Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Bringing Employers and Job Seekers updates on Singapore Employment News. Productivity related Tech Toys & Web 2.0 Sites will also be covered. Singapore's 1st freelance / casual / part time / contract job blog. Visit http://www.jorbb.com to join today!
We thank you for your support over the past 4 months, since our launch in Sept 2008.
Jorbb.com has grown to almost 450 registered Jorbbees and 125 Jorbbers in this short period of time.
To build on our mantra, "Jorbb gets Jobs for you!", we will be launcing new tools in early 2009, including integration of Jorbb's job search engine with our friends at Widgeo.us so that you can search for jobs via email / msn / widgeo.us device and eventually sms. (What is Widgeo.us? Daniel from YoungUpstarts did a post on them a while back and in the words of Ridzuan, the CEO - Widgeo.us is a web-based universal cross-channel communications platform that allows application developers to create applications that work seamlessly across multiple channels such as email, instant messaging, microblogging, text messaging etc. Of course this also means that end users can have applications that “follow” them wherever they go. No more being tied down to a single software client and all.)
We will also provide widgets for you to embed your profile onto your website / blog, and in return, earn credits for doing so, to exchange for great gifts (movie tickets, food vouchers etc).
We, at Jorbb.com, wish all members a Happy and Safe New Year.
CAFES are increasingly becoming a popular hangout on campus, and entrepreneurial students and ex-students at the Singapore Management University (SMU) have capitalised on the trend to open more such outlets there.
Recent additions include Treehouse at the SMU's School of Information Systems, and Screme (which replaces the old Frujch) on the campus ground. These cafes join the ranks of Edmund's@SMU, which sells scrumptious cakes, kuihs and pastries at prices easy on the pocket.
Both Treehouse and Screme were set up in August by students, with some help from the SMU Students Association (SMUSA).
'We wanted to increase student vibrancy and have another place for students to hang out,' said Elizabeth Lim, a second-year student at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, who is one of Treehouse's three founders.
Her partners are friends Alicia Yik, also in second year at SMU, and third-year student Desmond Lim.
Treehouse started after the three won an SMUSA competition for cafes with their proposed submissions.
'I think what impressed the judges is that we offered a cafe which also offers the option for students to sit and have a proper meal, as opposed to the usual takeaway style we students are so used to,' said Alicia.
This is in contrast to the offer at Screme, located along the SMU Concourse, which focuses on easy-to-eat, American-style food such as sandwiches and bangers-and-mash.
It was tough to get the Treehouse venture started, but the trio say the SMUSA was a great help. It provided furniture for the cafe and other logistics.
It took the team four months of thorough planning during the entire summer holidays before the cafe was up and running in August when the academic term began.
The Treehouse team members tap on one another's skills to maximise their efficiency. For instance, Desmond, who studies accountancy, takes care of the number-crunching, while the girls play a bigger role in logistics and marketing.
'We focus a lot on mains (dishes),' they say. Signature dishes by their chef, Vasana Lee, include Thai and local delicacies such as mama's green curry, nasi lemak and tom yum soup. Other favourites at the cafe are the desserts, as well as Western dishes such as mushroom spaghetti with white wine and cream sauce.
The cafe is open only during the academic terms, and is closed during the summer and December holidays since students won't be around.
Treehouse is expected to break even in another 11/2 to two semesters, an impressive time frame for the startup.
The cafe draws about 100 customers a day, with most coming during lunchtime.
'Ultimately, I think it's the love for what we are doing which keeps us going. If you like what you are doing, you can do anything,' says Alicia. 'Sometimes I even feel like I'm a part-time student and full-time when it comes to the cafe.'
Isaac Tan, one of the five founders of Screme, agrees. 'The unique thing about our cafe is that everyone can make everything,' he says.
The team initially had big plans to make gourmet food at affordable prices, but found out that it would not be feasible given their resources and target customers.
'At the end of the day, it is fun (to run a cafe) - we have invested a lot of money and it is all about the valuable experience we get,' says Isaac.
This article was first published in The Business Times on December 29, 2008.
THE South West Community Development Council (CDC) has rolled out a series of aid schemes to help retrenched workers living in the south-western parts of Singapore.
A key feature of these new schemes is that the lower-middle class, and not only the bottom 20 per cent of society, can qualify for help.
Retrenched workers whose monthly household income are below $2,500, and are assessed to be in need of help, are eligible for the CDC's Interim Coping Package for Economic Downturn (iCope).
Among the new help schemes are a one-off $50 transport grant for axed workers to hunt for a job, workshops to help this group of workers get back on their feet and an internship programme for workers to try out a different job.
These workers are also eligible for existing help schemes by the South-West CDC, such as utilities vouchers and provision of food rations.
The CDC also intends to double the number of job fairs it organises from three to six a month.
It expects to spend $1.5 million next year for the iCope programmes.
WITH the economic downturn, Singapore can expect the pool of part-time and contract workers to swell.
The trend worries Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, because these workers rarely receive social security coverage such as medical benefits and contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
Singapore needs to address this problem, he said yesterday, suggesting that the National Wages Council (NWC) study the issue over the next two years.
His call comes as the NWC, prompted by the worsening economic crisis, prepares to reconvene next month to revise wage guidelines set this May.
Mr Lim warned that 'if we do not establish a national consensus on their terms of employment', Singapore could face a situation similar to that in Japan in the 1990s, when the number of these disadvantaged workers rose.
The former labour chief drew the comparison at a dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of electronics manufacturer Singapore Epson Industrial. He lauded the Japanese manufacturer, which has more than 800 employees here, as a socially responsible employer for treating its contract workers in the same manner as employees on its permanent payroll.
Retailers likely to be cautious in expansion, rents may undergo corrections to reflect the gloomy outlook
RENTS for prime retail space in Orchard Road could fall by as much as 13 per cent in 2009, while rentals at suburban malls are expected to ease by about 3 per cent, property analysts here said.
Cuts in consumer spending will be the key threat to rental rates. But rents will also come under pressure from the 3.2 million square feet of new retail space expected to come onstream next year - close to half of which will be along Orchard Road.
A poll of property analysts here showed that they expect prime retail rents to fall by anywhere between 5 and 13 per cent next year. But malls in the suburbs, where people go to buy their neccessities, are expected to fare better. Predictions for suburban rental growth range from ‘holding steady’ to a decline of up to 7 per cent. The consensus view is a fall of about 3 per cent.
By contrast, so far in 2008, prime Orchard Road rents fell 0.8 per cent year-on-year, while prime suburban rents rose one per cent, data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) shows.
Consumers are expected to cut back on spending on concerns of job and wage security, which will hit the sales of retailers, analysts said. Tourist arrivals are also expected to fall, which will depress sales further.
‘A prolonged depression in consumer spending could affect retailers’ ability to service their rents and we think it is possible that more retailers would renegotiate for lower rental rates, and retail mall managers may have to give in to avoid a high turnover in tenants,’ noted OCBC Investment Research analysts Foo Sze Ming and Meenal Kumar in a report.
Echoed Knight Frank: ‘Retailers will be more cautious in expanding their businesses and retail rents are likely to undergo corrections to reflect the gloomy outlook.’
