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Employment in Singapore grew by 57,800 in the third quarter this year, according to preliminary estimates by the Manpower Ministry. The growth was lower than the gains of 71,400 in the preceding quarter and 58,600 in the third quarter of 2007.
After rising for two straight quarters, the overall jobless rate remained at a seasonally-adjusted 2.2 per cent in September, unchanged from June this year but higher than 1.7 per cent in September 2007.
Job growth was strongest in the construction sector. With a strong pipeline of building projects, construction employment grew by 16,400 in the third quarter of 2008, but lower than the record 22,400 gains in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the services sector added 36,200 jobs, lower than the gains of 38,300 in the second quarter but higher than 34,100 in the third quarter of 2007.
Demand for IT workers in Hong Kong and Singapore was strong in the third quarter of 2008, even as companies posted fewer recruitment ads in the two markets, a new study revealed.
The Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q3 2008 released Thursday showed a decline in job advertisements over the previous quarter.
Announcing the index, the professional recruitment agency noted in a press release that while July and August are traditionally quieter months since key decision makers are usually away during this period, this year's third quarter was also impacted by the global financial crunch. The crisis reached its peak in September, when financial organizations put recruitment lower down their priority list.
However, employers are still on the lookout for IT workers.
In Hong Kong, IT projects continue to be rolled out and this is keeping the recruitment of tech professionals in the country strong.
According to Robert Walters: "There are a large number of projects with long lead times to implement systems that underpin companies' profitability and efficiency. There will always be a need to fill vacant positions."
In Singapore, third-quarter advertising figures reflect a budget that's tightening in terms of hiring flexibility. However, an increase in demand has been experienced for all types of roles that boost revenues.
"Companies are tending to choose more aggressive, sales-oriented personnel," noted the international recruitment consultancy.
In IT, demand for candidates has actually increased in Singapore. As the nation has become the regional center in Asia for multinational banks, an increasing number of sophisticated IT functions are being outsourced to those offices.
"Consequently, Singapore is continuing to grow as a major hub for the IT industry," said Robert Walters.
Mark Ellwood, managing director at the consultancy in Singapore, noted that the island-state's economy has so far held up relatively well.
"However, it's the first Asian country to announce that it is in a technical recession, so it was no surprise to see a reduction in the number of jobs advertised in the third quarter," Ellwood said in the press release.
"Despite this, there is still demand for high-quality candidates as good talent is always hard to find," he added.
The index tracks advertisements by number in the executive appointment sections of leading newspapers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Job advertisement numbers are counted as of the last working day of each month.
It seems like nearly every day there’s more bad news about the economy. Even worse, it’s hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Given that, it may seem like a terrible time to start a small business. So here’s something that may surprise you: it’s actually not. The truth is that many small businesses that launch during tough economic times not only flourish, but are stronger and leaner than they would have been otherwise. Here are a few tips on how to take advantage of what an economic downturn has to offer:
Plan thoroughly. One of the most important things you can do to promote the success of a business you start in a downturn is to develop a game plan. The most effective way to do that is with a business plan, although a simple Excel spreadsheet works well too. The first step is to devise realistic, feasible numbers for your business. Take a look at the sales projections that you may have already developed. Do they jibe with the sales volume other small businesses in your industry are now experiencing? Also take a look at your expenditures. As you’ve likely heard, prominent venture capital firms are urging their portfolio start-ups to cut costs where they can. With that in mind, attack your business plan (or spreadsheet) with a scalpel and excise as many unnecessary expenditures as possible.
Focus your start-up. One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is to trying to do too much, too soon. Direct all of your energy and cash on the one product or service you think is most saleable. Remember, you can always grow your business or product lines later. An economic downturn is not the time to spread your capital thin.
Don’t underestimate the competition. Many entrepreneurs assume that because an economic downturn weeds out frail businesses, that the playing field is wide open. Sure, some businesses are wiped out by tough times. But the businesses that remain are likely strong enough to present a real threat to your new start-up. Thoroughly research who’s in your space before you enter it, and make sure you know why your competition is still standing.
Lastly, push aside the fear, uncertainly, and doubt that’s gripping Wall Street and the nation. Times are tough. But if you’re serious about starting a business right now, you’ll have to throw some caution to the wind. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a healthy respect for what’s shaking down on Wall Street. But, you shouldn’t be so crippled by “what ifs” that you can’t move forward with your start-up.
This guest post was written by Bryan Howe, Founder and CEO of MasterPlans.com.
OB losses are looming as Singapore's economy slows, with manufacturing and financial services companies expected to be among the first to cut staff.
This means unemployment is likely to rise over the next few quarters, while salaries will grow at a much slower pace, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its latest half-yearly Macroeconomic Review, released yesterday.
The jobless rate for the third quarter is due out this Friday, and is expected to be higher than the 2.3 per cent seen in the second quarter.
Last week, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang warned that unemployment for the whole year is likely to come in higher than last year's 2.1 per cent given the effects of the global financial turmoil.
Economists are tipping that the jobless rate will reach 3 per cent by year end or early next year, and rise to close to 4 per cent towards the end of next year - a level not seen since the Sars period in 2003.
Although businesses are 'not planning to drastically reduce head count at the moment', the MAS said employers are turning cautious about hiring given the more uncertain outlook next year.
It cited the most recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which showed that only a quarter of the 629 firms surveyed here plan to increase their head count in the fourth quarter.
The rest mostly expected no change, although some are still uncertain and 10 per cent will cut jobs.
Wages will also come under pressure. They are expected to grow about 5 per cent this year but rise only 2 per cent next year, said the MAS.
Already, salary hikes have declined sharply. Nominal wages climbed 11 per cent in the first quarter over the previous year, boosted by a round of civil service bonuses, but then rose only 3.1 per cent in the second quarter, partly because of a high base the year before.
'The outlook is generally bearish,' said OCBC economist Selena Ling.
'As the global downturn continues to prick strongly on people's minds, employers are going to be cutting back.'
Even pump-priming by the Government - which refers to state spending to stimulate the economy - is likely to be in infrastructure, which 'may not fully translate into local job gains'.
But Ms Ling added that unemployment last year - which fell to 1.7 per cent in the second half of the year - was an 'unbelievable' rate.
'A more normal rate is probably about 3 per cent, but that means the resident unemployment rate, excluding foreigners, will be higher than that,' she said.
The jobless rate, calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the total workforce, is also rising partly because more fresh graduates are entering the job market, said Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng.
He expects unemployment to average 2.6 per cent this year and continue edging up next year to hit 3.6 per cent.
Within manufacturing, the MAS believes hiring in petrochemicals and transport engineering 'should hold up relatively well', but electronics jobs will take a hit due partly to softening global demand for IT products.
The global financial crisis and bank consolidations will also translate into job cuts in the financial services industry here, where many multinational corporations have set up home. 'Several major foreign financial institutions have already announced retrenchments worldwide, which could lead to some job losses in their local offices,' said the MAS.
Even construction, which is still growing at a fairly healthy pace, is likely to see fewer jobs created as a shortage of labour and material leads to project delays, the MAS added.
OCBC's Ms Ling also expects business services such as commercial leasing and conveyancing to be hit, as they are 'very tied to the property boom', which is now over.
But selected industries such as hospitality and health care still have thousands of job vacancies that need to be filled, said the MAS.
The integrated resorts and related firms alone will generate about 60,000 jobs over the next few years, while 7,000 jobs are expected to be created in health care over the next five years.
Observers are predicting rising unemployment rate in Singapore as businesses freeze hiring and reduce headcount to cope with the economic downturn.
The jobless rate for the third quarter – due to be announced this Friday – is expected to be higher than the 2.3 per cent seen in the last quarter. Outplacement firms said retrenchments have already taken place and no industry is spared.
35-year-old Mohd Rosni Kadir is one victim of the current downturn. The former technical sales executive was laid off from his job of four years, just two months ago.
Having just got married last week, Mohd Rosni decided to get help from the South East Community Development Council (CDC), which runs a career centre in partnership with the Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
He is now hoping to get a job as a construction or shipyard safety supervisor.
"After being retrenched, I got through it because I had my own savings. I hope that through the programme that CDC has, I can upgrade myself to a higher standard," Mohd Rosni said.
The career centre is beginning to see more cases of unemployed Singaporeans. Its manager said there are about 15 to 20 cases daily – double the number of cases a year ago.
During the post-SARS period, the centre saw about 30 cases daily. Six in ten people were successfully placed in jobs, while seven in ten remained in the same job for three months or more.
Every person that comes through the career centre is assigned a case worker, who will follow though the job seeker's progress for up to six months.
At the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), it is seeing people who are still employed, but fear their jobs are at risk. Managed by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), e2i is a one-stop centre that provides training and job placements.
Ang Hin Kee, director, Employability Enhancement Department, NTUC, said: "Others who are more at risk say, 'Look, I'm worried. Orders don't seem to come in, things seem to be slowing down; bosses have been giving me signals that things are tough. Probably in the next three to six months, I'll urgently need some recourse before the axe starts to fall on me. What do I do?'."
There are six career centres spread across Singapore to give job seekers a lifeline. The good news is that compared to the pre-SARS period, there are now more training centres that can help equip job seekers with the relevant skills to go into growth industries.
Vengadesh Naidu, centre manager, South East CDC, said: "The hiring sectors are, of course, the growth sectors – healthcare, retail. The IR is being built so there are a lot of hospitality jobs. It depends on whether you are ready. If you are not, we will get you ready.
"Many of them who approach us have not been in the workforce for a long time, probably they need help with their resumes, their interviews... We do provide this kind of assistance."
Job counsellors said it is essential for job seekers to manage expectations, as well as seize opportunities to enter a new industry.
Salary experts have put the pay increment forecast for end-2008 at anything between zero and 3 per cent, on the back of a weakening economy. However, bonuses should still be on the cards for most companies.
Human resource consultants said companies may slash their year-end pay increments or even cut salaries.
Paul Heng, managing director, Next Career Consulting Group Asia, said: "The companies are at liberty to either freeze the monthly variable component (MVC) or they can actually reduce the quantum that is put in the MVC to keep the company afloat."
But even at an optimistic 3 per cent pay hike, real wages are expected to shrink, with inflation coming in at between 6 and 7 per cent this year.
"I think a budget has already been set for 2008, so companies may still go ahead with the 13th month. Many companies peg their variable components to performance targets.
"If performance targets are met, I think it's difficult for companies not to pay off bonuses. But for any kind of bonuses in terms of profitability, I think companies may be wise to actually hold back to see how things may pan out in 2009," said Heng.
But experts have warned that if the global economy slides further south, then 2009 is going to look much worse.
The current situation is very different from the SARS period in 2003 and the 97/98 Asian financial crisis. This time round, analysts said it is a global challenge and both businesses and governments are not quite sure how to react.
The government is expected to implement the third phase of salary adjustment for civil servants, including ministers, at year's end to close the gap between public and private sector pay.
The target, for example, is to move the pay of staff under the MR4 grade to 88 per cent of the benchmark by the end this year. MR4 grade officers include permanent secretaries and ministers.
The Staff Grade 1 (MR4) benchmark is pegged to two-thirds of the income of the 24th highest earner, among a group comprising the top eight earners from six professions – bankers, lawyers, engineers, accountants, local manufacturers and MNCs. The benchmark is currently S$2.2 million.
But given the current economic climate, human resource experts said the government may just hold off any pay revision for now.
Derek Berry, business leader, Human Capital (ASEAN), said: "The need to adjust salaries comes in attracting and retaining talent, and how much competition there is to do that. If there's a softening in the economy, that will go down and therefore, there will be less need.
"I think the Singapore government... would likely, from a messaging point of view, either reduce it or defer it. And given that we've got a very bumpy economy at the moment, I'd probably want to see it more stable before I'd want to push through with something like that."
The Public Service Division has said it would need some time to study the private sector data and salary trends before coming to a decision on any pay increment.
How many of you are reading this at a cafe or fast food chain?
Offering free WIFI costs a cafe very little, and can attract some good business. It’s a good deal for everyone, if users are conscientious about setting up shop in the coffee house.
If you really want to be a welcome worker in the cafe scene, here are some common sense tips to try:
• Take the smallest cafe table you can fit at. It’s not fair to grab a table for four.
• Don’t Bogart the chairs.
• Don’t steal the bandwidth. If you have large downloads to make, try to do that at home.
• Don’t hog the electrical outlet, either. Use your battery if it's fully charged or use a multi-plug.
• Mute the sound on your computer. This may sound obvious, but sometimes people forget.
• Keep buying things at the coffeeshop. A purchase each hour shows good faith.
JOB losses are looming as the economy slows, with companies in the manufacturing and financial services industries expected to be the first to cut staff.
This means unemployment is set to rise over the next few quarters, while salaries will grow at a much slower pace, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its latest half-yearly Macro Economic Review, released on Tuesday.
Already, employers are turning cautious about hiring given the more uncertain outlook next year, the MAS added.
It cited the most recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which showed that only a quarter of the 629 firms surveyed here planned to increase headcount in the fourth quarter. The rest mostly expected no change, although some were still uncertain and 10 per cent said they cut jobs.
Within manufacturing, the MAS believes hiring in petrochemicals and transport engineering 'should hold up relatively well', but electronics jobs will take a hit due to softening global demand for IT products and ongoing restructuring in the industry.
Several financial institutions have also announced retrenchments worldwide, which is likely to impact on Singapore as it is home to many multinational companies.
Even construction, a sector that is still growing at a healthy pace, may see weaker job growth as projects are delayed.
But selected industries such as hospitality and healthcare still have thousands of job vacancies that need to be filled, said the MAS. The integrated resorts and related firms will generate about 60,000 jobs over the next few years, while 7,000 jobs are expected to be created in healthcare over the next five years.
A PERENNIAL challenge faced by senior managers is to keep employees motivated at work. What drives someone to put in 100 per cent of his or her energy at work? What makes an employee consider a company a great employer?
Ask any leader and he or she will tell you that there is no simple answer. However, there is an appreciation of the need to stop the second-guessing and create a clear solution to keep employees motivated and inspired.
Perhaps there are many interesting insights senior managers can gain from the rapid proliferation of social networking websites and other similar platforms in the Web 2.0 space. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and individual blog sites have given a new voice to the individual. These platforms allow individual voices to be expressed, to be heard: Who am I? What do I like? What are my aspirations? What are my fears?
Just as any company developing its sales and marketing campaign has to consider complementing its traditional media buys with an online strategy of having to move away from media monopolies to the fragmented Internet landscape of individual voices, senior managers would similarly have to get up to speed with the new profile of employees which is centred on the notion of 'I'.
Employees will increasingly not be faceless members of a team, but ones that demand recognition of their individual needs. They are individuals within a team as opposed to simply being a part of a team. Hence, a company that offers a 'one size fits all' approach, be it in job scoping, remuneration, benefits or career advancement opportunities, will not address the issue of employee motivation adequately. The company has to offer employees choice for the individual as opposed to making decisions on behalf of the collective whole.
Incorporating the 'I' component
The idea of tailoring human resources (HR) policies and even work-life practices around individuals may be considered a far stretch for many organisations. Companies will tend to presume that it is too expensive, too complex, or not in their role to adapt motivation and retention tools to individual needs.
