least shelter from domestic consumption”. In fact, he added that Singapore was likely to face a double whammy from a slump in manufacturing and services.

OCBC Bank economist Selena Ling expects a bumpy ride for Singapore, especially for manufacturing and export-related industries. The services side will also "feel the impact of a slowdown as we are talking about job and wage cuts." DBS economist Irvin Seah added that financial and real estate would be affected by continued weakness in investor confidence, as will services like tourism and hotels and restaurants.

The general feeling is that this downturn will be the most severe since the 1981-82 recession. Opinions are still divided about recovery. Some are predicting that recovery may begin in the first half of next year while there are others who believe that the recession will be deep and long. "It could be the worst post-war recession," said Harvard University economist Jeffrey Frankel.

Whatever it is, we are in the same mind that it will be a bumpy ride for job seekers as well. A short survey that we were running recently suggested that job seekers are now likely to think long and hard about switching to another job even if the opportunity is good enough.

Employee confidence set to decline in Nov 2008

With only six days to go before the end of the month, the indication we have from our monthly JobStreet.com employee confidence index (JECI) that we run separately in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and India is that we are seeing an erosion in the measurement of job seeker confidence in finding a job.

In Malaysia, the JobStreet.com ECI has declined to around 47.5 which is a drop of about two points from October. India's JobStreet.com ECI will likely drop by about 1.5 points to around 61.0 while in the Philippines, the JobStreet.com ECI will also shed about two points to about 56.5.

We see Singapore as the hardest hit among the four countries that we run this monthly poll with a decline of almost 3.5 points to 43.2. Of course, while this is still not as low as the last recession in 2005, the steep decline from the 57.0 recorded only in February this year gives cause for concern that the global recession will have a significant impact on Singapore and the rest of this region.

We shall be giving the latest JobStreet.com ECI data here by early next month. Stay tuned.