In addition, more space is due to come onstream - some 5.7 million sq ft in the next two years. Of this, 20-30 per cent will be located along the Orchard Road belt. Another 21 per cent will come from the Marina Bay Sands resort. Some of the major retail supply due to be completed next year include Ion Orchard, The Marina Bay Sands Shoppes, Orchard Central, 313@Somerset and City Square Mall.
But in spite of all the new space, analysts here remain confident that the healthy take-up of retail space seen so far is likely to keep vacancy rates under control and prevent sharp rental declines caused by oversupply.
Most of the major upcoming malls - such as Ion Orchard, Orchard Central, Mandarin Gallery, 313@Somerset and Marina Bay Shoppes - have reportedly achieved pre-commitment rates of between 50 per cent and 70 per cent, said Colliers’ director for research and advisory Tay Huey Ying. And there should be interest for the remaining retail space, she said. The Orchard Road malls will ‘probably be the only new retail malls the market is likely to see on this prime stretch for a while’ and the Marina Bay Shoppes ’should also be sought after as the locality would be a new icon for Singapore’, Ms Tay said. ‘The challenge, therefore, is really in structuring a rental package that is win-win for both landlord and retailer in an increasingly trying time,’ she added.
Other analysts agreed, saying that the onus will be on landlords in 2009.
‘Prime properties will still be able to attract tenants, but developers must be more flexible with rental expectations,’ said Anna Lee, DTZ’s associate director for retail. ‘As consumers hold their purses tighter, landlords would have to spend more on advertising and promotion to entice more consumer traffic to their malls and translate that into spending.’ And to mitigate lower sales faced by their tenants, some landlords may offer rental rebates and lower turnover rents, she added.
Analysts also said that capital values are expected to remain steady in the retail sector. ‘Of note is that the retail sector remains defensive even during the Asian Crisis period, with rental rates and capital values remaining fairly stable during this period. Hence, we believe that a fair cap rate for the retail sector would remain in the 5-6 per cent range,’ said DBS Group Research analysts Mun Yee Lock and Derek Tan.
Singapore's economy started on a high note in 2008.
That was until September, when the downslide began, with economic growth now expected to come in slightly below the government's earlier forecast of 2.5 per cent.
And the worse is not deemed to be over yet, as employers and workers alike brace themselves for an even sharper economic downturn in the next few months.
Said Stephen Lee, President of the Singapore National Employers Federation: "The storm is coming, we haven't seen the bottom of the storm yet. How bad it will get, we would like to prepare our members.”
Economists said that as the cause is a financial one, it is tough to predict the downturn's length and depth.
Said Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC: "It is no point trying to guess a number. I think what is more productive is what we (should) do to keep retrenchments and the unemployment rate to as slow a pace as possible, so that if we can avoid, we avoid… if we cannot avoid, we delay… and if we cannot delay, we minimise - that should be the way to do it.”
To help achieve this, the Singapore government in December launched the S$600 million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR).
Under SPUR, companies with excess manpower are being urged to send their workers for subsidised retraining.
The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) said it wants to see the programme even more widely implemented across more sectors in 2009.
Said Chan Heng Kee, Chief Executive of WDA: “Where necessary, we will put in place what we call conversion programmes. Because moving from one sector to another is not easy. So we have conversion programmes encompassing the skills needed to move into new sectors.
“Rather than retrenching the worker on the first resort, why not take advantage of the financial support provided by the government so that by the time the upturn comes around, you have a loyal worker who is also better trained, more productive, and can do a higher skilled job for your company.”
Among those targeted for such conversion programmes are displaced mid-career workers.
Chan added: "Even as we help both employers and workers manage the current downturn, I think we are also not losing sight of the future, we are slowly putting in place the building blocks of the continuing education and training system.”
Employers and workers in Singapore will be looking forward to some key announcements in January 2009.
First, the National Wages Council, which is made up of representatives from the government, employers and trade unions, will be meeting in January to re-examine its wage guidelines to ensure that the country remains economically competitive even during these difficult times.
Next, Singapore's Parliament has brought forward its Budget sitting to take place from the usual February to January 22.
In Budget 2009, the labour movement hopes the Finance Minister will announce measures to help workers strengthen job stability while the employers federation is looking at help from the government to lower operational costs.
"Singapore, being a very small open economy will get hit harder than our Asean neighbours,” said Lee. “But Singapore, with its strong balance sheet will be able to (weather) this downturn better than our neighbours."
For 2009, the Trade and Industry Ministry's growth forecast for Singapore is in the range of minus one to plus two per cent.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian workers retrenched from factories in Singapore can apply for jobs in Johor, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said.
He said the ministry had set up an operations room in Johor Baru to register those retrenched and help match them with jobs available in Johor. There were at least 12,000 job vacancies in Johor Baru presently.
During a meeting with the labour attache from Singapore attended by employer and employee representatives in Johor last week, he said there was no indication that a large number of Malaysians retrenched in Singa-pore would return here.
“So, it is only an anticipation. They think it might happen,” he told reporters after attending the Young Indian Entrepreneurs Award 2008 here last night.
On the fate of 1,500 workers laid off by American hard-disk manufacturer Western Digital which had ceased operations in Sarawak, he said the company had already issued notices to workers about the impending retrenchment.
He said ministry officials had been in discussion with the factory and the company had offered the workers to be transferred to its factories in peninsular Malaysia.
WANTED: Work - any work - and willing to clock longer hours on the job.
That is the calling card of this year's batch of young applicants looking for year-end jobs, including those waiting for their O- and A-level results and undergraduates on holiday.
Despite more of them hoping to land positions in a bid to help out family finances in the downturn, they are in luck.
A check with employers and temping agencies shows bosses favouring the hiring of part-time rather than full-time staff.
Mr Tay Kok Choon, country manager of JobStreet Singapore jobseeking service, said recruitment of full-time staff has almost come to a standstill.
For firms whose business depends on seasonal demand, it is natural to hire 'part-time staff first before engaging them full-time', he said.
He said that the number of jobs available has remained stable but he has seen a two-fold increase in students registering for work and internships this year.
Ms Annie Yap, chief executive officer of recruitment firm GMP Group, said the retail and food and beverage sectors, as well as packing and gift-wrapping firms, are a big source of part-time jobs at the year end. This is always the case during the festive period.
Human resource companies said pay has not fallen despite the recession, with many employers offering a standard rate of $5 to $6 an hour.
Gloria Chiang, 16, who is waiting for her O-level results, recently found a job selling clothes for 10 hours a day over five days in a trade fair at the Singapore Expo.
'Everyone's rushing to find jobs but it seems more companies are also eager to hire part-timers, so it was quite easy to get a job,' she said.
One company, Dairy Farm, which runs Cold Storage and Guardian pharmacy among other businesses, has taken in more than 300 part-timers - including students - to work as sales assistants, cashiers and order-takers.
The Singapore Zoo is also hiring more part-time staff. There are now around 700 students working in all three Wildlife Reserves Singapore parks - Jurong BirdPark, Night Safari and the zoo.
Youth interviewed said earning money is their top priority.