However, working in an element of flexibility into HR policies so that the employees' function, age, gender and other unique factors in their and their family's lives are considered need not be a monumental task. It does not require a full revamp of the company's benefits system or a change in organisational structure. Companies simply have to give due consideration to evolving their HR practices such as work-life policies or compensation so that employees have a say and are engaged in the decision that impacts themselves.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) applied the individual perspective in modernising its compensation policies which are now differentiated across several factors. An example of this is the points-based system for rewards and recognition. This allows an employee, after being nominated for recognition by managers and peers, to tailor his or her rewards from a menu that includes cash, gifts and services that are relevant to their individual wants. The company gets to keep a certain structure and predictability within its rewards system, yet the employee gets to choose an incentive he thinks is most rewarding.
We also recognise that interaction and collaboration are important in fostering a sense of belonging for our employees. So HP has made use of the different Web 2.0 avenues to encourage that. There are many online communities that employees can join in, and this gives them the opportunity to form personalised, valuable connections with those who share the same work or personal interests - and these are no longer confined to a single country. In addition, webcasts and podcasts are used widely in HP to allow employees to keep abreast of company developments at their own time.
These complement the regular face-to-face sessions I have with the employees, whether they are formal planning or business review meetings or informal fun, bonding activities to, for example, celebrate a company milestone or a great year-end performance. The combination of the digital media and face-to-face approaches ensures that we keep our employees engaged on a broader level while satisfying their need for deeper connections with certain groups of colleagues.
Another clear trend emerging from the Web 2.0 era is the blurring of lines between work and personal life. In the baby-boomers' generation, staying in the office later than the boss was considered noble. Work and personal life were clearly separated and loyalty was measured by the number of years spent with the company.
But as the workplace evolves, the notion of 'going to work' has become less relevant as work is no longer about the location but the results delivered. Hence, trying to balance the number of hours one spends in the office versus the home is no longer as critical. The notion of work-life balance will increasingly be passe as what is truly needed will be workplace policies that propagate work-life integration.
The key to capitalising on this transformation is, again, in capturing the 'I' component. This is possible by structuring workplace policies that are underlined by trust and respect of the individual. Concepts such as flexi-time, condensed working hours, part time or job share have been practised for many years now, but there is still need for a more progressive mindset in management to recognise and reward the benefits that these practices bring to the company.
Achieving fulfilment
For example, at HP two employees share a single responsibility of managing the supply of personal computers from manufacture to sales departments. They are accustomed to using the same contact details, business notes and team members, each working on different days to the other. Their combined productivity exceeds every expectation, while colleagues and business associates benefit from diverse qualities that would be difficult to find in a single employee.
These two individual employees are able to achieve fulfilment in their careers, offer their employers increased productivity yet achieve their personal-life goals all at the same time. Their managers facilitate this process, not just by allowing job share to happen, but also to set appropriate performance objectives that are specific, measurable, realistic and timely.
How do we get managers to buy into such a work concept? The company IT, HR and support infrastructure will first have to make this feasible. Managers must then be able to keep an open mind and be willing to try it out to see the benefits it can reap, subsequently tweaking and refining the approach according to the results and feedback. Care will also have to be taken to ensure fairness in rewarding both employees in a work-share arrangement. It is of course an approach that will take time to yield the best benefits but senior managers should take the first step to champion it.
In view of the macro trends happening around us today, senior management, together with their HR teams, are truly in a unique position to impact workforce engagement more than ever before. Employees today are sophisticated but are also dealing with more demands in their work and personal lives. Let us lead the way in creating workplace environments that encourage creativity and entrepreneurship by celebrating the individual employee.
The writer is vice-president and managing director, Hewlett-Packard Singapore. She is also chairman of SiTF (Singapore infocomm Technology Federation).
In a time of economic crisis, web developers and freelancers everywhere have started chewing their fingernails. However, no matter how bad the economy worsens, there will always be work in certain booming fields of web development.
As the moderator of the Freelance Switch job board, there are certain types of jobs that are constantly in demand. Here are the 10 skills that are or will be in highest demand for developers. If you are proficient in these skills, you’ll be in a great position to find work and weather any economic downturn.
1. Framework knowledge
It seems that frameworks are one of the next big things. With the meteoric rise to fame of Rails, Django, and other MVC frameworks, developers have learned that they can build websites much faster with the help of these tools. Frameworks help you cut out much of the repetitive tasks that normal custom programming would require. Having knowledge of the top frameworks (Rails, Django, CakePHP, Symfony, and a few others), can give you a whole other dimension to your skill set.
2. Widget development
Widgets have changed how web development has been done in the past couple of years. With the advent of widgets, data has become more portable, interactive and most importantly, viral. It’s in almost every web startup’s business plan to include a widget or two at some point, mainly because it helps increase their audience and puts more eyeballs on their content.
Widget development requires knowing Javascript and/or flash, not to mention knowledge of the regular language that the parent site is built in.
3. Custom CMS themes
Designers and developers can always find work creating or customizing a CMS theme. As the popularity of CMS like Wordpress and Drupal have risen over the past years, so has the demand for creating themes for the software.
Many people use CMS to power their personal or business websites, so this work is always going to be around. A decent website needs a unique and usable design that reflects well on the brand behind it.
4. CMS Customizations and plugin development
CMS are great because it gives site owners with little technical know-how the ability to change aspects of their site on the fly with the help of modules. While most CMS platforms have a long list of modules to offer, many businesses and personal sites need more, and custom modules or plugins are the perfect solution.
Developers can have thriving businesses in CMS development and customization alone. Here are a few (and by no means all) of the top CMS platforms that could use plugin development and other customizations:
Another one of the more popular skills needed is converting Photoshop files (PSD) to XHTML files for template use. Because designers don’t always know how to convert Photoshop layouts into template files, a CSS and XHTML ninja can always find work. Because of the array of browsers now in common use and the niggling differences in how they render sites, you want to be a web developer who can build-out sites that display the same in any browser. This kind of design to code service is the most sought after of them all.
6. Javascript Plugin creation
Much like the rise of CMS and MVC frameworks, Javascript frameworks are just as popular. These Javascript frameworks are built with the ability to add custom functionality in the form of modules. If you’re a developer who knows how to build custom Javascript modules for frameworks like jQuery or Dojo, you’ll have plenty of work available. Here are some of the most popular Javascript frameworks you might need to get a handle on.
Facebook and MySpace have both opened up their platform to allow developers API access, and the demand for social network apps has been huge since then. A whole new industry for web development sprang up overnight, and hundreds of applications are now added on a daily basis. The social media application platform has been found to be very viral and potentially very lucrative.
Some of these applications are built to make money or drive brand awareness, but ultimately the applications can be very successful and viral if they’re done properly. A solid developer can make a decent living creating Facebook and MySpace applications.
Social networks like Facebook require that you learn their own language of syntax, like the FBML (Facebook Markup Language), so there is a small learning curve to this skill.
8. iPhone applications
Yet another platform-specific skill set, building iPhone applications can be very profitable, and much like the social media applications, a great skill for any developer to know. Making an iPhone app that is accepted into Apple’s platform has an excellent chance at making great money or receiving tons of downloads.
This is a great thing for web developers because companies are starting to see the value in developing iPhone and other mobile technologies, and consequently will be wanting more and more applications developed in the future.
9. Ecommerce integration
Business web sites are always going to need ecommerce integration. Essentially, if you can take a language or framework (PHP or Rails) and fuse it with a payment gateway (like Paypal or Authorize.net), you’ll do well for yourself. I’m predicting that we’re going to see more paid services than free, ad-supported services being developed in the near future, as less money is being doled out to startups.
As the economy turns sour and the ad industry starts to get a little tighter, websites that use a subscription-based revenue model will start to become more common. Having the knowledge to piece together integration with online banking services like Paypal and Google Checkout will be great skills to have.
Flash animation can do a lot for a website. Flash can be used to create videos, interesting navigation, fun animated sequences, widgets, and many other useful things on the Internet. The flash technology can add a very professional dimension to any website, and large websites and corporations always pay to have their sites look professional, and often commission Flash animated interfaces to showcase their products. With search engines working on ways to have Flash communicated better with them, this is a skill that’s sure to boom as the search technology advances.
Conclusions
Learning frameworks is one of the best way to increase your skill set and potential work as a freelancer. Whether it’s a Javascript framework, CMS, or MVC framework, taking the time to learn a new skill can be a huge advantage to finding work. Also, website owners pay big bucks for development that allows them to make money, because they see it not as a regrettable expense, but as an investment in future profit. Services like ecommerce integration, creating iPhone apps and flash knowledge will also be much-needed skills, and people will always pay for those skills.
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Glen Stansberry is a web developer and blogger who’s struggled more times than he’d wish to admit with CSS. You can read more tips on web development at his blog Web Jackalope.
Engineering graduates are in high demand, and those from polytechnics are highly sought after in recent years, said Education Minister Ng Eng Hen.
He said 94 percent of engineering diploma graduates found jobs within six months of graduation.
Dr Ng was speaking at the launch of the annual Engineering Week recently.
He cited a recent survey by the polytechnics which showed that fresh engineering diploma graduates earn about $1,930 on average, with those who have completed National Service earning about $2,200.
The five polytechnics - Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic - organised the event to encourage more secondary school students to take up the subject.
Innovative projects by students were also showcased at the Engineering Week fair.
One of the projects featured was a bicycle which actually runs on thin air.
Hydrogen and oxygen from the surrounding air are converted into electricity which powers up the bicycle.
There is no emission, and the only by-product is water.
The project was designed by three final-year electronics engineering students from Temasek Polytechnic.
The green bike has caught the attention of a Swedish company which is keen to acquire the fuel-cell technology.
Allen Gong Ji Yi, Final Year Student at the Temasek Polytechnic, said: "For old people who want to go to the shopping mall, they can use this bicycle to get there. They can save energy, there is no pollution and it is totally clean.
"This is clean energy and can help protect Singapore as a garden city. For example, fuel-cell motorcycles, golf carts and even fuel-cell boats, are used in public transport. I believe that fuel-cell technology will lead the world in future."
Another project highlighted was a stethoscope which picks up a heartbeat and converts the soundwave into digital signals.
With this device, doctors will be able to detect abnormal heartbeats easily.
The innovation from Republic Polytechnic is now used by doctors from Singapore General Hospital.
Growth will slow for "several quarters", said MTI minister
SINGAPORE'S economy, already in a technical recession, is likely to see weak growth in the next few quarters due to the unfolding impact from the global financial crisis, said Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang on Monday.
Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said while Singapore's inflation, which hit a 26-year high of 7.5 per cent in April, May and June, will continue to ease, it will take time for the decline in prices to be reflected in the consumer price index.
'We must be prepared for weaker growth in the next few quarters, and possibly longer depending on when the global economy recovers,' he told Parliament when replying to questions from MPs on how singapore has been affected by the global turmoil.
'Singapore's economy is small, open and closely linked to the global economy, said Mr Lim.
'We cannot escape the impact of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown.'
Mr Lim said the slowing economy has already affected the labour market 'Employers are exercising more caution in their hiring, with most employers preferring to keep their headcount steady,' he said.
'Given that the economic weakness is expected to continue into 2009, moderation in employment growth is expected in the second-half of 2008 through to 2009,' he said.
For 2008, the unemployment rate is likely to exceed the 2.1 per cent recorded in 2007, said Mr Lim.
He said the number of retrenchments in Singapore has stayed at the same level as in previous quarters, but it may climb as the economy slows further.
'Moderation of employment growth is expected in the second half of 2008, and through to 2009,' said the minister.
Figures released earlier this month showed Singapore has entered into a technical recession, generally defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction in economic output.
The economy shrank by 6.3 per cent in the third quarter after contracting 5.7 perc ent in the previous quarter, preliminary data from the ministry of trade and industry released this month showed.
For 2008, the ministry has downgraded its 2008 growth targets to 3.0 per cent from 4.0-5.0 per cent, citing the global slowdown as the reason behind the revised forecast.
On inflation, which hit a 26-year high of 7.5 percent in April, May and June, Mr Lim said it will continue to ease, but it will take time for the decline in prices to be reflected in the consumer price index.
'I must caution that inflation will continue to be sticky for the next few months,' Mr Lim said, adding authorities were 'confident inflation will revert back to 2-3 percent' next year.
Singapore's central bank said on Oct 10 it expects inflation to remain within the 6-7 per cent target for 2008, and forecast inflation to ease to 2.5-3.5 per cent in 2009.
Mr Lim said Singapore's three local banks DBS , United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp are well capitalised and their asset quality remains strong despite the problems in the United States.
'Banks and insurance companies in Singapore do not have large exposures to either US mortgage-related securities orto the institutions that have failed,' saidMr Lim, who is also deputy chairman of the city-state's central bank.
As a solopreneur, one ingredient you need for a successful online business is traffic… and lots of it! But there are so many websites out there, all competing for the same traffic, that it can be difficult to attract visitors to YOUR website!
Today, I’d like to share with you my top five strategies for attracting highly targeted visitors:
1. Offer a Free Taste
Your free taste is something that you give to someone in exchange for them giving you their name and email address, and signing up to your list. Your free taste is also your chance to show off your expertise, and give your new subscriber a sampling of what it is you offer.
It must be something of value to your subscriber, without giving away the whole shop!
Then you simply promote your free taste on your website, in your email signature, in your Resource Bio, and any other place you can think of! Place a call to action and people will read it, and click through to your website to get what it is you’re offering.
2. Get Others To Promote Your website For You
If you have products and programs for sale then you can easily get other people to promote them for you by offering an affiliate program. People will sign up to your affiliate program and promote your products and programs through their website, newsletter, and/or blog. In exchange you offer them a percentage commission for each sale that your affiliate makes – and make it a generous commission so that they have a real incentive to promote you.
If you’re currently using a shopping cart service, check out everything they have to offer – they may have an affiliate program included as part of their service. Mine does!
3. Participate in a Joint Venture (JV)
This is an excellent way to drive highly targeted traffic back to your website, and very easy for you to organize. Gather together some of you colleagues who offer complementary products and services to you and agree to promote each other’s products and services to your list.
I participated in a joint venture earlier this year where the organizer created a dedicated web page for this promotion. Everyone’s promotional ‘blurb’ was listed on the website, and each ‘joint venturee’ sent an announcement out to their list during a specified period directing their subscribers to this webpage. I got a TON of new subscribers as a result!
4. Article Marketing
This is one of my all-time favorites… one of the most successful and cost effective online marketing strategies you can do is to submit your articles to various online article submission websites. This is a great way to:
* promote your services;
* elevate you to ‘expert’ status within your chosen niche; and
* grow your subscriber list.
It has been well documented that one-way links to your website increase search engine rankings more than reciprocal linking, and article submission is an excellent way to achieve one-way linking. It works by creating backlinks to your website, which the search engines love! With each article you submit, you include a resource box that contains information about you, your business, and an active hyperlink back to your website, newsletter sign up page, product, or special offer – you choose where you want to direct your readers. For example, my resource box directs readers to my newsletter sign up page.
5. Host a Free Teleclass
Hosting a free teleclass is a great way for you to get out in front of your target audience. They actually get to listen to you presenting your information, and have the opportunity to ask you questions on the call – all of which can’t be achieved just by writing articles!
And it also gives you to chance to interact with your target market, and find out valuable information about their struggles and pains. It all goes towards building the like, know, and trust factor that is so important when building a solo service business.
All of these strategies work well on their own, and I’ve had a huge amount of success with each one of them! You can choose to implement just one strategy, or use a combination. Whichever you choose, they all achieve the same goal… to drive highly targeted traffic to your website!
