Employers report positive hiring plans

Positive forecasts are reported throughout the Asia Pacific region, with hiring plans growing stronger in three countries quarter-on-quarter – India, Taiwan and Singapore, according to the Q4 2013 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Q4 hiring plans in India are the most optimistic across the globe. Job seekers are likely to benefit from a surge in demand for talent among firms in IT/ITeS, banking and construction. Employability skills remain a challenge for a number of Indian hiring managers. Many acknowledge that there is an abundance of business and engineering graduates, but that too many of them lack the soft skills that are increasingly necessary as India becomes even more interconnected to the global marketplace.


Singaporean employers report strong hiring prospects for the October-December time frame. While 25% of employers expect to increase payrolls, four per cent anticipate a decrease and 65% forecast no change, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +21%. Outlooks are positive in all seven industry sectors, with hiring prospects strongest in the Public Admin and Education sector (+36%), and in Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector, where the Outlook is +34%.

Source: hrm Asia

5 reasons Singaporeans are still not happy

Singapore – In the last half decade, Singaporeans haven’t become much happier.

This is according to the latest annual Work Happiness Indicator 2013 by JobsCentral, which found workers in Singapore are only marginally happier in 2013 than they were during the height of the recession in 2009.

In 2009, the overall work happiness rating was 56.4, and today this number has only inched up slightly to 57.9.

Do these findings reveal that there is a serious disconnect between what employees want and what jobs are able to provide?

“This is a worrying trend, as a marginally happy workforce would have repurcussions on work productivity, innovation and Singapore’s economic growth in the longer term,” said Lim Der Shing, CEO of JobsCentral Group.

Other findings from the survey include:
1. Singaporeans approaching retirement are the unhappiest of the bunch Local workers are most miserable at work if they are between 51 and 60 years old, as they scored the lowest on the happiness index at 55.5 – a 12% drop since 2009.
But,on the other hand, those aged 61 and above were the happiest.

2. Money is still king, but Gen Y want “advancement” while Gen X want “work-life balance”
Singaporeans want money, that much is clear, as every generation stated salary is the most important aspect of any job. But Generation X employees are also very big on work-life balance, which is no surprise.
In contrast, Gen Y employees rank work-life balance in fourth place, favouring advancement opportunities in their career after a good salary.

3. But salaries and career advancement cause the most dissatisfaction We want the big bucks and the high flying career and when they don’t come, we’re miserable.
The report states both of these things cause the most dissatisfaction for workers, with many citing the rising cost of living as a reason for needing to keep increasing their salaries.

4. Singaporeans need $10,000 a month to be happy
Those earning $10,000 and above each month are really, really happy. They also have one of the highest increases in work happiness compared to 2009. In contrast, those who earn between $5,000 and $5,999 monthly have the greatest decline in happiness levels.

5. Local lawyers are really unhappy Despite the higher salaries that many lawyer draw, employees in the legal job function showed the largest decline in happiness, with a 6% decrease in overall work happiness since 2009.

Source: HumanResources

Which job pays Singaporeans more than anywhere else in the world?

Singapore - As one of the most respected professions in the country, teachers here are found to be paid the highest salaries in the world.

According to the 2013 Global Teacher Status Index by Varkey Gems Foundation, Singaporean teachers are being paid an average of US$45,755 (S$57,072) annually - the highest among the 21 countries surveyed.

Countries such as the United States (US$44,917), South Korea (US$43,874) and Japan (US$43,775), were a few of the other top earners.

The survey found an overwhelming 95% of countries perceived their teachers to be "paid a wage in excess of the actual wage the thought they received".

However, the report added Singaporeans, similar to citizens from South Korea, Japan, Israel and the US, expected their teachers to earn less than they thought.

Locally, Singaporeans believe the fair wage for teachers should be below what it currently is, by as much as 14%.

But those sentiments did not stop Singapore from coming in seventh place globally, with a score of 46.3 in this year's Teachers Status Index, which took into consideration several components such as teachers' status, perception of teachers' rewards, and the Programme for International Student Assessment ranking.

Singaporean teachers also ranked the country's education system highly, placing it third highest, scoring 6.7 out of 10. Additionally, only a small percentage in Singapore believe children do not respect their teachers, the second lowest in the world, and only 20% of teachers would not encourage their own children to follow in their footsteps.

Globally, China took the first place on the index rankings, with a perfect score of 100, followed by Greece (73.7%), Turkey (68%), South Korea (62%) and New Zealand (54%).

This article is taken from Human Resources' online net and written by Amos Seah. 