'It was really important to find a job because the economy is so bad. I'm trying to work longer hours,' said Secondary 3 student Sean Ng, 17.
Logging nine-hour workdays since last month as a waiter at BBQ Chicken restaurant in West Coast Plaza, he can earn up to $50 a day. His mother is unemployed and gets a monthly allowance of $300 from her former husband.
Also aiming to be more self-reliant is Johan Burhanuddin, 16, a barista at Tully's Coffee in Far East Square.
The teen, who is waiting for his O-level results, can earn about $49 a day doing nine-hour shifts. He gives up to 40 per cent of his pay to his single-parent mother who is a section leader at Cold Storage.
He also gives his nine-year-old sister some money and is saving some for his education as he hopes to study in a polytechnic.
Employers have noted the desire of these young workers to do more.
At Spinelli Coffee Company, which has about 24 part-timers working this school holiday, a spokesman said: 'In general, students seem more willing to work longer hours and make more money.'
Over at Genesis BBQ, which runs the BBQ Chicken restaurant chain, chief operating officer Benny Ng said: 'We have had students asking for jobs as early as September. In the past, on average, they worked six hours, three days a week. This year, most are willing to work as long as eight hours, five days a week.'
The array of services the new S$275,000 Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) centre at Bukit Panjang will offer include tuition for kids, job matching for adults and IT training for seniors.
More of such centres are planned if this one takes off.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is also Patron of the Council, did the honours as he unveiled the plaque on Saturday.
The council said that as it looks forward to turning 20 in 2012, it has a vision to do more to help the community.
This year alone, the number of needy students receiving financial support from the Chinese self-help group has risen 56 per cent to 7,500 this year, from 4,800 last year.
CDAC said it has also helped more job seekers this year, up 30 per cent from last year.
Companies with in-house training programmes will now be able to tap into funds under the newly-launched Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) as long as they meet certain requirements.
The change comes just three weeks after the start of the scheme.
SPUR is a government initiative which provides funds to encourage employers to send excess staff for training rather than laying them off in these lean times.
Labour chief Lim Swee Say said the number of positive responses to the new scheme has been encouraging.
Numbers have increased over the past week and now stand at more than 30 companies supporting over 3,000 workers.
Most of the take-up for SPUR in the past weeks has come mainly from the manufacturing sector.
However, Mr Lim said when the scheme was first announced, the scope of training and training locations were quite restrictive.
Mr Lim said: "If companies are able to put in place a well-structured training programme even if they may not be conducted in the CETs (Continuing Education and Training Centres), we will support it under SPUR as well."
There are 42 CETs or Continuing Education and Training Centres as at December 1.
Mr Lim said this flexibility in training location will depend first on the programme meeting the standards under the Workforce Skills Qualification System.
He said the economic situation is expected to worsen in the first quarter of next year.
And so, while agencies adapt the programme based on feedback from industry, they are also gearing up to expand the scope and capacity of the training programmes.
Twitter has made Dell $1 million bucks in revenue. This is such major news for 2 main reasons.
1) It proves Social media can be "cash in hand" profitable 2) It begs us to examine the "How the hell they made this happen?"
I'm sure the article from Internet news will spark a gazillion emails from CEOs and MDs down to line level digital managers telling them to get their ass on twitter. Although those may not be the exact words, i'm sure some "leverage", "explore", "forefront", " maximize" was thrown in for good measure.
So is Twitter the new revenue stream for brands to take notice of? Will tweeting about your latest product promotions ( like Dell does) bring about a new spring of cash? The answer i feel lies in Dell's background. First off, lets not just look at "Dell + Twitter = $1,000,000". The equation goes much deeper as we examine some of Dell's social media position.
Dell has been conversing with its customers ever since Michael Dell took over back in 2007. The best thing he has done is to have made customer focus his only focus. ( It stuns me everytime someone in a meeting says we need to focus on several things) By thinking about what his customers want and hearing those comments enabled sites like Ideastorm and DirectoDell to take place. In the words of the man himself " "If we don't do that at Dell.com, it's going to be on CNET or somewhere," Michael Dell says. "I'd rather have that conversation in my living room than in somebody else's."
From redefining customer service to customer driven product innovation, Dell has over the last 2 years proven to be sincere about this shift in focus. As a result, their tweets are received by a multitude of followers that resulted in this million dollar revenue opportunity.
There is no shortcut to engagement and the equation certainly isn't as clear cut as it seems. If you are suddenly thinking about getting your 15% store discount on twitter. Stop. Go back to the chalkboard and look at the origins of the equation. Yes, you can make revenue from promo tweets but the pre cursor is your followers need to be your friends and top priority.
Building a wining team requires a mastermind and it is a tough process. If you are successful in this step, you can find success in every project you undertake. A team consists of a group of working persons and each of the team members may have a different perspective. Just because they are in a team, you cannot expect them to have the same opinion and views. A team is always successful when it has an efficient leader with skilled members.
1.Start constructing the winning team. You have to spend time in forming a proper team to taste success. Bring together people with different skills and assemble them into a team.
2.For any team, purpose and goals are necessary. Discuss with your team about the purpose of the team and formulate long term and short-term goals that are to be achieved within the time frame.
3.Talk to your team members and understand their strengths and weakness. All your members will have some weakness and it is your responsibility as a leader to boost their strengths and decrease the weakness of your team members. If you are able to allot the right job for a right person, your team will be successful but for that you need to know about the members personally.
4.For a winning team, communication is very essential. During the team formation phase, you have to talk a lot and solve the disputes among the members. After the team is formed, you need to arrange for frequent meetings to share views and fine-tune the performance.
5.The communication between the team members should not be in a single direction. Two-way communication is highly essential. You have to talk and listen to others when they talk. A decision should be taken collectively by the team and not by the leader alone.
6.Celebration is what brings liveliness to the team. You can take the team for an outing for a long lunch and the reason can be nothing more than just thanking the team. You can also arrange for a themed lunch and encourage your team members to bring food from their homes and you could all eat together.
Since the S$600 million SPUR scheme was implemented on December 1, at least 40 companies have signed up for it, committing over 2,500 workers to training. They're mainly from the manufacturing sector and are the larger companies.
Uptake among small and medium enterprises has been limited.
Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC, said: "There is also nothing to stop a small company from taking advantage of SPUR just like the bigger ones would. The advantage inherent in SPUR is really a solid training subsidy, training fee subsidy for sending the worker to training. So you essentially pay one-tenth the cost. And then there is the absentee payroll."
However, absentee payroll, which ranges from S$6 to S$6.80 an hour has limited appeal for many companies who employ skilled degree holders.
Many in the banking and finance industry which is bearing the brunt of the economic storm, feel that the courses currently offered under SPUR do not match their skill set.
Associate Professor Annie Koh, dean, Executive and Professional Education, Singapore Management University, said: "This is a very different market from the Asian Financial Crisis. Now we have moved upmarket so a lot of our blue collared workers are getting the right jobs. But our white collared workers were not being reinvented.
“So this current crisis is a wake-up call for our service sector. So some of our white collared workers should now go deep, go specialised. We had too many of our degree holders coming up into service jobs that have generic skills. General skills will not equip you going forward."