Online Business Manager & Virtual Assistant, Tracey Lawton, supports professional speakers, coaches, and authors to operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business. Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7 EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com. Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
IT'S a great way to fly, and, now, it's also a great place to work.
Local graduates have tipped Singapore Airlines (SIA) as the country's top employer in the private sector, according to the results of an online survey home-grown recruitment specialist JobsFactory released yesterday.
Ranked fifth in last year's survey, the national carrier edged out last year's winner, Citibank, with over 40 per cent of respondents voting for SIA as opposed to 34 per cent for Citibank.
Mr Christopher Cheng, divisional vice-president of human resources at SIA, said: "SIA offers exciting and rewarding career opportunities for graduates, as well as comprehensive training and development."
Now in its third year, the annual JobsFactory Employers of Choice Survey, held from July to August, involved over 4,800 entry- level graduates - current students and recent graduates from Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University.
The survey also showed local banks have become more popular as employers, even as foreign banks fell in the rankings. United Overseas Bank jumped 16 notches to No. 13, while DBS rose eight notches to No. 6.
Despite the uncertain economy, the banking and finance service industry remained the hottest industry for entry-level graduates. Financial institutions made up six of the top 10.
In the public sector, the Singapore Tourism Board emerged as the top employer, followed by the Economic Development Board and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Ms Rajah told the opening of the Franchising and Licensing Asia (FLAsia) 2008 exhibition: ‘Last year, Singapore’s 30,000 franchisees brought in near US$3.8 billion (S$5.6 billion) in revenue. The growth of the franchising and licensing market is very encouraging as its resulted increase in commercial activities will create favourable employment opportunities.’
The Suntec exhibition will showcase about 200 top franchises, brands and licences from more than 18 countries from sectors like food and beverage, education and health and wellness.
Some well-known brands involved include 7-Eleven, Carl’s Jr and Spa Esprit. They have all found a lucrative home in Singapore, which has long been an ideal location for franchisors.
Mr Douglas Foo, chairman of FLA Singapore, told The Straits Times yesterday: ‘Singapore has good intellectual property protection and a good talent pool, as well as a globalised workforce.
‘These are good pre-requisites for Singapore to be the hub of franchising.’
Ms Rajah backed that view in her speech, citing a World Bank report which said Singapore was positioned top among 175 countries on the ease of doing business and providing investor protection.
The verdict is still out on whether the Civil Service will see a revision in salaries.
It is still too early to find out if civil service employees will see the salaries dip, or remain the same, in the face of the current economic recession.
In response to media queries, the Public Service Division issued the following statement: "Civil Service salaries are reviewed and revised regularly to keep in line with the private sector. Civil Service salaries have thus gone up and down in line with private sector salaries.
"In the salary revision of 2007, a significant part of a senior civil servant's annual pay was structured as a GDP Bonus. The GDP Bonus - first introduced in 2000 - is linked to the GDP growth rate. If the GDP growth rate falls, the GDP Bonus will also fall, resulting in a reduction in the annual salaries of senior civil servants.
"Salary data on the private sector is still being compiled. Given the recent turmoil in the financial markets and revised economic forecasts, the Public Service Division will need some time to study the data and salary trends before coming to a decision." Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
Among those leaving is the head of structured finance for Asia ex-Japan, Rajiv Garg, who says there are still short-term trading opportunities in the market which he intends to tap.
Merrill Lynch has embarked on a round of layoffs that will cut at least 75 jobs in the Asia-Pacific region, according to sources. Most of the cuts will come in the bank’s trading and sales divisions and will affect both its fixed-income and equities business.
Not too surprisingly, the layoffs include several high-profile people who used to focus on structured finance and structured credit – a business that has come to a virtual standstill since the financial crisis took hold earlier this year. Among those who have left the bank this week, according to several sources, are Rajiv Garg, head of structured finance for Asia ex-Japan, Karl Im, a managing director and head of one the bank’s specialist structuring teams, and Mark Long, who was head of the commodities team. Merrill Lynch declined to comment.
The downsizing, which is part of a global drive to reduce headcount by about 500, is a direct result of the decline in trading volumes and revenues as well as the worsening outlook for financial markets and is not related to the ongoing merger with Bank of America. Rather it marks a continuation of a cost-cutting trend that has seen Merrill reduce its headcount by 3,300 people in the past 12 months. The bank has posted five straight quarters of losses totalling $23.8 billion.
“This is a change of the business plan in response to the market situation which would have taken place whether or not the bank was being absorbed by BoA,” says one of the sources.
Indeed, a BoA spokesman has earlier said that no decision will be made on staff cuts until the merger has been completed. Earlier this week, Merrill CEO John Thain told Bloomberg that he expects thousands of job cuts post the merger.
A clear sign that these layoffs are a direct response to the slowdown in trading activity is the fact that Merrill continues to hire for other parts of the bank. At the end of last month, it snapped up a team of six power sector investment bankers led by James Chapman from Lehman Brothers.
Before this latest round of layoffs, Merrill had about 60,900 employees, of which approximately 4,000 were based in Asia ex-Japan and another 1,500 in Japan. The reduction of staff in Asia, which depending on who you talk to is said to total between 75 and 100 people, is in proportion to the amount of revenues the bank earns in the region, indicating that the slowdown in trading activity has hit equally hard across the geographies.
This is different from the redundancies that are anticipated as a result of the merger with BoA, which are expected to come primarily in the US where the two banks have the greatest overlap. Asia is expected to suffer relatively less from those cuts, both because of the lower level of duplication between the two businesses here and because Asia is still regarded as a growth region that should lead the rest of the world out of the current economic slowdown.
One person familiar with the way Merrill used to structure its business says the bank had several specialty structuring teams focusing on different types of products. This was great in a bull market as the bank was able to customise services for the clients according to their needs, but it has left a lot of idle staff since these businesses came to a halt. One example is the team selling collateralised debt obligations – an asset class that has fallen completely out of favour with investors and has taken a lot of the blame for the credit crunch – which was effectively wound down months ago. Some of the people on these specialty structuring teams have been converted into generalists, but a majority are now being let go.
Rajiv Garg, who is said to have left the bank as a result of a negotiated settlement, had been with Merrill for at least 10 years. He left Hong Kong to join DSP Merrill Lynch in India in early 2006, but stayed only about 18 months. He has been based in Singapore since August 2007. He was followed out the door by six other people on his team. Another four or five people are part of a core Asia ex-Japan structuring team that is working on winding down the bank’s remaining exposures.
Garg told FinanceAsia that he still sees short-term trading opportunities, however, and is planning to set up a boutique outfit to exploit those opportunities together with three other professionals with expertise within equities, rates and currencies respectively.
“If you read the market right, you can make a lot of money from short-term trading,” he says.
The investment banks, meanwhile, face an environment where it will be a lot harder to make big returns as they will be under the watchful eye of the regulators. That in mind, it is highly likely that there will be more layoffs across the sector as costs are cut and businesses are adjusted to a new low-risk environment where investment banks are part of a bigger deposit-taking organisation and revenues will be derived primarily from agency-type businesses.
“It will be back to basics for most firms, the kind of business where you borrow at 3%, lend to clients at 6% and take a 3 percentage point margin,” suggests one source.
That may well be a solid business plan for the big banks, but it isn’t an exciting option for people who have over the past few years spent all their time working on complex and highly profitable structures and we may see more boutique firm sprout up as these guys are let go.
In other words, Garg and friends could soon get company on the trading floor.
THE task of housing them may have made headlines as of late, but another set of problems surrounding foreign workers came to the fore yesterday in Parliament.
Some workers come to Singapore only to find that no jobs — and hence, no pay — had been arranged for them. Others find their work permits terminated early by employers, thereby losing their chance to stay and pay off the heavy debts they incurred to come here.
When things go wrong for foreign workers, can Singapore do more to protect them? Members of Parliament wanted to know.
In response to these queries, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said “the vast majority” of foreign workers here “have worked and are being paid their salaries”.
Those seeking help from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for salary arrears, in particular, accounted for less than 0.2 per cent of foreign workers, on average, he said
Foreign workers who arrive to find that there is no work for them, meanwhile, comprise a “very small number”, going by the incidence of illegal deployment last year — less than 0.05 per cent of foreign workers, said Mr Gan, who added that the work pass application procedure wasdesigned to address this issue.
“For example, construction and marine companies need to show documentary proof that they have ongoing projects before work permits are issued to them,” he said.
But what about employers who terminate work permits of employees who complain about them? “In such instances, MOM may allow these workers to change their employers and continue to work here on a case-by-case basis, if they have not committed any offence,” said Mr Gan.
Workers assisting MOM in investigations will be issued special passes and can seek employment under the Temporary Jobs scheme. “In some cases, it may be in the best interests for workers to return to their home countries if there is no suitable work for them,” he said.
Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong pointed out, though, that workers desperately want to stay to pay off the debts they incurred to travel here. “Does the Ministry intend tore-look the industry structure ... and see if (it) can be better structured so that the workers are not saddled with very high debts before they start work?” he asked.
According to Mr Gan, these debts are often incurred in the workers’ home countries, outside of Singapore’s jurisdiction. “What we can do is work with foreign missions here to share our information, so that they can ... prevent manipulation and exploitation of their own workers,” he said.
MP Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) was concerned that employers who “sub-let” foreign workers to other businesses would take work away from Singaporean contract workers, who cost more.
Mr Gan replied that some flexibility was allowed to subcontract workers, for instance, the construction sector, which had fluctuating demand. “But in manufacturing and services, for example, the employers have to employ their foreign workers in the job specified in the work permit, so it’s quite clear and specific.”
THE construction sector will not escape the global financial turmoil but the Government will help cushion an anticipated fall in demand, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan last night.
'Accordingly, we must all be prepared to face some tough and challenging times ahead,' he told an industry gathering.
'Fortunately, we have had a good run so the momentum is sustaining us one year and, if we are lucky, another year.'
Domestic construction demand is estimated at $30 billion this year, but it is expected to fall, he said.
The global crisis has not caused any disruption or slowdown so far and progress payments of projects have remained prompt and stable.
'But we still need to be watchful because the situation is very fluid and can deteriorate as the financial crisis feeds into the real economy over the next few months and quarters,' warned Mr Mah, who was speaking at the Singapore Contractors Association's annual dinner.
The financial meltdown overseas has brought rapid changes to the once red-hot construction sector.
While there remains a lack of capacity, raw material prices have already started to come down, said industry experts.
Mr Jon Button, director of Gammon Construction, said: 'There'll be a levelling off of demand for the next couple of years. Quite a few (private-sector) projects are already deferred.'
He added that contractors continued to tender for work.
Association president Desmond Hill told the gathering that they hope to see the Government bring back deferred projects by next year or in 2010 as existing jobs will be coming to completion.
Mr Mah said in his speech the Government is prepared to consider suggestions that it resume deferred public projects.
'It is something that we are in a position to consider and will certainly do so, should the need arise. However, we must consider the timing carefully,' he said.
The Government has since last November deferred $4.7 billion worth of public- sector construction projects to ease the pressure on building costs.
Mr Mah said the Government will monitor the situation closely, taking into account construction demand, contracts awarded and cost trends.
Injecting some of the deferred projects back into the market now, when the availability of skilled manpower, equipment and other resources is still 'pretty tight', will not help, he said. 'It will only drive already high construction costs up.'
But there was a brighter note from Mr Mah: 'Look beyond the gloom...and see whether the slowdown presents an opportunity for the industry to consolidate and strengthen its capabilities after recent years of strong growth.'
The industry, he said, must start preparing to tackle the increasingly challenging business environment, as well as exploit future opportunities and 'continue to stay relevant and remain sustainable'.
HOUSEWIVES and retirees should roll up their sleeves and prepare to rejoin the workforce to help their families cope with what may be a prolonged recession.
That stark piece of advice came from Prof Tan Khee Giap, associate professor and co-director of the Asia Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University, yesterday.
Prof Tan told a forum organised by the Nanyang Business School on the financial crisis that Singapore is likely to face a U-shaped recovery - an extended period of slow growth through next year before things pick up in 2010.
This would be in contrast to the quick V-shaped rebound that the country has experienced in previous recessions.
But jobs created by the two new integrated resorts should help to cushion the economy.
Prof Tan suggested that housewives and retirees should take advantage of employment opportunities in the resorts, which are expected to have about 20,000 vacancies to fill by the time they come online in early 2010.
In fact, the first hiring exercise for Marina Bay Sands yesterday was met with an enthusiastic response from exactly these groups of people, who enquired about jobs ranging from receptionist to security supervisor.
Government agencies should work to encourage those people not employed back into the working community by, for example, providing additional childcare services, said Prof Tan.
However, the full economic impact of the two resorts, which are expected to create a total of 60,000 jobs including in affiliated sectors when fully operational, may not really kick in till the second half of 2010, he said.
Singapore became one of the first countries to enter a technical recession after two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Prof Tan predicted that growth for the full year will not even hit the Government's revised forecast of 3 per cent and that expansion next year will clock in at zero per cent.
He said that despite tremendous efforts to diversify Singapore's economy in manufacturing and services, the synchronised slowdowns in both of the Republic's major markets - the United States and Europe - have still affected Singapore's trade-sensitive economy and will therefore make a recovery difficult.
Once the resorts are open, he said, the 20,000 jobs will come at just the right time to boost recovery.
Prof Tan was joined by other experts from the Nanyang Business School, who spoke on various aspects of the crisis.
These included how the blanket guarantee of bank deposits may hurt healthy banks and how stricter Government regulation to protect investors from risky products is needed.
As Singapore’s single biggest hiring drive began yesterday, job seekers headed to registration booths at an NTUC employment office or applied online or even via SMSes for positions at the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. THE Marina Bay Sands integrated resort was swamped with about 3,500 phone calls, text messages and e-mail from job seekers yesterday as the single biggest hiring drive in Singapore history got underway.
The US$4.5 billion (S$6.6 billion) complex is looking for 10,000 workers, including housekeepers, waiters and security guards, before it opens next year.
Starting at 9am yesterday, housewives, retirees, the unemployed and others began submitting their applications in the hope of landing a job at a place that has promised to hire ‘as many Singaporeans as possible’.
Almost half the applications came via a special hotline, said a spokesman for the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which is helping fill the positions.
The resort’s website received almost 1,000 applications, while 700 others applied via SMS text messages. Another 200 hopefuls walked into an NTUC employment office at Redhill Road.
Marina Bay Sands has become the first employer here to woo traditionally overlooked groups like seniors, housewives and the jobless.
Resort officials say finding the 10,000 workers will be no mean feat. The challenge is expected to get tougher when Singapore’s second integrated resort, on Sentosa, begins hiring. Scheduled to open in 2010, it will also need 10,000 workers to staff a casino and theme park, among other things.
The Marina Bay Sands resort, which will include a casino and over 2 million sq ft of retail and convention space, has linked up with NTUC and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to screen, train and place candidates.
When The Straits Times went down to the NTUC employment office at lunchtime yesterday, at least two dozen job seekers were crowded around registration booths, where staff took down their particulars.
Retiree Jasbir Singh was among those in the line. The 61-year-old said he hoped to clinch a front-line position, which includes receptionist and bellhop.
‘I have savings so I am looking for a part-time job to fill my time,’ said the former safety trainer with the Port Authority of Singapore.
‘Instead of spending all my time watching television and listening to the radio…maybe I can start working again to bring in a supplemental income so I can travel.’