2012 Social Recruiting Survey - jobvite.com

The impact of Social media for recruiting(at least in the US) has progressively become the most dominant factor for many companies to find and hire quality candidates. According to the 2012 annual Social Recruiting Survey from Jobvite:

+ 92% of respondents use or plan to use social media for recruiting, an increase of almost ten percent from the 83% using social recruiting in 2010.

+ 73% have successfully hired a candidate through social networks, making social recruiting a highly effective source of quality new hires.

+ A large majority of recruiters (71%) consider themselves savvy in social recruiting, having a sizeable understanding of what to look for in social profiles.

+ 49% of recruiters who implemented social recruiting saw an increase in the quantity of candidates, and 43% noted a surge in the quality of candidates.

Some other notable findings in the 2012 annual Social Recruiting Survey from Jobvite:

- Facebook is gaining grounds in 2012 with 66% share and Twitter at 54% but the undisputed king of social network recruiting is and continues to be LinkedIn at 93%!

- Since implementing social recruiting, 20% reported taking less time to hire while 49% saw an increase in quantity of candidates and 43% saw an increase in quality of hire.

- 89% of respondents have made a hire thorugh LinkedIn, 26% thorugh Facebook and 15% through Twitter.

- 86% of recuiters are likely to look at social profiles when reviewing candidates

"As recruiters continue to collect more knowledge on social recruiting best practices, the number of quality hires acquired through social media increases. The role candidates’ social activity plays in hiring decisions also grows in importance. Hiring in and of itself has broadened its reach to include a multitude of social media sources as companies continue to seek out new ways to find and hire the best talent". - Jobvite.

European bankers seek refuge in Singapore

Singapore – As the banking crisis continues to loom in Europe, bankers are finding new locations to set up camp while waiting for the storm to ride out.

CNBC reported recruitment firms have seen a rise in the number of European bankers keen on relocating to Singapore, with Stella Tang, director at Robert Half, witnessing a 20% jump in the number of those wanting to move. She added most firms here are planning to increase their headcount this year.

Hudson, on the other hand, have seen a 50% increase in the number of queries for Singapore-based jobs. “The market conditions in places like Europe and the U.K. continue to deteriorate and there is a perception out there that market conditions are significantly better in Singapore,” Craig Brewer, Director of Banking, Financial Services & Legal at Hudson said.

However, despite the strong interest to relocate here, European bankers must be prepared to take a pay cut of anything from 10% to 30%. But that may not be enough to put them off, as Andrew Norton, regional manager at Michael Page says bankers are now willing to forgo an expat package or additional allowances.

Aside from expat bankers keen on coming into the region, more Asian bankers are also returning home, many driven by the same doom and gloom currently shadowing the US and European markets.

“They [Asian-born bankers] feel the risk-reward trade-off is better and that they can add more value through local expertise and language skills,” Norton said.

By: Sabrina Zolkifi, Singapore

Moving to Singapore? Some useful links

Useful information for those moving to Singapore:

General - http://www.contactsingapore.sg/
Tourism - http://www.yoursingapore.com/
Cuisine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Singapore
Overview booklet - http://view.vcab.com/?vcabid=geaSeapnpSceaepe
Workshop for people moving to Singapore - http://www.singbound.sg/
Singapore Custom Regulations - http://www.customs.gov.sg/ and http://singapore.shipping-international.com/customs/
Work VISA - http://www.mom.gov.sg/
Education - and http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/international-students/general-info/ and http://view.vcab.com/?vcabid=geaSeapnpScnhnhr
Phone Directory - http://www.yellowpages.com.sg/
Road Directory - http://www.streetdirectory.com.sg/

Taxation:
General - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Singapore
Calculator - http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page01.aspx?id=88

Property:
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/
http://www.iproperty.com.sg/

Shipping:
http://www.alliedpickfords.com.sg/
http://www.unigroupworldwide.com/
http://www.pricebreakshipping.com/

Pets:
License - http://www.ava.gov.sg/Services/LicensesPermitsAndCerts
Mover - http://www.petmovers.com.sg/

Courtesy: Tiffany Ng on LinkedIn

Singapore - most competitive IT industry in APAC

Singapore has sailed past Australia to become the most comepetitive economy in the Asia-Pacific in information technology(IT).

The results come from this year's edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit's IT Industry Competitiveness Index. The index benchmarks 66 economies on a series of indicators covering critical foundation areas for IT innovation, such as overall business environment, IT infrastructure and human capital.

• Singapore rose 6 places to become the third-most competitive IT market in the world


• Singapore achieved its third-place global ranking on the strength of its research-and-development environment, which is ranked fifth in the world


• Two thirds of the world's biggest 100 IT firms have a presence in Singapore


• Singapore also scored well because of its support for IT-industry development, where it is ranked 5th in the world


• Singapore was ranked 9th in the world and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific in 2009