Analysts believe the 10 new Centres will focus more on offering specialised courses for white collared workers. Currently, the centres focus more on offering courses for rank-and-file workers.
The North East Community Development Council (CDC) has seen a 25 per cent spike last month in the number of daily walk-ins of people looking for job opportunities.
Unlike the past, there is a significant number of professionals, managers and executives who are also seeking help.
Although not all of them have lost their jobs, some fear they may, and are thus looking for options.
It was not surprisingly then, that organisers saw a large turnout of some 2000 people at a mega career fair held at Downtown East on Tuesday.
And about half of the turnout had shown up in the first two and a half hours.
The fair had more than 800 jobs offered by 12 employers in the service industry, ranging from hotels, spas, F&B to security -- sectors which are still hiring despite the current economic downturn.
Training courses were also available for sign-up at the career fair.
Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also a Member of Parliament for the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said such help measures will continue.
He said: “The North East CDC, besides this job fair in December, is having two more in the first quarter of next year. But you don't have to wait -- they have job placement services and they do have a register of jobs they can refer people to."
THE job market today may be tough if you're looking for full-time work, but a contract position could well be your next best option amid the current economic downturn.
According to a new survey by global recruiter Robert Half International, just over one in two Singapore companies (52 per cent) said that they saw senior-level contract finance professionals as a viable staffing solution in a slowing economy - the highest rate among the 17 countries polled.
Nearly nine in 10 (88 per cent) said that they were open to hiring such professionals, well ahead of countries such as the United Kingdom (68 per cent), Australia (64 per cent) and Japan (29 per cent). 49 per cent of Singapore firms also said that they saw this trend of hiring contract staff increasing in the near future.
According to Robert Half Singapore's managing director Tim Hird, these latest findings in the Global Workplace Survey 2008 also revealed that companies want to bring in contract staff 'for specific projects or peak activity periods, making their engagement a variable rather than a fixed cost'.
He added that there has been a rise in demand for contract professionals in the past few months, as payroll costs account for about 40 per cent of a company's fixed costs, causing many bosses to be cautious about increasing their permanent headcount.
When asked why they felt contract professionals were becoming increasingly popular to recruit, Singapore companies cited reasons such as the ability to gain access to specialised skills, and a growing need to be more cost-efficient during the slowdown.
Said Mr Hird: 'Companies that hire senior-level contract finance professionals obtain immediate access to specialist skills and experience, which is especially critical for strategic turnkey projects. Companies can benefit from the added objectivity these consultants bring to their projects, as well as more effectively manage their costs.'
This is the first time Singapore has been included in Robert Half's global workplace survey since it was first launched in 2004. In all, nearly 5,000 finance and human resources were polled in countries, including France, Switzerland and New Zealand.
Among the companies in Singapore that have benefited from hiring a senior contract finance professional is IMS Health Asia, a business intelligence provider for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
The company had an urgent need to fill a position for one of its projects for a short term, and preferred not to hire a permanent employee due to the timeline and the one-off nature of the project.
Said IMS Health's director and finance leader Leigh Jason: 'It made sense to engage a senior-level contract professional for this particular project. Utilising this targeted approach, we were able to plug the resource into the project with minimal ramp-up time and realised immediate productivity.'
This article was first published in The Business Times on December 11, 2008.
When you are at a business / social function, you have less than 15 seconds to make that first impression.
15secondpitch.com provides a quiz which will help you craft that 15 second pitch to market yourself, in a concise and compelling way.
Some guidelines: Create a pitch — for every niche. This is very important. Develop a straight forward pitch for every industry that your focused on. If you dabble in photography but work nine to five as a caterer - you need one for each.
Use it effectively — and have a pitch prepared for every event that you attend. Be it a barbecue, fundraiser, or networking event - when you are least prepared is when you are most likely to have a random encounter opportunity.
Include a bold — compelling statement that peaks the interest of the listener and provokes them to want to know more. As Seth Godin says, “Your either remarkable or invisible.”
At least 20 establishments - from big-name supermarkets and foodcourts to retail shops - have been singled out by members who have come forward to share frustrating experiences at these outlets.
Started in August by undergraduate Kavita Devi Thamilselvam, 22, the group has drawn many non-Chinese as well as Chinese who are not fluent in Mandarin.
'It's as though non-Mandarin speaking customers are not valued. It makes us feel like foreigners in our own country,' Ms Kavita told The Sunday Times.
Another member of the group, Ms Nor Hafiza, 28, said she once had to approach four different sales assistants at a supermarket before a Singaporean employee was able to answer her queries.
The early childhood educator was surprised one of them even asked if she could speak Mandarin.
'When you are serving a multiracial community, it's important to have employees who can speak English,' she said.
Most members in the group said they are not against hiring foreigners, but are frustrated at the lack of English training given to them.
Ms Kavita said she had initially set up the group so that like-minded customers would have an outlet to vent their frustration.
But she now wants to take the group's feedback to the establishments. Industry watchers empathised with such sentiments.
'This sends a clear signal to the operators that it is important to ensure the competency of their service staff,' said the president of the Consumers Association of Singapore, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang.
Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei felt that English tests may be a good idea to ensure a minimum level of English proficiency.
'If such tests can be implemented for domestic helpers whose contacts are largely confined to the families that they work with, what more for those whose contacts are with the larger community?'
First-time maids have to sit for an English entry test to ensure that they have basic numeracy and literacy skills to do household tasks and adapt to life here.
When The Sunday Times did its own tests on five big businesses listed on the Facebook group, three - Giant, Kopitiam and Food Republic - did not fare well, while two - Haagen-Dazs and Takashimaya - passed with flying colours.
When contacted, all except Takashimaya said they have already been conducting some form of English classes for staff.
Companies explained that recruiting English-speaking service staff in both F&B and retail industries is already challenging enough, as many people shun such jobs.
Most added that employees from China form barely 10 per cent of their total staff strength. Service-sector companies are allowed to employ foreign workers on work permits - up to 50 per cent of the company's total workforce.
Said a spokesman from supermarket chain Giant: 'It will take some time for them to learn a new language...We hope the Facebook group can give our staff a bit more learning time.'
Singapore is poised to be emerging Asia's worst-performing economy next year, when it is likely to remain entrenched in recession as the global downturn erodes demand for its exports, a Reuters poll shows.
The poll predicts the island state's gross domestic product (GDP) will contract 1.1 percent in 2009. That marks a rapid deterioration in the economic environment from two months ago as the global financial crisis has deepened - a similar poll in late September forecast 4.6 percent GDP growth in 2009.
"Singapore is particularly open to external trade - its export-to-GDP ratio is more than 180 percent, compared with an Asia average of 60-70 percent," said Eric Tsang, an analyst at Calyon in Hong Kong.
"So as U.S., European and Japanese consumers spend less that will hurt Singapore's exports and have a knock-on effect on the rest of the economy."
Economists see some rebound in 2010, forecasting 4.2 percent growth, but that would be well below average annual growth of 6.8 percent between 2003 and 2007.
Singapore slipped into recession - defined as two quarters of negative quarterly growth - in the third quarter.