Madam Chen Tai, a 53-year-old odd-job worker, said working at the casino resort would be an exciting career change.
The mother of two adult children, one of whom is studying in Australia, asked about a position as a security supervisor. ‘I have been in retail and the food and beverage industry for over 10 years, so I want to find something new, challenging and different,’ she said.
The first phase of the hiring exercise will last until Nov 5. After that, candidates who make the cut will be called in for interviews. The Marina Bay Sands is hoping to have its staff in place by the middle of next year. Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
We are pleased to announce that we now have access to a 6.9m x 4.0m LCD screen at Queensway Shopping Centre, at the major cross junction leading to Orchard / Alexandra. Do look out for Jorbb.com's 15 second TVC when you are there.
Daily Air time is from 12pm to 10pm around 1800 spots / month.
We currently serve 15 and 30 seconds stills / animations (video / flash).
If you / your clients are keen in advertising in this channel, do drop us an email and our sales consultant will provide more information.
Location:
Across the Road:
Street Level:
Overhead Bridge:
The screen is at major cross junctions leading into Orchard and Alexandra; heart of the central urbanites.
Where YOUTH gather for the latest fashion and cool kicks; FAMILIES - for their lifestyle/ car / furniture buying needs.
A Practical guide to Google Docs: Learn how to do anything and everything with your online Google Office by Amit Agarwal.
Q: How do I upload all my Microsoft Office documents from the desktop on to Google Docs?
A: List Uploader is a Windows utility that enables you to bulk upload files to Google Docs via drag-n-drop or through the right click menu.
Mac OS X users can upload documents through GDocsUploader - simply drag-n-drop the document onto the uploader icon. Another option is GDocsBar – just drag your files in the Firefox sidebar and they’ll automatically get uploaded to Google Docs.
Q: How do I associate the common Office file extensions like doc/xls/ppt with Google Docs so that desktop documents open directly in the web browser?
A: Get the Google Toolbar for Firefox and select the ‘Google Docs’ checkbox from Toolbar options. This will let you open Office documents directly in the browser bypassing Microsoft Office.
Q: I am worried that someone may hack into my Google Account and delete the important files. To play safe, I want to download all documents from Google Docs locally and burn them on to a CD. Is it possible?
A: To download a copy of all your Google Docs documents on to the hard drive, get this Grease Monkey script. It will create a list of all your online documents that you can download in one step using the DownloadThemAll add-on.
Q: How can I add watermarks (like PRIVATE, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.) to my Google Documents?
A: You simply need to edit the CSS of your document – add an image with non-repeating background.
Q: Can I open Word 2007 (docx) documents in Google Docs?
A: Unlike Zoho Office, Google Docs do not support the new Office 2007 format but you may convert these docx files to the older doc format using Zamzar and them upload them to Google Docs.
Q: I was checking mails on a mobile phone and a client sent me this PowerPoint presentation as an email attachment. My phone has no Office viewer so san I still view this presentation?
A: Sure. Just forward this email (with the attachment) to your Google Docs address. You’ll soon get an email back containing the link of your uploaded presentation that can be viewed in the mobile phone browser without requiring any Office viewer.
Q: I wrote a long document in Google Docs in English but my client is insisting for a French version. Can we translate Google Docs documents online?
A: Publish your Google Docs document as a public web page (read steps) and then use the online Google Translate tool to translate this page into any other language. You may copy-paste the translated text in a new document and then turn off public sharing for the original document.
Q: I am sending a Google Docs document to a large mailing list. Is is possible to track who read the document and when?
A: Go to your Google Docs Settings page (link) and turn on the option that says "Track visits to my documents using Google Analytics".
Q: Forget the mailing list, I am just sending a document to my immediate boss so how do I if he really opened my document?
A: Just embed a secret 1×1 tracking image in the document to know when people open your Google Documents.
Q: I want to create new documents in Google Docs in one click without having to go to File –> New Document.
A: Simple, either add a bookmarklet to your browser or install desktop shortcuts – see instructions.
Q: I want to turn Google Docs into a distraction free writing tool just like Writeroom.
A: Go to Edit –> Document Styles and turn the background color to either black. Then change the font foreground color to white or green and press Ctrl+Shift+F to enter Full Screen mode. See a similar hack for Word.
Q: OK, I know you can write documents or create spreadsheets in Google Docs but what else? Tell me some more creative uses of Google Docs.
Q: Tell me about some desktop applications that work with Google Docs.
GMDesk – AIR app that makes Google Docs behave like a desktop program. Thanks Ryan.
GDocsBar – The perfect Google Docs extension for Firefox.
Send to Google Docs – Upload web documents (including PDF) directly to Google Docs.
OO Add-on – Export or import documents from OpenOffice.org or StarOffice to Google Docs.
Q: Like other Google tools, can I access my Google Docs library from the Firefox Sidebar?
A: Create a bookmark for http://docs.google.com/m and set this to open in Firefox sidebar. You can browse all documents though the sidebar but can’t create new stuff.
Q. Can I use Google Docs like Microsoft OneNote for taking notes and saving web clippings?
A: Open a new Google Document in a separate browser tab and drag the clipping from another brower tab / window into this document. That’s it. Not sure if this works with Google Chrome.
Gajus Worthington has seen the effect of the financial meltdown on U.S. startups, and it's not a pretty picture.
The chief executive of Silicon Valley's Fluidigm set out to take his chipmaker public about a month ago. On Sept. 5, the first day of the company's road show, Worthington gave a standing-room-only presentation to blue-chip investors interested in buying Fluidigm stock. Three weeks later, after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and panic seized investors, he pulled the plug on the initial public offering. Worthington realized he couldn't proceed after money managers he met with in San Francisco told him they didn't even know how long they'd have jobs. "You could smell the fear," he says. "It was a black hole of anxiety."
Now, Fluidigm is in an awkward position shared by many of the most promising startups in the country. It has built up substantial operations in hopes of capitalizing on future opportunities and is burning through cash at a time when it's nearly impossible to get more from public investors. The company had $32 million in cash as of the end of June, and it's using $6 million to $7 million a quarter. Although Worthington could run out of money at the current burn rate by the end of 2009, he says he won't cut back, at least for now. "Our primary focus is growing the business," he says.
Exit Options Dry Up
It's a high-stakes gamble that's being played out at thousands of startups across the country. The crop of innovative companies that venture investors helped build in recent years now finds that they can't go public or even sell out in an acquisition. In the third quarter, only one company backed by venture capitalists went public, and the value of all mergers and acquisitions fell 65%, to $4.4 billion, from the year-earlier quarter, according to Dow Jones VentureSource (NWS). As exit options dry up, the fear is that a capital crisis could undermine American innovation.
In recent weeks, a number of prominent venture firms have begun advising their portfolio companies to cut expenses and lay off staff. Sequoia Capital, the Silicon Valley firm that funded Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), gave its current crop of startups a bracing presentation that included one slide with the words "Death Spiral" and a skull-and-crossbones to signal the fate that awaited companies that didn't take quick action. Adam Grosser, general partner with Silicon Valley's Foundation Capital, sent an e-mail to his companies stressing the importance of cutting back. "I think we all need to review staffing levels—and make sure that every hire is absolutely crucial, or to see if there are opportunities for reductions," he wrote.
Some venture-backed companies are starting to close their doors. Recently the music site Social.FM and travel planner TripHub have shut their Web sites. "In the next six months you'll see a lot of companies go down," says Ted Wang, a lawyer at Silicon Valley's Fenwick & West who works with emerging companies and venture firms.
Some startups are battening down the hatches. Gigya, an Internet startup based in Palo Alto, Calif., just scratched plans to open an office in Europe. It also raised $11 million in September on top of the $9.5 million it pulled in six months earlier. "We have air for three years now," says Rooly Eliezerov, co-founder and president of Gigya. "Nobody will be looking around for another job."
Cushion of Cash?
Worthington won't have that kind of time if he sticks to his current game plan. The nine-year-old company has raised more than $150 million in venture money over the years, but it has spent most of that developing its technology and hiring staff. The company's chips can manipulate fluids with thousands of tiny valves, so they make biological and genetic experiments much faster and easier than in the past. Revenues doubled in the first six months of the year, to $5.5 million, but the company still lost $15.3 million during that period.
Worthington had hoped to raise $80 million in the IPO, to give him a cushion of cash. Fluidigm originally priced the deal at 14 to 16 a share, but the offers from investors quickly dropped to single digits. At one point during the road show, Worthington checked into a hotel room and saw a newspaper lying at his feet. The headline, as he recalls it, read: "Worst Financial Crisis Since the Depression with No End in Sight."
The CEO laughs about the horrible timing now. Yet despite the risks of running low on cash, he's determined to outrace the competition. He's hiring sales and marketing executives to help find new customers in life sciences and other fields. Now, sales are concentrated with a small number of customers, including the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Worthington draws strength from previous near-death experiences. After September 11, Fluidigm was running out of money. Worthington and his team managed to scare up some capital, and stay alive. This time, he figures even if he can't go public, maybe he can raise cash from Wall Street money managers or company executives. "This is not the first time we've been through this kind of thing," he says. "We're just not rattled by it."
Ante is the computers department editor for BusinessWeek.
Hiring activity in the digital media and marketing space here is expected to continue at a rapid pace, even though sharp drops in pay increments can be expected next year, according to human resource firm Aquent.
Speaking at the launch of its latest survey Aquent Orange Book, its director James Koh said there was still a critical shortage of talent in the segment, and this was expected to continue for some time.
In particular, areas like search engine marketing and digital advertising should see strong hiring well into next year, even if the economic conditions worsen, he added. The Aquent Orange Book is an annual study on salary and hiring trends in the marketing, communications & creative space for some key Asia-Pacific and European markets.
Aquent, which polled over 5,000 firms, said last year's turnover in the digital segment here was also the highest compared with other segments, as some 90 per cent of those in digital media reported an average employment of less than two years.
In contrast, the equivalent figures for public relations agencies and advertising account management firms came in at 74 per cent and 69 per cent respectively.
On salary increments, regional director Steven Pang told reporters there could be a sharp moderation owing to the cautious sentiment prevailing in the market.
He said that most firms now adopt a wait-and-see attitude in view of the economic uncertainty. This means that pay rises could drop to 2-5 per cent next year - down from the 7-12 per cent range polled at the start of the year.
The report also found that the top retention tools commonly used in Singapore include discretionary bonus (65 per cent), internal company training (58 per cent) and career development (54 per cent). Flexible work practices (54 per cent), travel (45 per cent) and external training (44 per cent) are also some of the other retention tools.
Of note is the growing importance which workers attribute to company training, since it was only ranked the fifth most popular option previously. 'These results suggest that employers need to focus on employees' professional de\velopment so that they can see a long-term future with the company,' Aquent said.
Despite competition from 210 nominiations in 14 Asia-Pacific countries, the Ministry of Manpower's Employment Pass Online (EPOL), a one-stop, self-service Internet portal, bagged an award in the "Business Process" category of The Government Technology Awards 2008 on Oct 17.
The Government Technology Awards, organised by FutureGov, an Asian magazine that focuses on building innovative capabilities and technological solutions for the public service, recognises the best practices in business processes with technology application and awards organisations for its excellence in aligning such operations.
The ministry also won a Merit Award in the National Infocomm Awards 2008.
Its EPOL bagged the award in the "Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology (Public Sector)" category at the National Infocomm Awards (NIA) 2008, a biennial event organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF).
This event is the highest accolade given to organisations which have effectively harnessed infocomm technology to enhance their business operations.
The Director of the Work Pass Division, Mr Then Yee Thong, said: "The EPOL represents a fundamental change in the way we process work passes. It is a creative piece of re-engineering that has allowed us to do what no other country has yet managed to do.
"Having a world-class processing system is an important strategy in the global competition for talent."
EPOL provides employers easy and convenient access to a comprehensive suite of related services. Transactions previously done at MOM's counters, such as printing of approval letters or tracking of application status, can now be carried out in EPOL.
THE financial crisis may be forcing many employers to scale back on recruitment plans, but encouragingly, only a handful of them plan to lay off staff in the October-December quarter.
Among 800 top employment decision makers polled here by leading executive recruitment firm Hudson, 37 per cent in key business sectors forecast increased hiring in Q4 2008, down from 43 per cent in Q3 and 57 per cent year-on-year. The majority - 59 per cent - said that hiring will remain steady, while just 4 per cent expect headcount to be cut.
‘New hiring expectations continue to fall in response to the global economic slowdown, but a reduction in headcount does not seem to be widely anticipated by employers,’ said Hudson’s country manager for Singapore Gina McLellan.
The company noted, however, that the survey was conducted before the latest events in global financial markets, which may have affected the results, especially for the banking and financial services sector.
Manufacturing was the only sector to record a rise in hiring expectations overall, with 46 per cent of respondents expecting the number of staff to grow this quarter, up slightly from 44 per cent in Q3.
Among media, PR and advertising firms, hiring expectations fell sharply, with 41 per cent forecasting increased headcount, down from 51 per cent in Q3.
In the banking and financial services sector, 34 per cent of respondents plan to increase hiring, down from 43 per cent in Q3. ‘Q4 is traditionally a slow hiring period, as budgets are being finalised and most people do not change jobs until bonuses have been paid in Q1,’ said Hudson.
Despite the bleaker outlook, a heartening 64 per cent of respondents expect their company’s performance to be ‘good’ next year. The healthcare sector led the way on optimism, followed by the media, PR and advertising industry.
When it comes to stress, 48 per cent of executives in Singapore said that it is higher now than a year ago. The last time the question was asked in Q2 last year, 52 per cent felt that way.
Singapore has the second-highest proportion of respondents reporting higher stress levels - after China. Just 6 per cent of those in Singapore said that their stress levels are falling - the lowest proportion among four markets polled, the other two being Hong Kong and Japan.
‘An increase in the volume of work is seen as the main cause of work-related stress by a substantial margin,’ Hudson noted. Across all sectors, 42 per cent said that this is the chief cause of stress, more than three times as for any other reason.
It will target special group of Singaporeans in first phase of recruitment to get 10,000 workers. THE Marina Bay Sands integrated resort will launch a a massive recruitment drive to hire 10,000 workers through newspaper ads on Monday.
For the first phase, it is targeting a special group of Singaporeans - the retired, unemployed, retrenched and women who wish to return to the workforce, as well as mature workers.
Marina Bay Sands general manager George Tanasijevich said: 'Our most important commitment to Singapore from the beginning is that we will go out and hire as many Singaporeans as we can to operate this great facility we are building. And this is what we are doing now.'
The resort, which will open by the end of next year, will need 10,000 workers for jobs ranging from security, housekeeping, cleaning, gaming, waitressing and more.
To get the manpower it needs, it is partnering the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to screen, train and hire staff.
For interested workers who do not have prior experience in the field, they will have to go for special training to qualify for the job interview . If they get the job, they will be given additional training by WDA and Marina Bay Sands to get up to speed.
But for those who fail to get a position at Marina Bay Sands, e2i and WDA have promised to find them suitable employment with other companies.
Having used Jorbb.com as a Jorbbee, Loonshi's post talks about the many features of Jorbb.com and how you might earn extra income just by signing up on the site since relevant jobs will be sent to you.
And for posting the blog, we have awarded this Jorbbee credits, which can be exchanged for great gifts.
Check out Loonshi's blog, which covers "searching for money-making lobangs (opportunities)".
