Fresh grads have it tough

FRESH university graduates will face a tougher search for jobs and lower starting pay this year due to a hiring freeze and retrenchments brought about by the economic downturn.

Although some students have been getting job offers as early as seven months before graduation, the overall mood is downbeat.

While all three local universities - the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) - have yet to compile official employment statistics for the class of 2009, they are already preparing their students for the grim prospects.

'These are indeed challenging times, with fewer job opportunities for fresh graduates than in previous years,' said Mrs Ruth Chiang, director of career services at SMU. 'We have advised our graduates to be more realistic in their expectations and cast their nets wider.'

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OCBC staff get mobile with the new iPhone

Singapore - OCBC employees will now be able to telecommute more easily with access their corporate emails through the iPhone 3G, all paid for on the company's dime. This is the first of such corporate plans in Singapore's banking industry that revolve around the iPhone 3G.

Having access to real-time information on the go is becoming increasingly important, says Peter Koh who is head of technology infrastructure, group operations & technology of OCBC Bank. And with the iPhone's rising popularity, Koh says the bank thought it would be a good idea to leverage it as an office email device as well.

Doing so would also allow employees who already own other web mobile devices to merge into one singular device for their voice calling, web browsing and corporate email use.

Under the initiative, employees in the bank's Singapore, Malaysia, China and overseas branches will have to pay for the device and cost of the voice plan. However, the company will pick up the cost of the data plan, which is directly routed to the bank. Through this, employees will be able access their office email and sync their contacts, notes and calendar and carry out online banking transactions while on the move.

"Our employees can continue to enjoy the features and contents available on their iPhone without the need to carry another device in order to access office email," says Koh.

Furthermore, Koh says this is a win-win initiative for the bank and employees, as "the iPhone's subscription charges are lower than that for the BlackBerrry (by more than 50%)".

While Koh says the idea of using the iPhone for office emails was first brought up before the device was launched in Singapore, the company had to check its feasibility and compatibility with the office email systems to ensure data security. So far, Koh says the bank has received positive interest from employees and has received three application submissions within the first week of its launch.

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Handle employees under 35 with care

A boss who doesn't treat employees under 35 the way the organisation had initially promised them during job interviews will cause high staff turnover among that age group.

Dr. David S. Cohen, founder of human resources development firm Strategic Action Group, says these are "bad" managers who would give candidates "false hope" during the interview process by mismanaging their expectations. Things will get ugly when Gen Y candidates take on the job and they realise their expectations are not met. "People are going to be upset, disappointed and angry," he says. "If you are under 35, you'll definitely leave because you have confidence, you know you are going to be employed even in this economy downturn."

Hence, Gen Y employees do not quit because they don't like the company or they want more money, says Cohen. Gen Y employees will most likely jump ship to another job which pays less if they dislike their current managers. "They leave managers who didn't treat them the way they expect to be treated." He adds, "If you are unhappy at the company you are at, you will take a job for 10% less at somewhere else to be happy."

For Gen Y, money is simply not an issue, says Cohen, as long as they feel they are paid fairly. Then again, this principle applies to most of the generations in the workplace. "The reality is most people would not move their jobs even for 10% more if they are being treated right because it's better to be at the company you like and enjoy working at."

This is much preferable than taking a risk to join a new company which one is unfamiliar with and might not enjoy working at. Nevertheless, Cohen says employee retention is also dependent on the individual's career goals. "If the value proposition for the employee is development and development is taken out of the budget, they are going to go to another company for less money but which is offering development."

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2 in 5 companies foresaw need to cut wages in 2009

According to findings published by the Ministry of Manpower, two in five private establishments foresaw the need to cut wages in 2009 if conditions worsen. This was during the period in December 2008 when Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the quarter contracted over the year by 4.2%.

Meanwhile, companies with a Monthly Variable Component (MVC) in their wage structure were more confident of gaining their employees' acceptance of a wage cut, if it has to be implemented compared with establishments without MVC.

These were published in the 320-page 'Report on Wages in Singapore, 2008' published by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department.