Philip McNicholas, an economist at Ideal Global in Singapore, said the first quarter of next year would be especially tough - he forecasts GDP will drop at an annualised rate of 15 percent, seasonally adjusted, as exports plunge.
"That will be mainly due to a collapse in U.S. sentiment," McNicholas said. "The U.S. plans a fiscal stimulus package early next year, but it's got to get that through Congress and to the people, so that may not be until the end of Q1 or the start of Q2."
The government pledged $1.5 billion last month to help firms secure credit and said it was prepared to run a bigger budget deficit to boost the economy.
Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of the economy and factory output fell 12.7 percent in October from September, seasonally adjusted, and 12.6 percent from a year earlier, led by sliding electronics and drugs output.
Manufacturing is expected to be harder hit next year as the downturn in advanced economies accelerates and job losses in the sector will rise as a result, analysts say.
Rising unemployment will dent consumer spending, which is not being helped by a decline in tourism since August.
As the weak economy will encourage the authorities to keep monetary policy loose, the Singapore dollar is likely to remain sluggish, the poll forecast.
Singaporeans are heavily dependent on their primary source of income - their jobs. The annual survey conducted by the AIA revealed just how important stable jobs are to the average Singaporean when it comes to maintaining financial survival.
Singaporeans are found to be increasingly less confident of being able to survive if they are unemployed. Only 19%, a significant drop from 27% in 2007, have confidence in surviving for at least two years without a stable source of income. This can be attributed to the fact that Singaporeans are highly aware of the dire financial forecasts, taking into consideration the higher costs of living as a result of increasing inflation. On top of that, only 25% of Singaporeans are able to sustain themselves after retirement.
Such pessimism is mainly due to the fact that a large percentage of Singaporeans rely heavily on their CPF (81%) and personal savings (74%). This suggests that Singaporeans are not forward looking enough to plan their retirement wisely, in spite of the fact that they recognise the importance and urgency in the matter. Only 9% own annuities and 18% say they own other retirement plans.
88 per cent of companies in Singapore are open to the idea of hiring senior contract finance professionals, according to a survey by global human resource consultancy, Robert Half International.
With manpower costs accounting for about 40 per cent of a company's total expenses, the firms see this as a viable alternative to optimise human resource costs amid the current economic downturn.
In comparison, only 29 per cent of companies in Japan, 64 per cent in Australia and 68 per cent in Britain will consider hiring such specialists.
The survey also showed that 48 per cent of the Singapore companies polled said hiring contract finance professionals would allow the firms to gain access to specialised skills.
Six in 10 local companies said they would hire these contract staff for their expertise in strategic projects, while 34 per cent of the companies needed them for support on core business activities.
52 per cent of local companies considered short-term hire as a staffing solution to the slowing economy.
Nearly half of those polled said they expected the trend of hiring contract professionals to increase going forward.
Singapore's employment rose 2.7% to a 17-year high of 77% between June 2007 - 2008 despite the economic slowdown. This was due to more females and older workers joining the workforce.
70.4% of women aged 25 - 54 years work now compared to 69% a year ago, while employment of older workers aged 55 - 64 years increased by 1% to 57.2%.
Most new jobs created were in the Professional, Managerial, Executive and Technician (PMET) positions, especially in services.
However unemployment also rose to 3.3% in September 2008 compared to 2.4% last December with less staff hired in:
Many overseas Filipino workers are coming home for the holidays, but it's going to be a bittersweet Christmas for most of them.
Melanie Dator is one of 1,500 overseas Filipino workers from Taiwan who had been laid off after their semi-conductor company shut down last month.
She said: "I am happy to finally see my family this Christmas. But I am sad that my job, which was supposed to be extended, suddenly ended."
The government fears that as many as 50,000 overseas Filipino workers could lose their jobs next year, due to the global financial crisis.
Marianito Roque, secretary, Department of Labour and Employment, said: "There are about half a million workers in totality in these areas, which include Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. We foresee that about 10 per cent of them may eventually be encountering situations of pre-terminated contracts."
Despite the huge number of displaced workers who are coming home this December, the Department of Labour said there is still no cause for worry as there are more Filipinos that are being deployed abroad, compared to those who have lost their jobs.
The government is still processing as many as 3,000 contracts a day for job placements in the Middle East and Europe.
"I was in the UK just about a week ago and there was news that more than 3,000 locals have already lost their jobs. In spite of that scenario, there was a sudden job opportunity and approval for the entry of 160 Filipino nurses. Given all these grim scenarios, there's still that glimmer (of hope) that Filipino workers will be in need, their services will be required," said Roque.
Last year, 9 million overseas Filipino workers sent home US$14.5 billion. That is equivalent to almost 13 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
THE sports industry in Singapore has crossed the billion-dollar mark for the first time, with positive spin-offs for the economy set to increase even further in the coming years.
The inaugural Formula One night race in September made a significant contribution, pumping an estimated $100 million into the Republic's economy.
The latest official number available for sports industry value was the 2006 figure of $906 million. With the same slate of events this year, adding the contribution from F1 would take this year's figure past the billion-dollar mark.
While Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck expects the economic downturn to put a dent in growth in the next two to three years, he remained bullish in his outlook.
He was confident that the industry would still meet the target of contributing $2 billion to Singapore's gross domestic product by 2015 and bring employment in that sector to 20,000, up from the current 14,000.
He said: 'With a concerted effort, I think we can still achieve the 2015 target.'
The $2 billion target was made earlier this year and was a revision of the $1.4 billion-a-year mark announced in 2001 by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Much of the growth - from a sector worth about $680 million in 2001 - came via spin-offs from a flurry of marquee events staged here the last few years.
The Aviva Ironman 70.3 triathlon and a leg of swimming's Fina Arena World Cup were among high-profile events which made their debut here last year, boosting a local calendar which already had highlights like golf's Barclays Singapore Open and the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.
Along with F1, Singapore hosted golf's HSBC Women's Champions tournament for the first time this year as well.
Hotel accommodation for visitors, food and beverage spending and the construction of facilities such as spectator stands are some of the spin-offs from hosting such high-profile events.
Other events lined up are the Men's Junior Hockey World Cup and Asian Youth Games next year, the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2011 World Netball Championship.
Mr Teo said: 'In this downturn, sports could also help create jobs. The YOG has added about 200 jobs for example, with more to come as we get closer to the event.'
When it is ready in about three years, the private-sector driven Sports Hub at Kallang and motorsports track at Changi will also provide big boosts.
Twenty20 cricket matches and an Asean club football league are set to be held at the Sports Hub, while the permanent track is slated to host at least two international-level races such as the A1 Grand Prix or World Touring Car Championship.
Also contributing to the industry's growth, according to Singapore Sports Council (SSC) chief executive Oon Jin Teik, is a flush of corporate sponsorship.
OCBC Bank recently pumped in $1 million to be the title sponsor for next year's Cycle Singapore.
POSB Bank spent $1.4 million on the ongoing Everyday Champions Award, while Barclays is understood to be spending about $2 million annually for its sponsorship of the Singapore Open.