ACCOUNT manager Michael became a victim of the global financial crisis last Friday - he was retrenched from his public-relations job.
The 30-year-old told my paper that he joined the international firm in Singapore earlier this year. He declined to give his full name as he is serving his one-month notice.
Michael is among thousands of workers around the world - from Mumbai to London - who have lost their jobs as the credit crunch forces companies to cut costs to stay afloat.
Jet Airways, India's top private airline, said yesterday it had axed 800 flight attendants and suspended expansion plans due to a slowdown in demand.
On Tuesday, PepsiCo said it would cut 3,300 jobs and close six plants to save US$1.2 billion (S$1.8 billion) over three years.
The layoffs will affect managerial and factory jobs globally.
Even civil servants are not spared. Britain will retrench nearly 10,000 workers from its Ministry of Justice as part of a round of budget cuts amid the tough economic climate, The Times said yesterday.
Here in Asia, the outlook on employment is grim, with recruitment firm Hudson saying yesterday that job openings for executives in the region are at a four-year low.
Its survey showed that Hong Kong will see the sharpest slowdown in executive hiring, with only 32 per cent of respondents in the city planning to hire this quarter, marking a five-year low.
This was followed by Singapore, where 37 per cent of firms said they would hire this quarter, down from 43 per cent in the third-quarter survey.
Swiss bank UBS said yesterday that it is looking to add only about 100 client advisers in the region, a lower rate than the 350 annually in recent years.
THE food and beverage industry is still hungry for workers despite the recession.
More than 1,100 jobs are going a-begging at a job fair on Wednesday in the Northwest district.
These jobs are a result of business expansion and the shortage of full-time local workers, said many of the 19 employers at the fair.
Among them is ThaiExpress Concepts, which runs six types of restaurants, from the Thai Express chain to Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe, which serves street food from Hong Kong and Macau.
The company is seeking 150 service and kitchen crew plus managers, said its head of human resource, Ms Nica Foo.
It is hardly fazed by the impending economic slowdown.
Said Ms Foo: 'People still have to eat during a recession. Competition will be more intense and that's when we prove ourselves.'
The confident company is gearing up to open two eateries by next month, after opening a Shanghainese restaurant Tang Dian Wang at Suntec City on Monday, and is gearing up to open two more by next month.
Ms Foo told The Straits Times: 'People still have to eat during a recession. Competition will be more intense and that's when we prove ourselves.'
Also expanding and hiring are the Ajisen Ramen chain of Japanese restaurants, and the McDonalds fast-food chain.
Ajisenis due to open five new outlets by the end of this year, with vacancies for 50 waitresses or waiters, kitchen helpers and team leaders, said area manager Jenny Lai. McDonalds will open two new outlets by then and will need 100 more crew members, said its recruitment specialist Irene Tay.
The BreadTalk Group, on the other hand, is looking further into the horizon, expecting a rush for workers in the food and beverage industry when the integrated resorts (IRs) start opening their doors from next year.
It is hiring for some 40 positions at its BreadTalk bakeries, Din Tai Fung restaurants and Food Republic food courts.
The food and beverage (F&B) industry's healthy appetite for workers is in contrast to the cautious hiring sentiments in other industries.
Only 37 per cent of executives here will hire more mid- to senior-level professionals in this last quarter, according to a survey released on Wednesday by recruitment firm Hudson.
This is down from 43 per cent in the third quarter. But the outlook could be worse as the survey of 800 executives was done in late August, before the global financial turmoil and the announcement that Singapore is in a technical recession.
Employers expect the full impact of an economic slowdown to be felt in the coming months.
Hiring expectations in Singapore continue to stay on a downward trend. The latest quarterly survey by recruitment agency Hudson showed that only 37 per cent of companies are expecting to increase their headcount in the fourth quarter of this year.
Out of 800 executives polled by Hudson, 37 per cent said they expect to increase staff strength. That's down from 43 per cent in the preceding three months.
59 per cent said hiring will remain steady.
The numbers also show that only four per cent expect to reduce headcount, but Hudson said it should be noted that the poll was conducted in August, before the global market turmoil in the last few weeks.
Gina Mclellan, country manager, Singapore, Hudson, said: “If we were to do the survey today, we would probably think there would be an increase in the four per cent who are looking to make retrenchments."
Singapore's last recession occurred in 2002 and that caused over 19,000 workers to be retrenched from the private sector alone.
With the economy slipping into a technical recession in the third quarter of this year, analysts said job losses can be expected.
But some HR experts said they do not expect massive cuts this time.
Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president, Kelly Services (Asia Pacific), said: “There's a big difference between 2002 and 2008. The government has made a lot of steps to have people better educated and retrained for the workforce. We have a lot more industries that are doing much better and we are much more diversified." Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
The Packagetrackr website is one of these tools that sooner or later will come in more than just handy. As you might have guessed from its name, this solution is nothing but a package tracking service – and a universal one at that.
In order to learn about the status of a package, you simply key in its tracking number and choose one of the featured carriers from the provided drop down box. These include UPS, USPS and DHL. FedEx and FedEx SmartPost are also taken into account alongside Aramex and UK City Link.
Upon submitting this information and hitting the “Track it!” button, you are presented with a comprehensive package summary which provides information such as the status of the package as regards its intended destination along with other considerations such as its weight and the pickup date. The package progress is likewise detailed, and you can inform yourself about the departure scan and arrival scan dates.
More employers in Singapore are talking of a hiring freeze in the wake of the US financial crisis, but few have job cuts in mind - at least for now, according to Yvonne Cox, the local managing director of human resource consultancy firm Watson Wyatt.
'We don't have any client at this moment who tell us they are going to make huge and drastic cuts in employees,' she said. 'There certainly will be a number of US- and European-based MNCs that are impacted by overall headcount reductions globally. So maybe that will be felt in all markets, presumably.'
Watson Wyatt, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is ranked the world's second-largest employee benefit consultant with US$1.4 billion in revenues last year. It has 107 offices in 32 countries and boasts 7,200 'associates' on its payroll.
Bosses here were already careful about taking on more staff before the dramatic events of the past two weeks, which saw bank failures and bailouts on an unprecedented scale in the US and Europe.
'We did a survey a few months ago,' Ms Cox said. 'Essentially, I would say that our clients are approaching any kind of headcount growth very, very cautiously. There's only a very small proportion that were going to grow headcount.'
There was also only a 'fairly small proportion' who indicated that they were going to downsize staff.
'Maintain' was the common answer,' she said.
Companies are not sitting still. Ms Cox said that Watson Wyatt is working with clients to boost productivity through restructuring and employee engagement.
'Employee engagement - that's an area companies cannot forget, particularly in times like these when employees are concerned, worried, nervous about their jobs and this is a time when it's very important to ensure that employees are aligned (with the company), focused on the areas important to the business as opposed to (being) distracted and worried about their jobs,' she said.
Watson Wyatt is also seeing 'continuing and even growing' demand for advice on ways to shape up a company's sales force to get maximum results in these difficult times.
'Our global head of sales effectiveness and compensation is coming to town to speak on this hot topic - it's a sign of the times,' Ms Cox said.
Then there is the talent issue. The tough situation now offers companies both a challenge to retain talent and an opportunity to recruit talent at the same time.
'One of the things you want to do in an economic downturn is to retain your key employees and ensure they will be with you for the long run, because basically they are the ones to help you weather the storm and be successful when the economic picture improves,' Ms Cox said.
So employers must be mindful of frustrated staff when they impose a freeze on hiring - as they intend to do now - because, according to her, the freeze often also applies to internal movements and promotions. Or their employees will lend themselves to poaching by others.
While the scale and speed of what happened in the US and Europe in the past fortnight - and the global stock market collapse that they led to - caught many companies off guard, Mark Birch, Watson Wyatt's local Director & Practice Leader, Insurance & Financial Services, said that they were inevitable. 'These things do tend to move in cycles. At some point in time, there's bound to be a downturn in the market.'
Added Ms Cox: 'There's been a lot of signals, at least for a year or 18 months now. Sub-prime mortgage, credit crunch - all these have been happening for quite a while. The fact is that they have been accelerating and came to a head over the last weeks to heighten the drama. But it's not as if it's brand new.'
According to the Watson Wyatt survey, companies in Singapore and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region seem more prepared for an economic downturn than those in the West.
'Eighty-four per cent of employers (in the survey) in Asia has established contingency plans, compared to 67 per cent in the US and 80 per cent in Europe,' Ms Cox said. 'So definitely there have been some thinking and planning going on - and that also applies to Singapore.'
Nearly one in three companies in the region is contemplating a wage freeze in the face of an economic slump, with the number rising to 70 per cent for Singapore. Other measures on their minds are corporate restructuring and slower pay hikes.
'Layoffs? A lot less,' Ms Cox said. 'In fact, even less in Singapore than in the Asia-Pacific in general.'
A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey has found that some 64 per cent of multinational companies polled expect more cross-border movements of staff within Asia in the next two years for short term assignments.
The poll also found that more expatriates are willing to take on pay packages that have a mix of local and expatriate terms.
The survey also reflected that seven in ten companies have named Singapore as the location of choice for their staff.
James Clemence, partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, said: "Singapore has always been a popular location for expatriates. I think the government has taken many positive steps to encourage talents to move to Singapore. It has a very stable economic political environment and there are lots of good opportunities for people to find jobs and develop themselves. So I think that's helped to make Singapore a very attractive place.
“Plus the government moves around tax rules, trying to keep the tax cost low as well as keep the regulations simple for people to deal with. I think it has helped to make Singapore the attractive location it is for international talent. And I think that's true now as it always has been and I expect that to remain the case going forward.”
Apart from Singapore, China and Hong Kong have also been named top assignment locations in Asia.
For companies looking to move talent in the region, cost remains a key concern.
But the survey showed that with a tighter job market, more people are willing to accept so-called local-plus terms for their pay packages.
This means they get a combination of local salary terms plus some expatriate living benefits.
Looking ahead, PwC said the influx of talent into Asia and movements across borders looks set to continue.
Mr Clemence continued: "Most respondents see more people moving around the Asia pacific region and that is a very positive thing. No one in the survey was saying they see a reduction in that. There is still a lot of business to be done in Asia. There are still a lot of talent gaps that need to be filled and the way that companies have done that is to move talent from one location to another."
Despite the credit crunch, PwC said that companies who will do well are those that retain talent and even recruit when they can. This will place them in a prime position when the economy kicks back into full swing.
10:51AM Some video of someone using the new trackpad. This looks like it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
10:51AM Some video of someone using the new trackpad. This looks like it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
10:48AM Oooh, some nice close-up shots of the new MacBook Pro. Here's what we're bummed about -- no matte finish for the display? You know, we use these outdoors, this is going to make it kind of a pain. Apple, consider an alternate version.
10:44AM "So we think this will be a huge success. So two new notebook families, we're building both in a whole new way, from a slab of aluminum..." So the Brick rumors were just the Air process applied to these new MacBooks / MacBook Pros. Makes a lot of sense.
10:43AM "Second model, $1599, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD... and a backlit keyboard. Shipping today, should hit stores tomorrow."
10:42AM "It's going to come in two models -- $1299 for the new MacBook 13.3-inch display, 2GHz Core 2 Duo... that's $700 more affordable for these Pro features."
10:41AM "Again we're using the 9400M. Here's our system architecture, very clean. And of course, we've got that glass trackpad, and we've got 5 hours of battery life." Now he's back on the environmental soundness of this thing. This is the most eco friendly MacBook ever in the history of human existence.
10:40AM It has the same casing, LED backlit display, glass trackpad... the whole nines. Just smaller. Looks like those leaks we saw were right on this too.
10:39AM "We're introing a new generation of MacBook on top of the white plastic model." It's just like the Pro... yet smaller.
10:39AM "But we've heard that people want a metal enclosure, faster graphics, and a lot of them want LED backlit displays... so, we figured out a way to bring these to the MacBook line."
10:38AM "It is the best selling Mac... ever. We sell a ton of these, and people love the. They sell for $1099, and we're gonna keep right on selling these, but we're going to reduce the entry price to $999." Ooh, so close Steve, but not low enough!
10:37AM "Of course that one more thing is the MacBook."
10:37AM "One more thing."
10:37AM "So 24-inch LED backlit display, 1920 x 1200 resolution, stereo speakers... everything you need for $899, available in November."
10:36AM "We're introuducing a new Cinema Display -- our first with LED backlighting. It's got a cable with three connectors: a MagSafe, you can power your notebook, 2nd is a USB port, and third is Display port."
10:35AM "So again at $1799." "We have a second model at $2499, gives you a 1.86GHz CPU and SSD -- available in early November."
10:35AM "We're putting the 9400M in the Air, adding a 120GB hard drive, and we've got a 128GB SSD as an option -- in addition we're putting in a mini display port."
10:34AM "Now, we have another cool product we'd like to talk about today. The Air. We'd like to update it with some of these technologies."
10:34AM "There's a lot of new tech in these products, but we're proud of the things we left out..." Now he's going to talk about how eco these guys are. "We think we're leading the industry with this... arsenic free glass, BFR free, mercury free, PVC free, 37% smaller packaging." "And for the first time, the MacBook Pro has earned an Epeat gold rating."
10:32AM "And these MacBook Pros are shipping today, in stores tomorrow." 10:32AM "And of course, 802.11n, Bluetooth... .95 inches, our thinnest MBP ever. It's going to come in two models. The first, US$1999 (S$1899), 15.4 inch display, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA 9400 and 9600. We have a second config at US$2499 (S$3620), you get a faster CPU with double cache, 4GB RAM, double graphics memory, 320GB hard drive."
10:30AM "So let's get back to this mini display port -- we can drive any display we could before, but at a fraction of the size -- we're building this into everything we make. This will also be the first MBP that we offer SSD on, and you can access the drives from underneath the battery." Nice! That's a nice touch. 10:30AM "Slot load super drive, magsafe connector, Ethernet, firewire 800, dual USB, mini display port, we're going to that on all our products, expresscard 34, and the battery indicator is now on the side."
10:29AM "We've added a new chip from NVIDIA -- the 9600M GT, 32 graphics cores, we're including both the 9400 as integrated graphics, or choose the 9600M for big graphic performance. 5 hours of batter on the 9400, 4 on the 9600."
10:27AM Well it is incredibly light and thin. Really quite impressive.
10:27AM No hang on, we got a shot from behind... nice.
10:26AM Oh wait, it's us!
10:26AM Someone in our row is holding it to take pictures! What gives?
10:25AM The casing is moving quickly... should be here any second.
10:25AM "Mini display port connector... let's take a look at each of these ports. We're not going to talk about the old stuff we've built in, magnetic latch, backlit keyboard, built in isight... we don't have time to talk about that." "Precision unibody enclosure... exceptionally beautiful... much more rigid construction. We're really happy about this." Wow, Steve is going to pass around the shell to everyone. That's kind of awesome. "We need them back." Big laughs.
10:23AM "Today we're replacing the old model with this..." Well, it's EXACTLY like the leak we saw last night. "Glass display, all connectors on one side..."
10:22AM "So a new trackpad for notebooks. So let's take this tech and make some new notebooks. We're introducing the new MacBook Pro."
10:22AM New gestures... Steve is showing off one and two finger gestures... now three... uh huh, where could this be going? "And we've added some four finger gestures. "A new way to open expose, and a great way to app switch..."
