Barclays set to hire in Singapore

BRITISH banking giant Barclays is sticking to its aggressive plan to hire up to 1,500 highly skilled staff by early 2011 in Singapore - despite the turmoil that has ravaged many financial institutions.

The bank wants project managers, applications development managers, and software and IT specialists for its Business Technology Centre at Changi Business Park Central launched last year.

Barclays has already hired 250 staff - mainly locals - and wants to increase this headcount to 650 by the end of this year.

The centre will allow Barclays to run its international cards and banking platforms out of Singapore.

The new staff are in addition to the 2,500 that Barclays already has for its investment banking and wealth management businesses in Singapore.

Hudson Report (Hiring & HR Trends) - Q1 2009

The Hudson Report Quarter1 2009: Singapore employers keep hiring cautious and headcount steady.

Key Highlights -

• 23% of respondents expect to increase hiring in this quarter, down from 37% in Q4 2008, with the majority of respondents (65%) who will keep headcount steady whilst 12% of respondents will decrease headcount;
• Expectations show a substantial decline year-on-year: the 23% of respondents planning to grow headcount this quarter compared with 51% in Q1 2008;
• Expected salary increases for new managerial hires remain healthy, with 39% who will pay a 6-10% increase, and 32% who will pay 11-20% increase;
• Most respondents will give out year-end bonus payments, with only 17% of respondents planning to pay no bonuses;
• Across all sectors, 47% of respondents forecast that their company’s performance will be excellent or good in 2009, while 7% say it will be poor;
• Freezing headcount, along with global headcount approvals and strategic hiring, are HR strategies most likely to be adopted in response to the economic downturn.
  
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