Sport's growth here mirrors a worldwide trend. A Pricewaterhouse Coopers study estimates that the global sports market would grow from 2004's US$82.8 billion (S$125 billion) to US$111.1 billion next year.
But sports still remains a small contributor to Singapore's $243 billion GDP, with tourism contributing about 3 per cent and the biomedical sector (including pharmaceuticals) chipping in with about 5.5 per cent.
Still, it is not just the dollars and cents from the sports industry that is valuable.
Standard Chartered economist Alvin Liew said: 'The local economy is worth over $200 billion, so sports is less than half a per cent of that.
'But the...reputation and goodwill we build up for hosting international events...there's a lot more indirect impact.'
Businesses which provide outstanding service will now get a special mark of accreditation from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The Singapore Service Star was launched by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang on Thursday. The scheme rewards businesses with good service, in order to inspire the industry towards service excellence.
Mr Lim said Singapore now ranks 10th out of 134 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index's "Degree of Customer Orientation", which measures a company's responsiveness to customers' needs.
This is an improvement from the 17th position three years ago.
A Singapore Service Star decal will be given to nightspots, F&B joints and retail outlets that have achieved better-than-average scores in mystery shopping assessments.
Surveys conducted by the Tourism Board showed that 90 per cent of tourists feel confident in patronising stores recognised by a quality scheme. Service quality is also ranked as a key factor in gauging customer satisfaction.
Neeta Lachmandas, director, Service Quality Division, STB, said: "It's very, very important for businesses to remember that service quality is really linked to a business' bottomline. Service quality can be the differentiator and it can breed a very loyal set of customers as well."
Currently, more than 300 establishments have joined the scheme – a number which the Tourism Board hopes will grow to 2,500 by end-2013.
Members under the scheme include Larry Jewelry, Haagen Dazs, Marks & Spencer and 211 Roof Terrace Cafe.
STB will provide updated information on customers' expectations and perceptions, based on regular surveys and mystery shopping results, to help Singapore grow as a premier tourist destination.
Singapore's labour movement wants to improve the working status of its some 183,000 casual and contract workers.
NTUC said many of them do not even have proper CPF contributions - a key pillar in Singapore's social safety net.
Madam Hoon is a typical casual and contract worker in Singapore - working on piecemeal jobs, and concerned if she will have a job the next day.
She said: "I am now a part-time promoter and I worry about the boss not calling promoters like us to promote their products. Maybe I will lose my job. I hope NTUC will provide more opportunities for people like me to get more jobs."
The number of such workers in Singapore has grown from about 80,000 from the days outsourcing began, to some 183,000 today. And the number does not include foreign workers.
NTUC said that regardless of whether a staff is a permanent or casual worker, it is important to look after their welfare.
Zainudin Nordin, director, Unit for Casual and Contract Workers, NTUC, said: "Some of them do not get CPF payments, they do not get medical leave, they do not have annual leave and they do not have a proper contract for their work. It is more like a verbal agreement. These are things that are worrisome.
"Sometimes, the situation would lead to the mismanagement of the staff. As a worker, whether casual or contract or permanent, they have to know their rights. So we are trying to increase this awareness by educating them and engaging them."
Government agencies must also ensure that regulations on employment are observed by companies.
But Mr Zainudin agrees that things are not going to be easy for these workers, especially during the current global economic downturn.
He said; "These vulnerable workers who are in the low-wage, low-skilled and lowly-educated (group) will be, in my view, one of the first few to be hit, and we are concerned about this...even though there is an economic downturn and global slowdown, the labour movement believes that employers can work closely with us to ensure that the workers should not be the first to go."
One way to help these workers is to send them for training under the lifelong learning and continuing education framework.
The economic downturn has led some firms in the region to retrench staff in a bid to cut costs. But others are trying other measures to preserve jobs while surviving the current difficult climate.
Shipping firm "K" Line is encouraging employees to attend courses in areas such as Information Technology and Accounting while business is slow. The company is also sponsoring up to 70 per cent of their course fees.
Furthermore, "K" Line is sending about 16 employees for training on board its container vessels next year – double the number this year.
Kenichi Kuroya, managing director, "K" Line Pte Ltd, said: "We do not want to see the loss of human resources which we interpret as a kind of loss of culture for the company... It takes a long time to establish relations with the staff.
"The vessel fleet is expanding which would automatically link to the expansion of the business, requiring more human resource power. Based on those commitment or purchase contracts, we will maintain job opportunities and increase a certain number of jobs needed by our company."
Chemical firms are seeing slower orders and contracts as well.
Rajendran Govindarajoo, president of the Chemical Industries Employees' Union, said: "If they don't do anything, the company will be losing a lot, a lot of money. Salaries in Singapore are pretty high, if they can't afford it and they close down, they'll move back to their own countries."
Some firms are also considering measures such as temporarily shutting down plants for maintenance.
By executing various measures during this downturn, unionists and employers hope this will show parent companies of multinational corporations that Singapore is determined to save jobs.
Nonetheless, if foreign parent firms still insist on retrenching, it is hoped that their Singapore offices will be their last choice for downsizing.
Andrew Carlson has an good guide on how to write that Classified Ad.
1. It must invoke in your readers that they indeed need the thing you are trying to sell. Design it in such a way that it arouse their interest and act accordingly.
2. Keep it short and sweet. A long ad is tiring for the eyes and do not exceed the word limit for you would risk your ad being cut off.
3. Your ad should have plenty of empty spaces, clear fonts and pictures to avoid appearing cluttered.
4. It must have a powerful heading to attract attention. It must be visually appealing and professional looking to your viewers.
5. Tell your readers what is exactly in your ad and avoid words like cash, save or money that is used all the time.
6. When possible, quote from a well known source such as newspaper, persons etc
7. Use words to pull in people such as Amazing, Fantastic, Now etc
8. Look at what your competitors are offering. If their ads is boring and non colourful, you can make your ads colourful and full of fun words. If their ads are too informative and wordy, you can try to make yours short and to the point.
9. Offer some freebies or trials to your customers.
10. Look at successful ads by others. Reflect on what is it that makes them interesting and apply it to your ads. Of course, remember that people have different tastes and try not to enforce your will too strongly.
11. Do not use all caps words. This appears that you are shouting and is very annoying and distracting to viewers who have to sieve through all the capital letters to understand your message.
12. Before you launch your ad, do some surveys with friends or relatives and ask for feedback. This avoids you getting to a situation where you have to pay for something that is ineffective.
UPS is hiring but this time round, the package delivery company will be on the hunt for people with disabilities (PWDs) to fill the positions.
Commenting on its participation in the Disability Awareness Public Education Job Fair held last Saturday, country human resources senior manager for UPS Singapore Jeff McLean says the company looks beyond differences when hiring. In fact, he says its recruitment process is "hire based on merit, development potential and their ability to contribute to the company".
While UPS currently only employs five PWDs, McLean says it is his aim to hire more as there are vacancies available for both blue and white collar positions. Furthermore, once disabled candidates are hired, additional coaching and training sessions would be provided for them so they could assume positions of greater responsibility later on in their career. McLean says, "These not only ensures that employees enjoy their work but that they perform to the best of their abilities and continue to make important contributions to our company."