10:21AM "39% larger tracking area, multitouch, glass -- and we've optimized the friction on the glass... but where's the button? It's the entire pad -- gives you more area, keeps you from hunting... multi buttons via software, just turn on in preferences."
10:20AM "We've got a new trackpad -- a large multitouch glass trackpad."
10:20AM "We've been shipping the 8600M, we're at 55% for heavy graphics performance compared to that chip." "We've got some great new graphics."
10:19AM "This delivers up to 5x faster graphics than the chips we've been using. So what's it look like when we take it into the real world? up to 6x performance."
10:18AM "They've dubbed it the NVIDIA GeForce 9400 M -- it's an amazing chip. Chipset and GPU on one die -- 70% is the GPU, 16 parallel graphic cores, 54gflops of graphics performance. It's a sunner."
10:18AM "We also have some new graphics for notebooks... NVIDIA talked to us about an amazing graphics part they wanted to use." "We said this is fantastic, but can we use it in a notebook?"
10:17AM "So this new way has a relevance beyond the Air -- we've been working super hard on designing new uni-body enclosures. Thank you." And Steve is back!
10:16AM "Through each stage we're cleaning, collecting, and recycling the material. We started with a 2.5lbs piece of metal and end up with a piece that weighs a quarter of a pound."
10:16AM He's going through the very detailed way this piece of metal is machined. "We go through a noisy stage called rough cutting -- we create the holes for the key caps, towards the end we anodize it..."
10:15AM "We discovered if we started with a thick piece of aluminum we could make a lighter and stronger part." "So we make it from a solid piece of aluminum." Uh huh... Brickish.
10:14AM "This new process culminated in the design of this product: the MacBook Air. You couldn't build something this strong and thin in the older way."
10:14AM Very dry stuff... he's building here: "We've been looking for a better way -- and we think we've found it."
10:13AM "The palm rest requires the same sort of internal structure. A series of stiffening plates..." "Finally, we had this plastic gasket -- it helps us control the juntion."
10:12AM "One of the problems is designing something as thin and light as the Pro, but making it strong." "The structure is primarily derived from this..." Shows the internal frame. "It's made of multiple parts, then assembled into the bottom case... a very thin aluminum pressing."
10:11AM "I'd like to take a couple of moments to tell you about a real breakthrough we've had about how we can design and build our notebooks." "I'd like to start by giving you a sense of context." "I'd like to show you how we build our current MacBook Pro."
10:11AM "Let's talk about notebooks. Before we get into the actual notebooks, we want to talk about discoveries we've made. I'd like to talk about some new ways to build notebooks." Jony Ive is out!
10:10AM "In Q1 to Q3 2008, we've equaled all sales of 2007... that's the state of the mac!" Steve's back out!
10:09AM "Macs at major universities -- from 15% to almost 50%" "Many universities requires students have a laptop, we've worked hard to get Mac to be a choice." Shot of a school room... every laptop is a Mac! Ha!
10:08AM "One out of every 3 dollars is spent on the Macintosh. What a difference a few years makes."
10:07AM "If you look at the history, the Mac has outgrown the market for almost 4 years. There's been some key milestones along the way, like our transition to Intel, the Vista announcement and Leopard." "Since we're growing faster than the market, in US retail marketshare we've gone from single digits to 17.6%."
10:06AM "So these are the six reasons we've been successful."
10:06AM Tim: "Retail stores -- 400,000 visitors a day. 50% of the Macs they sell are people that are new to Mac." Now he's busting out a slideshow of new stores around the world: Sydney, Bejing... "Both stores are off to a great start."
10:05AM Now Tim is talking about the PC vs. Mac ads. Playing one now. PC is on a king's throne... good stuff. The gist is switching is easy. PC: "I banish you."
10:04AM Vista -- the 4th reason Macs are doing well. Nasty, nasty burn to Microsoft.
10:04AM Ouch -- "The next up is something we didn't do -- Vista." Big laughs. "I think it's fair to say Vista hasn't lived up to everything Microsoft hoped it would -- and this has given us a door in."
10:03AM "Third reason: compatibility. When people looked at macs in the past, they were concerned about switching -- we fixed that with Boot Camp. We also work with third parties on productions like Fusion and Parallels." Windows on an iMac "Frankly this sends a shiver up my spine." Big laughs.
10:02AM "Why? Superior computers -- they're far superior to anything on the market." Now he's going through the line, iMacs, Air... "And with those better computers comes better software... like Leopard, like iLife, and products like iWork."
10:01AM Tim Cook: "Good morning -- our last reported quarter we sold 2.5m Macs. In several quarters in a row we've been growing 2/3x the market growth."
10:00AM "Before that I want to cover the state of the Mac -- Tim Cook will take us through it."
10:00AM "Good morning -- we appreciate you coming down this morning... I think everyone knows today is about notebooks. And we've got some exciting new notebooks."
9:59AM People are scurrying to grab their seats. And... Steve's out!
9:59AM Looks like we're getting ready to start -- the lights are dimming...
9:57AM "Ladies and gentlemen -- silence your cell phones."
9:54AM And we're in our seats! Some nice classical music playing -- just the thing the quiet before the storm we're expecting.
9:08AM PT -- We've got a little less than an hour to go, so we'll just kind of be loitering outside Apple Town Hall, waiting to spot Steve and the unicorn that is his new MacBook Pro.
We're at Apple HQ! There's going to be a bit of a wait before we get going, but stick close by!
Thanks to Gwendolyn, our Press Release has been published on their blog.
SGEntrepreneurs.com, a public and moderated blog dedicated to people who are involved in entrepreneurship and enterprise. It serves as a site where fellow entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business plan competition organizers blog about their experiences on entrepreneurship and enterprise in Singapore.
THOSE who work fewer than 35 hours a week will soon be considered part-time workers, under changes to be made to the Employment Act.
This suggestion, made during a three-week public consultation on proposed amendments to the Act, has been accepted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
Initially, MOM had proposed that part-timers be defined as those who work 35 hours or less, as opposed to the Act’s existing definition of under 30 hours.
It said: ‘In consultation with the tripartite partners, MOM agrees that if part- time employees are defined as those who work 35 hours or less, full-time employees on a five-day, seven-hour working arrangement may be re-classified as part-time employees and have their employment benefits pro-rated accordingly.
‘In view of this, the ministry would accept this proposal.’ It made the announcement on its website and that of the feedback unit Reach.
The reason for the original proposal is to coax more employers to offer part-time work and attract more women back to work.
This amendment is among 23 to be made to the Act, which covers about 1.4million workers. It provides them with basic employment benefits such as salary protection, minimum employment terms and dispute resolution. Senior managers, seamen, domestic workers and government employees are excluded.
In coming up with the amendments, MOM consulted the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF).
Last month, the proposals were put out for public feedback. MOM received more than 70 written comments.
However, the ‘part-time worker’ suggestion was the only one it agreed with.
The decision was welcomed by Mr Koh Juan Kiat, executive director of the SNEF.
He said a sizeable proportion of full-time employees in, for instance, the cleaning and security sectors, is on a five-day, seven-hour work week.
‘Changing the definition will protect these workers,’ he said.
Agreeing, Mr Abdul Subhan Shamsul Hussein, president of the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers’ Union, said it would remove the possibility of rogue employers exploiting workers by re-classifying them as part-timers and cutting back on their employment benefits.
Among the reasons MOM gave for rejecting several of the other suggestions were: to avoid rigidity in the labour market and to maintain economic competitiveness.
Hence, it turned down such ideas as increasing the notice period for leaving a job, and tying paid annual leave and sick leave to a worker’s years of service.
Last amended in 1995, the Employment Act is being tweaked to keep pace with changes in the labour market.
Increasingly, shorter employment and contract workers are becoming more widespread, following the increase of outsourcing by companies.
The 23 proposed changes cover four areas: revising the coverage of the Act, reviewing employment standards and benefits, enhancing penalties and enforcement powers, and rationalising existing provisions and repealing the outdated.
The amendments will go before Parliament soon and will probably come into effect next year.
Jim Stroud posted an interesting video interview (and via web cam too) on Cloud Recruiting.
Jim Stroud is a “Searchologist” with an expertise in the full life-cycle placement of Executive and Technical personnel, Recruitment Research and Competitive Intelligence. Jim Stroud and Marie Journey interview Michael Marlatt about his "Cloud Recruiting" concept, the amazing apps on his iPhone and how he uses them in his Recruiting efforts. Cloud Recruiting redefines how employers and employees connect, communicate and "click" on work, jobs and values. It points to the realities of competing for people who are physically and virtually mobile. It's about staying ahead of the crowd.
In the last few years we’ve seen an explosion in new awesome tools for freelancers including project management apps, invoicing apps, time management apps and to-do lists. One type of app that I think is particularly awesome is the collaboration app. These services allow you to upload images, documents and in some cases videos and flash, and then you, your client and anyone else working on the project can discuss and annotate the work.
When it comes to sharing concepts, particularly for freelancers working over the web, this is literally a revolution in feedback. There are 9 apps listed below, half are extremely feature packed with a few slimmer (cheaper) options and one coming soon app.
Get feedback on documents (Word, Excel), Powerpoint, images (including Photoshop PSD files), webpages and free-form text. Backboard also features multiple versions of a project, email integration - just send an email with the file for review attached, desktop upload and SSL encryption.
Plans ranging from Free for one non-commercial account (unlimited "backboards") to $49 p/month
Feedback for images (including PSD files), vector files like EPS and PDF, video files, a raft of document types from Powerpoint to Word, and of course live web pages.
Add notes and discussion to points on the item being shared, a feature to print a summary - including the notes, a desktop uploader, custom branding for freelancers who care about their image and a customizeable interface.
There are free trials, otherwise it’s $24 - $99 p/month.
Like ConceptShare and Backboard, ProofHQ has the ability to annotate a variety of document types - PDFs, PSDs, JPGs, Word, Powerpoint - and webpages. It also includes email integration, version control and the ability to create workspaces. And like ConceptShare you can customize the look and feel to give it some branding.
Free trials are available, otherwise it’s $29 - $99 p/month
Proof-It-Online has some good features - annotate not just static files but video, flash and animation. But it’s way more expensive that the previous three options ($39 p/month up to a whopping $750 p/month) and looking a lot older and less up to date.
Cozimo is another solid looking solution with the ability to do not just the static docs but like ConceptShare to add notes to video as well. Also features SSL Security, custom branding on all but the cheapest plan, unlimited folders and a healthy dose of storage (provided you pay - otherwise it’s 10mb not really enough to do more than documents).
Priced from $29 p/month to $149 p/month with a free trial option
Review Basics processes all the usual suspects - documents, powerpoint, images - and does video as well. Notably however you can’t provide feedback on PSD files - though I suppose you can just make a JPG out of them pretty easily.
Currently the system seems to be in pretty early stage because it’s completely free with a paid plan coming later. I couldn’t find many other limitation details, so you’d have to try signing up to find out about number of projects etc.
Fine Tuna is a MUCH simpler product than those listed above and is only for adding notes to a single image. You then send it off to an email address and can go back and forth.
There’s a firefox extension and it’s quite a usable product from my brief play with it, but obviously it’s like a matchbox car compared to a real car when stacked up against the products above. You can’t do webpages, documents, videos, animations, there’s no security etc.
Fleck is similar to Fine Tuna in that it’s not really in the same category as the top apps. Unlike Fine Tuna, Fleck is for webpages. You grab a web page and add notes, then share. You can create accounts, though it appears to be totally free.
Vyoopoint is actually not available yet, but looks like it’s going to be promising. It includes the ability to annotate Flash files, integration with Basecamp and a few other interesting features. You can sign up to be notified on launch.
THE gloom was not just in the official news — that Singapore has slipped into technical recession, the first time since 2002 , and that this year’s economic growth might only hit 3 per cent.
It was even more visible in what several economists said: Next year could be worse.
Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng expects 2009 growth to be “slower, or even negative”. The last time Singapore experienced a full-scale recession was in 2001, when the economy contracted by 2.4 per cent during the year.
“Leading indicators are pointing decisively southwards, and gross domestic product growth could remain in negative territory in the first half of 2009 or possibly beyond,” he added.
In fact, some economists felt the current crisis could surpass the 1997 Asian financial crisis, eclipsing the post-911 and Sars slumps in recent years. Or even the recessions triggered by the 1985 Pan Electric collapse and 1973 oil shock.
And how quickly Singapore - the first Asian economy to slip into recession -- recovers hinges on whether Western governments and central banks can resolve the credit crisis in the months ahead.
“In the worst-case scenario, it will be far worse than anything we’ve seen before because we are talking about job losses which will cut across all industries,” said CIMB-GK regional economist Song Seng Wun.
And while the Government is expected to dip into its coffers, the arsenal at its disposal to stimulate the economy could be hampered by the resource crunch in the construction sector.
Said Singapore Management University economics professor Davin Chor: “The construction sector has relatively limited capacity to expand in the short term.”
But Mr Song argued that the construction crunch could be a blessing in disguise, given that building costs would “tumble quickly” by the first quarter of next year. Said Mr Song: “Projects, which have been put on the backburner, can be brought forward.”
And while much hopes are pinned on the upcoming Marina Bay Sands integrated resort- slated to open its doors next year — experts are cautious about its impact, especially when Las Vegas Sands — which clinched the licence to build the IR - has seen gaming earnings fall in its chief markets in the US and Macau.
Said Forecast economist Vishnu Varathan: “From the operators’ point of view, they may be facing their own financial difficulties. And a slowing economy means less visitors, less spending power.”
When contacted, Marina Bay Sands general manager George Tanasijevich said the group remains “100 per cent committed to Singapore and to helping Singapore achieve its tourism goals”.
According to official estimates, on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis, Singapore’s economy shrank by 6.3 per cent in the third quarter after contracting 5.7 per cent in the previous quarter - pushing the Republic into a technical recession.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said prospects of a recovery in the second half of next year “will depend significantly on how conditions evolve” in the regional economies, as well as those of US, Germany and Japan.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reiterated on Friday that Singapore is well-placed to ride through the “financial storm”, bouyed by the momentum from projects such as the recent Singapore Grand Prix.
Said Mr Lee: “... Our financial system is sound, and our economy remains competitive.
Over the last few years, when conditions were good, we had consciously decided to make the best of the good times and pressed on with upgrading and diversifying our economy. This will mean new and better jobs, even if some old ones are lost.”
Mr Varanthan expects the economy to grow 3 per cent next year — matching the official forecast for growth this year.
UOB economist Ho Woei Chen feels that the worst has yet to come.
Said Ms Ho: “The banks are the ones who have been hurt...We will see the crisis translating into the real sectors of the economy.”
Manufacturing will continue to be a drag on the economy, with the retail and services industry poised for a hit. But Singapore, where the banking scene is dominated by private banking, would likely be hurt less than its rival Hong Kong, Asia’s centre for investment banking, said Ms Ho.
Mr Varathan expects industries dealing in energy, food and water — which are not key drivers of Singapore’s economy — to be shielded from the downturn.
Ms Ho stressed there is still “a lot liquidity in the system”. Said Ms Ho: “If you go to restaurants, you can see a lot of people still spending.”
Singapore’s economy is expected to grow by only 3 per cent this year.
This falls short of the earlier gross domestic product forecast range of between 4 and 5 per cent.
Given the bleak short-term outlook ahead, Christmas is unlikely to be very merry in Singapore.