Other key findings of the report include the following:

• Only a small minority (1.7%) of private establishments with MVC in their wage structure cut the component in 2008, as economic conditions deteriorated sharply only from the last quarter of 2008 when GDP contracted over the year by 4.2%.
• The top two common measures of wage cut are cutting the annual variable component (74% of establishments) and basic wage (47%), followed by MVC (15%) as the latter was weighed down by establishments without MVC.
• As of December 2008, 84% of the workforce in the private sector was under some form of flexible wage system, same as a year ago. Large establishments (employing 200 or more employees) continued to lead in the implementation, with the vast majority (90%) of their workforce having at least one key wage recommendation in their wage system, compared with 75% in small and medium enterprises.
• With the economic downturn and increased business costs in 2008, employers were more restrained in granting salary increases.
• Occupations requiring higher skills and knowledge continued to command higher wages. In June 2008, the median monthly gross wages was the highest for managers ($6,400), followed by professionals ($4,405) and associate professionals & technicians ($3,000). Clerical ($1,960) and sales & service workers ($1,849) were paid close to $2,000. Among blue-collar occupations, the production craftsmen ($2,137) and plant & machine operators ($2,009) were paid much more than the group of cleaners, labourers & related workers ($975).
• Wages are generally observed to rise with age as workers gain experience and skills and become more productive over the years. The pace of wage increase with age is more pronounced among managers and professionals as their work is generally more knowledge intensive.

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Companies in Asia ramping up workforce amid economic downturn

Companies in Asia are ramping up their workforce planning activities in response to the current economic downturn, according to a survey by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

The survey, released Wednesday, showed that more than seven out of every 10 companies in the region believe that workforce planning has become more important amid the current economic slowdown.

In fact, more than half have already begun to increase such activities within their organisations.

Workforce planning is the process by which an organisation aligns its workforce requirements to the business strategy using business analytics.

Although such planning is growing in importance, 60 per cent of those surveyed do not have a structured approach to workforce planning.

Instead, their attention is focused on immediate concerns like filling job vacancies, rather than longer term strategic issues relating to their workforce.

Asia Pacific Director of Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Group Russell Huntington said companies need to focus on longer term plans and review the capabilities needed in light of the current adverse business conditions.

He added that reducing employee costs cannot just be a numbers game, but should be a well thought-through, data-driven strategic exercise.


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12,760 jobs lost in Q1

TOTAL of 12,760 jobs were lost in the first quarter, government data showed on Monday, pushing Singapore's overall unemployment rate to a three-year high of 3.3 per cent.

The total employment fell by 6,200, the first quarterly contraction in nearly six years as the number of workers hired was lower than the number of workers who left their jobs. This was in line with the slowing economy, said the Ministry of Manpower in a statement on Monday.

Some 10,900 workers were retrenched, while another 1,860 had their contracts terminated prematurely, 36 per cent more than the 9,410 laid off in the last quarter of 2008.

Most of the cuts came from the manufacturing industry, which accounted for 72 per cent of the workers laid off, up from 55 per cent in December.

Cuts in the services and construction industry, however, were lower than the fourth quarter of 2008, falling from 40 per cent and 4.1 per cent to 25 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.

A total of 95,700 residents were unemployed in March, said MOM.

The number of people re-employed also fell, with only 51 per cent of those retrenched in Q4 2008 re-employed by March 2009, compared to 70 per cent in Dec 2008 and 67 per cent in March 2008.

Job vacancies fell for the third consecutive quarter to 21,000, down 20 per cent from December 2008 and 45 per cent from a year ago.

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Singapore civil servants ranked most efficient in Asia: survey

A business survey on 12 Asian cities found that civil servants in Singapore are the most efficient.

The survey, conducted by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), also found that Singaporean bureaucrats are unhelpful when things go wrong.

It is the third time Singapore took top spot in the survey, last conducted in 2007.

Hong Kong came in second, followed by Thailand, and India was last.

Over 1,200 expatriates working in these 12 Asian cities took part in the survey. - CNA /ls

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