When asked if there were any concerns initially in adapting the work environment to suit the disabled workers' needs, McLean says the impact to the budget is irrelevant as it is worthy to invest in people assets.
The facilities provided for disabled employees include disabled user-friendly washrooms, wider walkways for wheelchair users and allocation of parking lots close to office entrances. McLean says this is especially useful for them on rainy days.
HAVING a rice bowl - and eating from it - matters most to Singaporeans.
A new survey has found that even before Singapore announced it was in a technical recession in October, Singaporeans' greatest fears were unemployment and insufficient food.
Synovate, a global market research company, surveyed the consumer attitudes of 7,400 respondents in 10 countries, between the months of August and November.
The firm found that four out of 10 Singaporeans listed 'losing my job' as their top fear going into a recession.
Their second biggest fear was not having enough food.
Indeed, when asked which items they would first give up when tightening their belts, none of those surveyed said they would cut back on food.
Nearly three out of 10 Singaporeans said holidays would be the first to go. Next on the list was branded items - which 18 per cent of respondents said they would cut out first - while 13 per cent would forgo high-tech gadgets.
Companies across all sectors are retrenching staff. The latest figures show that the resident unemployment rate in Singapore is at 3.3 per cent, up from 3.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
US private employers cut 250,000 jobs in November, an unexpectedly large number and the biggest in seven years, while the service sector, which powers most of the economy, posted its worst slump on record. Wednesday's reports were the latest signs that the slide in the US job market is nowhere near bottom and suggested Friday's government payrolls report could exceed current expectations for 320,000 job losses in November.
Companies are cutting jobs at breakneck speed, with Credit Suisse, Nomura Holdings, State Street Corp and Canon Inc announcing job cuts totalling almost 10,000 on Wednesday.
Clearly, the fear of losing one's rice bowl is not unique to Singaporeans.
Respondents in six out of the 10 countries - including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Russia - surveyed also said that was their biggest fear.
Being unable to pay mortgage or rent was Americans' top fear, followed by the fear of losing their jobs.
Among the responses from those surveyed in other countries included the fear of losing money from investments.
In shopping capital Hong Kong, however, 14 per cent of respondents said they were afraid of 'giving up luxuries.'
Meanwhile, 56 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed said they have spent less on luxury goods in the last six months.
They have also cut down in impulse buying - and even necessities.
Marketers said even in tough times, brands need to continue to invest in ensuring they remain visible to consumers.
Mr David Mayo, vice president of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Asia Pacific, said: 'The people who will benefit are those who can deliver and provide an all-encompassing customer experience.'
'A recession is the point to pick up new customers. And coming out of a recession is when you make them loyal customers,' he added.
Thanks to the global financial crisis, university students - especially those due to graduate next year - are fast coming to terms with the rising difficulty in landing their ideal job.
Companies are still recruiting from campuses but compared with the heady days of 2006 and early 2007, the number and range of jobs available are taking a hit.
This has led to many students coming up with a Plan B - such as staying in school to pursue a Master's degree while waiting for the job market to recover.
According to the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), companies which ran campus recruitment drives in the past have returned this year. These include major banks and financial institutions.
However, there has been a 'reduced number of placements' and the 'types of roles available have changed,' said director of NTU's undergraduate career services, Joyce Seidl-Tan. As the financial crisis unfolds, for instance, more risk management and other mid and back-office functions have opened up.
'Firms are still hiring but very selectively,' observed Jason Low, a 23-year-old accountancy student who is graduating from NTU next year.
The cautious mood contrasts with the bright hiring landscape one or two years ago. An NTU release in June said that nine out of 10 business school graduates last year found jobs before graduation and the top students earned between $8,000 and $15,000 monthly. Of the entire Class of 2007, about two-thirds received multiple job offers.
The continued volatility in financial markets could affect the situation further. While companies kept to their hiring plans for most of the year, 'it was only in October, when the economic volatility hit a peak, that recruiters took a wait-and-see approach to hiring,' said NUS Business School's director of career services, Joan Tay.
'The global financial and economic situation is still uncertain and the job market could decline in all sectors in the coming months,' said director of career services at the Singapore Management University (SMU), Ruth Chiang. 'Students may not receive multiple job offers now and have to be prepared to accept job offers as they come.'
The climate is putting a dampener on wage expectations. 'As employers are confronted with the need to adjust their cost base according to market conditions, salary levels for fresh graduates of 2009 are likely to be lower than the entry level salaries seen in 2007 and possibly in 2008,' said NTU's Mrs Seidl-Tan.
But there is a bright spot amid the gloom. SMU's Lee Kong Chian School of Business has noticed that the difficult employment market has made graduating students evaluate their future careers more carefully.
'The tough job market... can also be a catalyst to more unconventional career paths which may ultimately be more rewarding,' said Doris Sohmen-Pao, director of SMU's MBA programme.
As NTU's Mr Low put it: 'A lot of people say it's best to start out in a bear market because you get to ride the waves and learn a lot from that.'
Some students though, may prefer to pick up another degree and delay entering the workforce. NUS Business School final-year student Wang Fan, 22, has already applied to several local and overseas universities to pursue his Masters in financial engineering.
This is in the event that his attempts to land his 'ideal' job as a trader with one of the banks here draw a blank. Some banks have already imposed hiring freezes or are retrenching staff.
The school's vice-dean for undergraduate studies, Quek Ser Aik, said that about 20 graduating students have already expressed their wish to use the economic slowdown as an opportunity to further their studies instead of entering the job market.
He said: 'The crisis is surely a concern for our students and for us. We will certainly try our best to accommodate our students' requests should they want to stay on to further their studies.'
As for junior college or polytechnic students entering universities, the financial mayhem is unlikely to sway interest in finance-related degrees, said the local varsities.
'We believe that banking and finance remains a very desirable field to our students and those who are keen on this area would probably not be deterred,' said Valerie Du Toit-Low, associate dean of undergraduate business in NTU.
SMU's Mrs Sohmen-Pao also said that postgraduate programmes, such as those related to management and finance, would retain their market value with or without a financial crisis.
'Skills such as leadership, strategic management and finance will remain evergreen and relevant to any profit organisation across any industry. We are optimistic that subscription for postgraduate programmes will remain strong even while the market goes on the road to recovery'.
Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Acting Minister for Manpower from MOM's website.
Distinguished Speakers and Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning
Introduction
I am pleased to join you today for the opening of the Adult Learning Symposium and launch of the Institute of Adult Learning or IAL in short. The launch of IAL is an important development in our efforts to build the national capability in adult learning.
Adult Education in the Early Years
2. We embarked on adult learning as early as the 1960s. The Adult Education Board was formed then, tasked with planning, regulating and implementing adult education. In the 1980s, three national Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes were launched by the then Vocational and Industrial Training Board. They were better known as BEST (The Basic Education for Skills Training), WISE (Work Improvement through Secondary Education) and MOST (Modular Skills Training). These programmes helped adults acquire technical skills qualification as well as receive basic education in English and Mathematics. In 2000, the introduction of the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) and the 1-Institute- 2 Systems framework (1I2S) in the Polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education helped adults further improve their skills.