Some analysts said retrenchments could hit home as early as December, while others predict the full impact will be felt in the second and third quarter of next year.
42-year-old Ahmad Adnan Dormat hopes to survive the hard months ahead. He starts a new job as a pool cleaner on Monday, earning about S$1,450 a month before contributing to the Central Provident Fund.
Ahmad’s wife is a homemaker. The family spends about S$300 every month for household needs.
When Ahmad was unemployed for two months, he applied to six companies for a job. But he only received one call back.
Since then, he has been tapping on what little savings he has to support his family of four. But the fear of losing his job lingers with the poorer economy today.
And while the good news is that Asia is not at the epicentre of this current crisis, it is little comfort to the average worker.
Irvin Seah, economist, DBS Bank, said: “At least for the next four quarters or so, we should prepare ourselves mentally for a slower growth and a softer labour market.
“You would probably see your bonuses not coming in, fresh graduates will probably have difficulties finding good-paying jobs and those who would like to seek for better opportunities will find it extremely difficult. So to put it (simply), we are in for a rough ride ahead.”
Mr Seah added: “We have been through some difficult times during the Asian Financial Crisis. And if you compare to those days, the banking sector, the structure of the banking sectors in Asia has certainly become a lot stronger. Banks are much more robust and better capitalised nowadays - I am referring to the Asian banks.
“So we are definitely in a much better position, and I believe that as long as for the US and the Eurozone, (if) they are able to find solutions to the problems, then I guess Asia should be able to ride off this difficult times and emerge even stronger.”
Community organisations are bracing to help needy residents. North West Community Development Council is starting a kitchen cooperative, which will be operational by the end of the year.
Teo Ho Pin, Mayor, North West District, said: “This kitchen is basically to provide jobs to our residents. At the same time, it is also a business, where we bake Malay kuehs, pastries to sell and to cater to various functions.
“It will also provide hot meals for needy residents. And one of the kitchens will be located at Bukit Panjang CC, and that will cater to about maybe 100 residents in Bukit Panjang town.”
Dr Teo added: “We are expecting more residents to come forward to the CDC for assistance. So what we have done at Northwest CDC is that we have geared up in our various assistance schemes. So in terms of our job assistance schemes now, we are focusing on helping our residents to switch careers or move into (a) new industry, especially the service industry.
“So we have worked out various schemes… recently we had a career exploration scheme, where we actually provide opportunities - working with employers - to give our job seekers opportunities to have a work trial.
“That means going to the company to work for a couple of days, then if the employers and job seekers… find that they can match, then we will support in terms of providing training, subsidies, and they will undergo a proper training course to upgrade their skills, and we will also help them transit into their new work environment.”
The CDC also plans to offer hot meals to needy residents. With the downturn, it is expecting the number of applications for social assistance to go up from 600 to 800 a month.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has resolved a dispute between a group of foreign workers and their employer, Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Company.
Last week, 186 Chinese workers approached MOM for help after their employer proposed to cut their monthly salary from S$1,700 to S$1,200.
MOM then held a conciliation meeting with management representatives from the company.
Ssangyong explained that it had proposed the salary cut as a measure to link the workers' performance to their salaries.
Upon MOM's advice, Ssangyong agreed to continue paying the workers their monthly salary of S$1,700 as this is set out in their employment contracts. The company also agreed to separate the performance issue from the contracted salary.
2 women had applied for a sales manager position. One had a diploma in hotel management while the other had risen through the ranks.
Orchard Hotel's general manager Melvin Lim picked the woman with no paper qualifications.
'Our business is about dealing with people, and she was less aloof and more friendly. She also showed a willingness to learn, so it would be possible for us to nurture her,' he told The Straits Times.
Increasingly, employers like Orchard Hotel are putting a higher premium on skills and attitudes that fit the job rather than academic qualifications. They can be an attitude of self-improvement, or an ability to handle complex tasks.
The growing emphasis on such capabilities is a trend the Government should highlight to people, said an industry-led panel overseeing efforts to train adults for jobs.
The 13-member Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Advisory Council made the call at a media conference yesterday, urging the Government to send a 'strong and consistent message'.
Other recommendations it made in its annual review of the Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) work are: get regular feedback from employers on the types of skills they need, plus invest more in building better adult training centres and introduce competition among them.
In line with the recommendations, the WDA launched a public education campaign yesterday, with advertisements lined up for this month to encourage workers to pick up a skill.
The council, formed in 2001, oversees the budgetary matters and funding policies of the WDA's manpower development funds.
It includes representatives from the labour movement, self-help groups and various industries.
The chairman, Mr Bill Chang, hailed the Government's 10-year masterplan, announced in February this year, to boost continuing education and training.
This year, the Government will inject $800 million into the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, to fund training programmes. The top-up will bring the fund to $3 billion.
But more needs to be done, said Mr Chang, an executive vice-president at SingTel.
Rapid economic changes tend to make knowledge outdated in a few years. With high value-added jobs coming in and low-cost ones moving out of Singapore, workers have to keep improving their skills to stay relevant, he added.
Such developments, however, seem to be lost on workers, said council member Sam Tan, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC and executive director of self-help group Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).
In the past 15 years of training workers, the CDAC found many have the attitude that they need to upgrade their skills only when they are retrenched, he said.
WDA's chief executive Ong Ye Kung noted that manufacturers, too, seek workers with such attributes as discipline and the ability to follow procedures, while employers in services look for those who can relate to people.
Retailer Metro's director of operations and human resources, Mr Edward Tan, recalled hiring graduates who failed as operations managers because they could not take the long hours and lacked a customer-first attitude.
'Customers are more demanding these days. Not everyone enjoys or has the passion to serve,' he said.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore are not spending enough on training their staff.
A survey by DP Information Group showed that almost half of local SMEs spend less than one per cent of staff costs on training their employees each year.
The survey also showed that 20 per cent of firms put aside less than a hundred dollars a year for training each employee.
According to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, companies should spend between two to three per cent of staff costs each year on training.
These costs could add up in the long run as all employees need training in order to keep up with the rapidly changing environment, but investing in human capital is a must for SMEs.
Managing director of DP Information Network, Chen Yew Nah, said: "The SMEs have only their people to help them to grow the organisation. So it is very important for them to see... a good portion of their staff being able to be trained, and to keep it dynamic, with the changing conditions that you have today."
The survey also revealed that local firms are looking to distant markets such as Russia and Latin America. Observers said such markets have high growth potential that makes them attractive.
Deputy CEO of IE Singapore, Ted Tan Teck Koon, said the gross domestic product of Latin Americas had grown about six to eight per cent in the last four to five years, despite the current credit crunch in the US.
The Young Businessman (TYB) started out as a journal to blog about his interesting business ideas and raise some money online to reach his personal target of SGD$10,000 in his bank by the age of 21.
Cris is a 20 year old full time student pursuing a diploma course in Temasek Polytechnic who likes entrepreneurship, as he is inspired by his uncle’s success.
He gets sleepless when a business idea strikes his mind and will quickly jot down into his trusty notebook of the ideas.
He feels that his parents are the worst venture capitalists in the world because they would reject every single business idea that he had drafted out.
He has interned for a local IT startup company (IT Laboratory), and several major companies such as IBM Singapore, gaining a wealth of experience in various roles.
He hopes to use this blog, The Young Businessman, to meet and know more people both online and offline.
He has a soft spot for Korean food especially Kimchi and he can be found at Geek Termin when he is in the middle of meetings and has nowhere to go because the coffee over there is simply superb!
SINGAPORE will suffer an economic slowdown lasting “several quarters” and unemployment is expected to rise, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned yesterday at a dialogue with community leaders and residents in Toa Payoh East.
What had begun as a financial crisis in the United States last year has now spiralled into a global economic crisis to which Singapore is exposed, even after the United States government approved a US$700-billion ($1-trillion) rescue package to bail out America’s banks and financial institutions, he noted.
Responding to a resident who had sought his thoughts on the bailout, Mr Shanmugaratnam said that while it was a step forward that the US Congress supported the plan, “I think the consensus is that more will have to be done”.
The real problem facing the US financial system is the shortage of capital in the banks there because the value of their assets has been sharply eroded, he said. America’s next President and his team will have to work out a “comprehensive” solution to its financial problems, he added.
The year ahead will be “difficult” and “things will get worse before they get better”, Mr Shanmugaratnam warned.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry will announce preliminary estimates for third-quarter gross domestic product this Friday, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) may also announce a monetary policy update then, said Mr Shanmugaratnam, who is also a board member of the MAS.
Despite the grey skies, there are bright spots on thehorizon, the minister said. Singapore’s diversified economy will enjoy continued growth in sectors such as offshore and marine, private banking and wealth management, as well as in certain areas of manufacturing. Confidence in Singapore is still high, and “our property market is not as overvalued as that in many other countries”, he said.
Last year’s budget surplus will also benefit Singaporeans, he told the 300-strong audience.
“Frankly, it was just as well that we decided not to spend all the surplus that we earned last year,” he said.
“This shows the merits of thinking not just short-term, but medium- to long-term and not spending all your resources immediately.”
Mr Shanmugaratnam assured residents that Singapore’s regulations over local banks, offshore banks and insurance companies were sound, but acknowledged that it was natural for Singaporeans to be nervous amid the global uncertainty.
“There’s no risk and no reason whatsoever to have a run on our banks,” he assured.
On calls to expand the insurance coverage of bank deposits from the current $20,000 ceiling, Mr Shanmugaratnam said that would mean higher costs because the cost of deposit insurance would ultimately be borne by the customer. He added that deposit insurance was the last step in the process, not the first.
“The first step is, the banks have to be well-regulated and I can assure you that our Singapore banks are well-regulated,” he said.
“Our regulations are stricter compared to Ireland, the US, in fact compared to many developed countries. We have always been old-fashioned in our regulatory approach.”
Still, he agreed with grassroots leader Peter Ngo that the credit card system might need more oversight. Mr Ngo, 70, the chairman of listed company E3 Holdings, said he knew someone earning $10,000 a month who had been granted a total of $160,000 in credit facilities by eight different banks. With share prices plunging and economic prospects worsening, more people may resort to borrowing from one bank to repay another, causing future problems as the debt spiralled out of control.
Financial experts suggested to Today how consumers might be better protected.
Former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian suggested that the MAS require all banks to provide data on credit cards taken by each person and for a central database to be set up. Save for the rich, each person should be limited to two credit cards with a total limit of two months’ salary, said Mr Tan, a consultant who also blogs about financial and insurance matters at tankinlian.blogspot.com. As it stands, the Consumer Credit Bureau allows banks to check a potential client’s credit and payment history before issuing new cards or unsecured loans
Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, said that instead of leaving consumer education to banks and the Consumers Association of Singapore, parties like financial service trade associations and Credit Counselling Singapore could be roped in. A compulsory debt restructuring scheme — for which a consultation paper was issued last year — would also help in preventing bankruptcy, he said. Article Source & Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
As the nightmare on Wall Street continues to stalk its victims in major capitals, the fat cat bank staff who once raked in multimillion- dollar packages have been left licking their wounds.
Many, especially in New York and London, have been shown the door.
Here in Shenton Way, the great salary squeeze has already started for Mr S.L. Chua, a banker in his 40s at a major American financial institution, and his peers.
'Management has already started warning us to expect little or no bonuses. Last year, I got 10 months' bonus; 2005 and 2006 were great times as well. But this year, my best-case scenario is to get one or two months,' he said.
And the worst case?
'Getting a company T-shirt as a goodbye gift - like what my US counterpart got when he was fired,' Mr Chua said with a shudder. He counts himself lucky that he is working at a bank that is still standing amid the debris of fallen institutions.
He is thankful too that he is working in Singapore and not at the epicentre of the crisis in New York.
'At least Asia still has growth, so there's some business to do and money to earn. But in the United States, there's a lot more weighing them down,' he added, nervously fingering his Patek Philippe watch which he had bought for 'a high five-digit sum' with part of his bonus in 2006.
With the turmoil described as the worst since the 1930s Great Depression, massive layoffs and cost cuts by embattled financial firms, and new rules curbing CEO pay have kicked in elsewhere.
Big-name investment banks that used to set stratospheric bonus benchmarks have become, or are becoming, history.
When they were the masters of the universe, a record US$38 billion (S$55 billion) was dished out last year to the 186,000 US-based staff of Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns.
The largesse works out to an average of US$201,500 for each Wall Street denizen, reported Bloomberg.
This is four times the median income of an American household. It is also enough to buy a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet, a common sight in Wall Street.
In Singapore, senior bankers performing the same role at top international financial institutions get roughly the same net after-tax pay as their counterparts in the US and other financial centres worldwide, said Mr Pan Zai Xian, a manager at executive search firm Robert Walters Singapore.
Executive pay experts here estimate that the pay package for a top investment banker last year was well over $1.5 million, including a seven-figure bonus.
Traders with the golden touch could command 'several million' as their pay was largely based on commission.
The big-league American and European banks with operations in Singapore - which include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, RBS, UBS, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank - hire well over 30,000 staff here.
For Mr Chua, who would describe his job only as 'handling key deals for institutional clients', salaries in the past three years were in the 'decent six figures'.
This was enough for two landed property investments in prime districts, an Audi A8 luxury car and a wardrobe of branded clothes for his wife.
But with the recession looming and bonuses looking anaemic, Mr Chua has decided to go on an 'austerity drive'.
He has ditched plans to buy a BMW 7 to replace his Audi. He will also buy 'only second-hand watches' and 'not indulge in thousand-
dollar wines now'. Hundred-dollar wines will do, he mused.
It is still too early to determine exactly how much bonuses will be cut for most banking jobs in Singapore, noted Mr Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore.
Mr Chua Tek Yew, a partner at executive search firm Whitehead Mann Partnership, noted: 'The local operations are still waiting for news from their headquarters in New York about the bonus pool and budgets when the financial year closes in a few months' time.
'But it is clear that managements have already started to manage expectations of their staff, especially the top performers.'
For the more conservative European and Asian banks, pay is unlikely to be as drastically curtailed during a downturn as that at the Wall Street investment banks. The latter tend to pay much bigger bonuses during boomtime but cut more during downturns, noted Robert Walters' Mr Pan.
Layoffs at beleaguered financial institutions in the US and Europe have hit well over 20,000 to date - and counting.
European and commercial banks here may still pay out one or two months' bonus this year. But the local top investment bankers from Wall Street banks could suffer a take-home pay cut of half or even three-quarters, a headhunter with a foreign executive search firm suggested. He declined to be named, saying his estimates were 'a very rough guess'.
'Among those badly hit will be traders who relied heavily on commissions and performance bonuses,' he said.
One banker in his 30s here reckoned he might get 'an 80 per cent pay cut' as his base salary was only 20 per cent of his total package.
In the past year, his team of a handful of people had earned a
few million dollars from commissions on the structured products they had packaged and hedged risks for. Some of these products had exposure to the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers. The commissions were split among the team.
But now business and commissions have ground to a standstill, he said.
He now spends his time on tasks that will not earn him big bucks - like sorting through 'a mountain of claims' against Lehman Brothers.
A trader with a US financial institution, who gave her name only as Ms Lin, said she 'shed a few tears' as she watched 'trading dwindle to nothing'.
'I don't have much to do now, so I've started a list of the branded goods and jewellery I plan to sell to friends on Facebook and eBay, in case my salary gets cut to half or less next year,' she said.
Ms Lin, who is in her late 20s, admitted she had bought 'some diamond pieces' with her 'high five-figure bonus' last year.
