January 30th, 2010
SINGAPORE’S job market soared towards the end of last year, causing a plunge in unemployment and a sharp rise in the employment of local workers.
The jobless rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December, which meant about 61,400 people being out of work.
This drop is the steepest three-month decline in a decade, according to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday.
Accelerated hiring for the year-end festivities and by the two integrated resorts (IRs) made for the improvement.
Net job gains in the last three months of the year hit 38,700, far surpassing the jobs lost earlier in the year.
Citi economist Kit Wei Zheng described the increase as a ’stellar performance for a recession year’ and predicted an even better year ahead with 150,000 new jobs created.
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January 30th, 2010
According to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unemployment rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December.
The new jobs created led to a net employment gain of 43,000 among locals for the whole of 2009.
The Straits Times put up a misleading headlines on its frontpage – “big gains in jobs, mostly for locals.”
However, as MOM did not give a breakdown of how many new jobs went to Singaporeans and PRs, there is a likelihood that PRs are the ones who benefit most from the “soaring” job market.
A differentiation must be made between Singapore citizens and PRs who are ultimately foreigners who may return to their native countries eventually.
Citizens are the ones who voted for the elected government of the day to take care of their interests. Jobs must go to them first and not PRs.
Furthermore, MOM said nothing about the underemployment rate which includes workers on contract jobs and those who have given up looking for a job. Read more... (482 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)
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January 25th, 2010
Honestly, i don’t know when.
Well, some people say u should find it at the start of the year, so that you can make it just in time for year end bonus!
But some others find it better to search during the middle of the year so that you won’t have to fret over any bonuses from the start or end of the year.
That’s also when people will not hold on to their job too hard, becausethere’s no bonuses to fight for.
For me, as long as there’s opportunities, just grab it.
If there’s no opportunities, then wait till you are really sick of your job.
Get out of your seat and start searching newspaper classified!
If you are now jobless maybe because you just ORD or complete your A Levels and is entering Uni only in August.
Perhaps what you can do first, is to get a good resume with a good page cover.
It will really help on getting temporary/part-time jobs.
If you have loads of time before your University, and really want to earn money.
Just sign a 3/6 months contract, this will enable you to have a steady income, and cover part of your university expenses. Read more... (256 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)
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January 23rd, 2010
| IN THE history of societies, defining moments occur when fundamental social conditions are ripe for change, and visionary men and women read the times, seize the moment and create change. Whether it be a political revolution or a movement in the arts or, as in our case, a new approach towards university education, defining moments are the confluence of initiative and opportunity.
As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of Singapore Management University, I’d like to look back. And in reviewing our past as a guide to the future, I’d especially like to pay tribute to one individual whose vision, unwavering commitment to quality and openness to flexibility has, more than anyone else, made SMU what it is today.
But though it has been a resoundingly successful and critical factor in our economic development, by the 1990s, when Singapore started moving towards knowledge-intensive industries, it became apparent that the attributes of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship were not exactly in abundant supply in our young people.
It was against this backdrop that I received a call in late 1997, some 13 years ago, to see Dr Tony Tan, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-Charge of Higher Education. I had been an armchair critic of what I considered to be an overly rigid educational system, so it came as a total surprise when he asked me to head up a new university. Read more... (947 words, estimated 3:47 mins reading time) |
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January 23rd, 2010
MORE good news for Singapore workers on the job front.
The latest report by human resource consultancy Hudson indicate that more firms are raising headcount in the first quarter, paying bigger bonuses and boosting starting salaries of new recruits.
In a survey of over 400 executives across key business sectors last November, 51 per cent of the firms forecasted increased hiring in the first quarter – a sharp increase from the 34 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year. Only 4 per cent of respondents said that they will decrease headcount this quarter. This is the greatest quarterly jump ever seen since Hudson launched report in Asia in 1998.
Bonuses are also set to rise, with 50 per cent of employers expecting to pay year end bonuses of more than 10 per cent, compared to 28 per cent the previous year, while another 17 per cent expect to pay 20 per cent in bonuses. Employers in the banking and financial services sector plan to pay the highest bonuses, offering substantially more than they did last year, with nearly two-thirds – or 65 per cent – saying that bonuses will be more than 10 per cent while 35 per cent plan to give over 20 per cent. Read more... (303 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)
Tags: bonus, jobs, pay
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January 19th, 2010
1) Begin with clarity
This habit comes first because it’s the most important. It’s also the most difficult for many people, because it requires you to do two very difficult things: think and say no.
You must first think and get clear about the job you want and the employers you want to do it for. This stymies many, because, as Henry James wrote, “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
Second, you must say no to a huge number of potential jobs and employers, so you can focus your efforts on the “vital few” areas where you could get hired fastest.
This is difficult, because our instincts are to avoid closing the door on any possibility for work.
Thus, instead of telling folks that we’re looking for a position as an office manager with a mid-size law firm in Chicago, for example, we say we’re looking for something in administration or human resources at any company … and then we wonder why the phone doesn’t ring. Read more... (654 words, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)
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January 19th, 2010
How should people go about tweaking or changing their careers? NEWSWEEK’s Nancy Cook recently spoke with Alexandra Levit, career columnist for The Wall Street Journal and author of New Job, New Youabout the future of the job market and the ways in which workers and companies will have to shift to stay competitive. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Why did you write this book at this particular time?
LEVIT: Starting in 2007, I was already hearing a lot about career changers. The 20-somethings didn’t want to pay their dues. You would think, Why would they change careers that they just started? but they wanted meaning right away. I was also starting to hear a lot about baby boomers, who had no intention of sitting in the house and playing bridge once they retired. They wanted to continue working through their senior years and contribute more than they did at their corporate jobs. The recession happened as I was pretty much finished writing the book, and it meant that people across all age groups needed to reinvent themselves. It provided a sense of urgency. People were starting to feel like the corporate world was not the reliable choice that it used to be, and if you’re working in an unstable career, you may as well be working on your own. Changing careers is this big nebulous thing. As I started doing research, I noticed that there were some good books out there but they were very generic. The thing is that how you reinvent yourself differs based on your individual circumstances. It depends on your motivation and whether you want to do it to spend more time with your family or develop a latent talent or whether you want to work on your own. Read more... (929 words, 1 image, estimated 3:43 mins reading time)
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