The CET Masterplan and the Need for A Quality CET Profession
3. In 2003, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) was formed to develop a competitive workforce and build a strong national CET infrastructure. WDA has since introduced the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system, Employability Skills System (ESS) as well as established CET Centres in growth areas.
4. Earlier this year, we announced a National CET Masterplan to prepare our workers for the future, help them seize opportunities in new growth areas and advance their careers through the acquisition of skills. We will ramp up the national CET training capacity, ensure better integration of the CET and our formal education systems; and reach out to more workers. We now have 42 CET Centres. We will set up more CET Centres and the number of training places will be ramped up significantly from 110,000 in FY 08 to 220,000 in FY 09 through the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, or SPUR.
5. But expansion in our training capacity alone will not be effective unless the training programmes are of high quality and we have professional adult trainers to deliver them. Training of adults is quite different from the training of younger students. Adult trainers must be equipped with the right skills.
6. Singapore's formal education has been well regarded internationally. One important factor of our success is the quality of our teachers and the quality of the teacher-training programmes offered by the National Institute of Education. Similarly, training of CET trainers and adult educators plays an important part in ensuring that CET trainers are adequately trained and equipped to train adults. As we build up our infrastructure under the CET Masterplan, there will be greater demand for CET trainers. The set up of the IAL is therefore timely. The IAL will be dedicated to training and developing qualified adult trainers, raising the standards of the profession and conducting research to continually improve our CET system over time. This is an important milestone in our journey towards a first-class CET system.
Role of IAL
7. The IAL will play a leading role in three areas: the development of the CET profession in Singapore through establishing standards and delivering training for CET professionals, nurturing a community of CET professionals in Singapore, and advancing thought leadership in adult learning so that we can continually improve the effectiveness of our CET programmes.
Developing Professional Pathways and Training
8. Firstly, IAL will develop the CET profession through establishing clear professional standards and pathways for adult educators. From 2009, IAL will introduce a new national Professional Development Framework (PDF) targeted at adult educators. This is developed in collaboration with the polytechnics, ITEs, private training organisations and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), so that it serves the needs of trainers from different backgrounds. The framework outlines clear qualifications, skills and competencies needed for CET professionals, and also serves as a guide for development, performance and career pathway for adult educators.
9. Under this new framework, the IAL will develop and deliver programmes to train and upskill adult educators. It will deliver a range of nationally recognised WSQ programmes and qualifications. These will go beyond the current range of certificate-level programmes. IAL will introduce the new Diploma in Continuing Education and Training in April 2009.
Growing a Community of CET Professionals
10. Secondly, IAL will work with adult educators to grow the community of CET professionals in Singapore. This includes CET professionals in polytechnics, private training organizations, consultant trainers and curriculum developers, trainers in the SAF and companies which have their own accredited training centres. IAL will help to build this community through a professional membership and development scheme, which will also be a key component of the Professional Development Framework.
11. This scheme is similar to those currently available in other countries such as the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD). Administered by IAL, the scheme will facilitate the recognition of the professional standing, performance and competencies of CET professionals. It will establish a code of professional ethics underpinning the roles and responsibilities of CET professionals. It will also serve as a platform where the professionals can learn from one another.
Advancing Thought Leadership in Adult Learning
12. The third area where IAL will play a key role is in advancing thought leadership by undertaking research in adult learning and best practices in CET. This research will be translated into direct and practical inputs into improving our CET system. In this regard, IAL will leverage on its capability to provide support and advisory services in curriculum, assessment and training practices to the new CET Centres established by WDA. In addition, we can expect more programmes like today's symposium, with both international and local thought leaders, to engage our practitioners.
A New Professionals Conversion Programme for CET Professionals
13. With the current economic downturn, the imperative to provide training to re-skill and up-skill workers to enhance their employability has become even more pressing. IAL will play a key role in supporting SPUR, by improving the quality and increasing the number of trainers. As part of this effort, IAL will introduce a new Professionals Conversion Programme for those who wish to transit to a new career as a CET professional.
Conclusion
14. In conclusion, let me reiterate that all of you working in the CET field play a key role in helping workers upgrade their skills and employability, as well as in raising the overall competitiveness of our workforce. It is therefore important that you continue to enhance your professional skills and capabilities. It is ultimately through your professionalism that the goal of a vibrant, skilled and competitive workforce can be achieved.
15. I wish the Institute for Adult Learning every success, and look forward to seeing it strengthen the CET landscape and contributing to the advancement of our workers through quality training.
Thanks to this great service by Odiogo, we have now incorporated audio feeds for our blog posts so that you can listen, in the background, to the relevant employment, entrepreneur, tech and web 2.0 news in audio!
Just click on the audio icon at the beginning of each post (see top of this post) or subscribe to the podcast on the right side.
Singaporeans can survive this recession by making small adjustments in their lifestyles and lending a helping hand to their neighbours.
To help achieve this, the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) has launched a survival guide in October to give residents the tools and guidance to ride through the recession.
The guide has three main features, which include simple savings tips that can help cut down expenditure by up to S$1,330 a year, especially by saving electricity in several ways.
The guide also has information on how residents can land a job in new growth industries. It contains the numbers of important helplines for residents if they need information on jobs and financial assistance, or if they just want to talk to someone.
Central Singapore CDC will distribute the guide via its bi-monthly newsletter, "Voices", to all 280,000 households in its district by mid-December.
EMPLOYMENT rates, boosted by more women in the workforce, are at a 17-year high, a report by the Manpower Ministry released yesterday showed.
Some 835,000 women are now in the market, compared to 818,100 a year ago, mainly due to the efforts by the Government and the unions to get more women back to work.
More women are also employed: Seven in 10 women aged between 25 and 54 are working, up from just over six in 10 a year ago.
The employment rate for those aged 55 to 64 crept up by 1 percentage point to 57.2 per cent. This, again, was due mainly to more older women finding jobs.
These gains pushed the employment rate for locals - Singaporeans and permanent residents - up by half a percentage point to 77 per cent. This is the highest since 1991, when data was first compiled.
In fact, the rosy picture of how the workforce was faring in the middle of this year is unlikely to continue next year, said human resource consultants, who expect the employment rate to drop.
This is because of the retrenchments taking place now and the cautious hiring outlook by companies, said Mr Paul Heng, managing director of NeXT Career Consulting, which specialises in outplacement services.
'From 20 to 30 retrenchments a week, companies across all sectors are now retrenching 80 to 120 a week,' he said.
Already, latest figures show that the resident unemployment rate is at 3.3 per cent, up from 3.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
Singapore's local labour force is now 1,928,300 strong. Of those employed, more than half are in professional, managerial, executive and technical jobs.
In contrast, less than one in five people, or around 17 per cent, work in low-wage full-time jobs.
The workforce is now also more educated compared to a decade ago. Almost two in five, or 38 per cent, have tertiary education - up from 25 per cent in 1998.
The report also said that the median monthly income for full-time workers rose by 11 per cent to $2,590 from a year ago.
But after taking into account inflation, which rose by 6.4 per cent in October, the rise in real incomes was just 4.6 per cent.
Dear Jorbbers / Jorbbees,