But now that she has a hefty mortgage on a new apartment in District 10, she is thinking of selling a few sparklers so that she can comfortably sustain her monthly loan payments, as well as her 'expensive addiction to Gucci and Prada'.
'There are just some things that I feel I can't do without now that I have attained this lifestyle. It's hard to downgrade a lifestyle even after your salary has been downscaled,' she said. 'I've become greedy.'
US bankers have been widely criticised for the greed that led them to pursue higher profits and bonuses - by cobbling together the complex investments linked to toxic sub-prime mortgages.
There is now a backlash by the American people against what is perceived as excessively high pay for the CEOs of American banks whose mistakes created the financial market maelstrom, noted headhunters.
Still, headhunters said high pay may still eventually make a comeback - even if the institutions in Wall Street and Shenton Way become drastically altered amid the consolidation in the financial sector.
Mr Pan noted: 'Greed is part of man's nature and despite whatever structures being put in place, smart people will find ways around them to make money for themselves.'
Singapore appears headed for its first recession since 2002 as the city-state suffers from a US economy wilting under its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, economists say.
Southeast Asia's wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita is heavily dependent on trade, which makes it sensitive to hiccups in developed economies, particularly key export markets the US and Europe.
The crisis that began last year in the US subprime, or higher-risk, mortgage sector is now infecting European shores, and Singapore may very likely find itself in an extended downturn, economists said.
They expect this Friday's release of preliminary economic data for the third quarter to confirm Singapore is in a technical recession, generally defined as two consecutive quarters of quarter-on-quarter contractions in economic output.
"We are pencilling in the worst for Singapore.... We might see two straight years of (economic) contractions (from 2009 to 2010)," said Song Seng Wun, a regional economist with CIMB-GK Research.
While the last technical recession came six years ago, the most recent full-scale recession was in 2001 when the economy contracted 2.4 percent during the year.
After years of growth, signs of a slowdown emerged with recent disappointing trade data and contractions in the important manufacturing sector, which includes the country's export-dependent electronic and pharmaceutical industries.
In August, key non-oil domestic exports fell for the fourth straight month, with electronic shipments continuing a decline begun in February 2007, and manufacturing dropped by 12.2 percent.
The August fall in output followed a 21.5 percent decline the previous month.
In the second quarter to June, Singapore's economy contracted 6.0 percent on an annualised, quarter-on-quarter basis and the negative trend likely extended into the third quarter, said economists.
"Things are bad globally," said Kit Wei Zheng, Citigroup's vice president for regional economics and market analysis.
"There are a lot of downside risks and in such a scenario, one cannot hope for a quick recovery," he said in Singapore.
Kit is optimistically forecasting a fourth-quarter recovery, with full-year growth at 2.8 percent.
Song said his revised 2009 forecast would likely be for negative growth.
He said that given the rarity of the global crisis, "the numbers we may be looking at may be once in a century for Singapore."
According to economists' calculations, more than two-thirds of the country's economy, valued at 243.17 billion Singapore dollars in 2007 (166.46 billion US), is driven by external demand.
The island nation has no significant domestic economic drivers to lean on because its market of almost five million is simply too small, said economists.
"If the world is in a recession, there is little that we can boost," said Song. "Our plan B is really to try to make the local population bigger."
Economists from Credit Suisse also see Singapore's economy slowing further next year.
"Signs that growth will be lower in 2009 than in 2008 are everywhere... lower job and income growth, falling asset prices, and flat to negative export growth," they said in a report.
"By sector, the global financial turmoil could hit financial services growth hard, exports are likely to drag down manufacturing, and the biomedical sector is expected to remain under pressure from competition from generic drugs."
In early August Singapore's government cut its forecast for economic growth this year to between four and five percent.
But Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned this week that the country could be stuck in an economic downturn that may last "several quarters" as the global crisis evolves.
"It is now an economic crisis," he was quoted as saying Monday in The Straits Times.
"So globally the economy is slowing down. This is a fact that we cannot escape."
Whatever may be the size of the company, the employee morale is important for running a successful business. Without happy employees, you will not be able to run your company. In the earlier days, the owners were treated like special persons for whom first priorities were given. Time is changing these days and you need to respect your employees as human beings if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.
1. Respect is what all people expect and you need to respect your staff even though you are the boss paying them. They are working with you for the money you pay, but they have their own personal issues and they are also human beings. Do not treat your employees as commodities treat them as human beings. Care for them and provide them with necessary furniture and tools.
2. Never lose your temper very easily in front of the employees. To boost the employee morale you can involve them in the decision-making process and listen to what they say. You may get good inputs from them and you may be surprised to see that they are looking at the same problem with a different perspective.
3. Be well mannered with your employees. Simple words like please and thank you are very powerful and your staff will be happy that you are respecting them. This will make them work much harder to make you happy. Create a pleasant working environment that will motivate your staff to work happily.
4. Success or failure of the project should be shared with your employees. If you succeed, celebrate together offering them an outing. If there is a failure, do not blame your staff but work with them to identify the problem. By sharing the responsibilities with your employees, your staff will be more committed to the job rather than just working for a salary.
5. Your employees are looking for job security and you have to assure this to them. If there is a cutoff or layback, you have to communicate properly about the reason. You should also reveal the plans you have for securing the job of remaining employees. Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
Roaming fees for mobile phone users in Southeast Asia making calls outside their own country may be cut by half early 2009, according to report Sunday citing a Malaysian minister.
Energy, Water and Communications Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said a reduction was necessary as charges were exceptionally high.
"We plan to reduce roaming charges with Singapore first," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.
Shaziman said his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had agreed to the plan during a meeting on Indonesia's resort island of Bali last month.
"Reducing the roaming rates will also reduce the burden on the tens of thousands of Malaysians who commute to Singapore daily," he said.
"We do not want them to be paying exceptionally high roaming charges when their workplace (Singapore) is only a few kilometres (miles) away from their homes in (neighbouring) Johor," he added.
Shaziman said his Singaporean counterpart Lee Boon Yang had hailed the proposal.
Malaysia's top mobile operator Maxis charges 1.50 ringgit per minute for a local registered cell phone user when he uses his phone in Singapore and as high as 9.00 ringgit per minute in Cambodia.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Sunday that the global economic crunch could impact Singapore's job market, but he is confident that the country has the right fundamentals to sail through the rough patch, amidst concerns of slower growth this year.
Even as American lawmakers give their approval for the US$700 billion bailout programme to save the country's financial institutions, Mr Tharman said US needs to do more to solve the lingering crisis.
After visiting the Toa Payoh East neighbourhood on Sunday, the finance minister sat down for a discussion about the global economic crisis with residents.
He said: "Our confidence in Singapore is very high. Across the board, manufacturing, services, people are confident about Singapore. Our property market is not as overvalued as many other countries including some others in Asia. We have a strong fiscal system. It's just as well we didn't spend all our surplus last year. We were conservative. We preserved some for the future and that's the right approach."
Residents were also concerned about the failure of US banks, insurance companies and money matters big and small. They questioned the integrity of Singapore's banking system and insurance companies' ability to honour their obligations.
Mr Tharman said: "I can assure you that our Singapore banks are well regulated and there is no risk and no reason whatsoever to have a run on our banks. More importantly, the banks themselves have good risk management. So frankly, you need not worry about how solid our banks are, your money is safe. We are not in the same situation as the US, we need not panic.
"Our regulations are stricter compared to Ireland, the United States, in fact compared to many developed countries. We have always been old-fashioned in our regulatory approach."
The minister added that Singaporeans can have the same confidence in insurance companies which also have to abide by strict regulations.
Financial firms looking to hire cheap talent could benefit from the global economic downturn, even as it is causes havoc in markets around the world.
This is because investment banking is fast losing its allure as big-name banks continue to falter. This has reduced the competition for top talent entering the financial sector.
Such talent includes individuals leaving troubled financial institutions, and also top minds emerging from business schools.
Tim Hird, director, Robert Half International, said: "Companies have got a potentially wider selection of choice now, and where they are acquiring talent for the business critical positions within those firms, the competition is slightly less, in particular the investment banking sector."
Job seekers are also beginning to consider alternatives to the financial sector, even if they pay less.
Observers said the opportunity to work for organisations where there is lower risk may seem more attractive in the current climate of uncertainty.
John J Haley, CEO, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, said: "We might see more people going into the high-end strategy firms, (such as) McKinsey, Bain, BCG. We might see people turning more towards some entrepreneurial pursuits. We saw a lot of that in the late 1990s when we had the tech bubble."
In fact, Watson Wyatt itself is looking to target former investment bankers for its investment consulting division.
Twitter idiocy. Or Twitteriocy (I'm coining a term- run with it). It's what we are beginning to see on Twitter, and it is an easy thing to combat.
Now, while Twitter right now is the hot thing for corporations, and we have begun seeing more and more and more companies getting accounts, well, it is becoming obvious that there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.
DO appear on Twitter as a real person. Be like comcastcares.
DON'T let your PR firm do the tweeting. A customer-facing employee like comcastcares is best.
Who to follow: DO follow people who follow your company's account. DO follow people who tweet about the company more than once. DO follow people who talk about the company's space.
DO reply to people who direct-message you. Be engaged and responsive. Be personable. There's nothing worse than sending someone a direct message on Twitter ... and hearing nothing back.
GRADE A office vacancy has doubled in the third quarter of 2008, rising from 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter to the current 1.2 per cent.
This is also the first time in eight quarters since Q3 2006 that Grade A office vacancy has risen above the one per cent mark.
CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) says market fundamentals have changed and sentiments have ‘deteriorated’ with pre-commitment rent levels likely to come under pressure.
CBRE executive director Moray Armstrong added: ‘There is an increase in vacancy as certain occupiers have relocated to less expensive cost options in lower grade and, or, decentralised locations.’
According to CBRE, office rents have also plateaued with both Grade A and prime office rents remaining static at $18.80 per square foot per month (psf pm) and $16.10 psf pm respectively.
CBRE had earlier anticipated rents would only soften beyond 2010. But with the events of the past few weeks, it now believes that the correction will be fast- forwarded to early 2009.
‘Landlords are adopting more reasonable asking rents, although in the immediate term occupiers will still face rentals that are at all-time highs. We will continue to monitor the trend over the next few months to see how swiftly the fast approaching new office supply allied with slowing demand will combine to bring down rents from today’s levels,’ added Mr Armstrong.
There were increases in vacancy rates for most micromarkets in the third quarter of 2008 - with the exception being Orchard Road, which saw a one percentage point drop in vacancy due to higher occupancy at the newly completed Visioncrest and at StarHub Centre.
Mr Armstrong said that occupiers are ‘understandably cautious’ given the challenging financial and economic environment, but he pointed out that a number of recently announced pre-commitments demonstrate that there is underlying confidence in Singapore’s relative position.
Still, he noted that many occupiers are also chasing lower costs and are relocating to decentralised locations, built-to-suit facilities and business park space.
CBRE estimates the confirmed new office supply over the next five years is now slightly higher at 10.64 million sq ft.
CBRE said the increase stemmed from increases in proposed net lettable area from developments under construction.
‘We do not consider this volume of supply excessive based on our estimated average annual demand of 1.6 million sq ft,’ said Mr Armstrong, highlighting that about 26 per cent of the new supply has already been pre-committed.
Mr Armstrong explained that the 1.6 million sq ft demand figure represents its projected five-year average office take-up level over the period 2008-2012.
He believes that this figure represents a realistic take-up figure that has factored in lower GDP going forward.
By comparison the past three-year average office take-up level was just under 2.2 million sq ft.
SOME of Singapore’s largest recruiting agencies have pledged to “walk the talk” by signing a pledge to hire workers on merit and treating them fairly.
The Singapore Staffing Association (SSA) on Tuesday vowed to join a list of some 800 “fair employers” by signing the Pledge of Fair Employment Practices.
“As ambassadors of the work world, we at the SSA recognise that the creation of a fair work environment is a concerted effort, and we decided that we should first walk the talk by signing the pledge,” saidSSA president Dhirendra Shantilal.
Manpower Singapore’s country manager, Mr Philippe Capsie, said: “When there is a job to be done, the real issue is whether the person has the necessary skills and attitude to perform effectively regardless of race, age, gender or religion.” SOME of Singapore’s largest recruiting agencies have pledged to “walk the talk” by signing a pledge to hire workers on merit and treating them fairly.
The Singapore Staffing Association (SSA) on Tuesday vowed to join a list of some 800 “fair employers” by signing the Pledge of Fair Employment Practices.
“As ambassadors of the work world, we at the SSA recognise that the creation of a fair work environment is a concerted effort, and we decided that we should first walk the talk by signing the pledge,” saidSSA president Dhirendra Shantilal.
Manpower Singapore’s country manager, Mr Philippe Capsie, said: “When there is a job to be done, the real issue is whether the person has the necessary skills and attitude to perform effectively regardless of race, age, gender or religion.”
From October 1, employers will contribute the Skills Development Levy (SDL) on all workers they employ, up to the first $4,500 of gross monthly pay.
Currently, the salary ceiling for SDL contributions is $2,000.
The levy rate will also be lowered from 1% to 0.25% from October 1, subject to a minimum contribution of $2 per employee.
The SDL underlines employers' key role in contributing to workers' training and institutionalise employer's dedication to the Continuing Education and Training (CET).
The expansion of the levy base is to better reflect the outreach of CET, which will increasingly cover professionals, executives and managers.
The concept of a home-based business is fast becoming popular. Especially amongst those women entrepreneur, who love the idea of working and earning on their, yet fulfilling the house related duties.
A lot of unnecessary tensions can be avoided; no need to find a new place for an office, no extra furniture, no office set up and no utility bills etc. This way it is a good thought to start at a low-cost from your home to test the success of your endeavour, but few things should be kept in mind. They can help you optimise your resources.
It is of utmost importance to maintain a penny-to-penny record of your expenses. Always have a careful record of every expense incurred on entertainment and travel. The governmental audit system can be at your house anytime to check the expenses. They scrutinise even more when they know it’s a home business. An expert accountant, say a Chartered Account, can advise you on what records to be maintained for it. He can also suggest you if deductions can be made anywhere.
Before you go any further, it is important to know the regulations and legal requirements of your zone office. You’ll get the information from the local office. This can change the nature of records to a great extent. The records should be maintained in accordance with the zone office requirements. A home-based business can be very sensitive to all these issues.
Alongside, it is very important that you project a professional image to your clientele. The distant clients would respond better when they know you are a full-fledged professional. A home-based business image gives it lesser priority. So, if possible, have your mailbox number also.
There should be a separate phone line dedicated to your business calls and not any domestic calls. You can also use an answering machine to assist these business calls. In a home-based business, your resources used for it should be separate so that you can track down the bills and maintain records. While you are working, do not waste time in gossiping and chatting with your neighbours. This will adversely affect your business; it hinders your attention span. Make a neat space for your work, which would soothe your senses and where you would like spending some time. Organize it in a sufficient space where all the resources are available closely.
Meetings can be a big challenge in home-based business. Carefully organize the venue of the meeting at some conference hall or at your client’s place. It should maintain the professional image that you have projected. Joining associations related to your business arena will also help you make further contacts and meet new people. Be self-restrained in your business. It is very essential for you to save and hence, make it a rule to deposit a portion of money from your profits to your savings account. It will help you have a safe stand which is very important in a home-based business.
