Singapore job market shows signs of pick-up!

This is my second post in as many weeks on the improving sentiments in the job market here in Singapore. I would also like to believe that this positive waves will continue for another quarter to allow us to propel through the rest of the year into the 1st quarter of 2010.

Almost every paper this morning carried news of survey results collated from some of the leading multinational recruitment firms. Everyone echoed similar sentiments; higher recruitment projection for the next quarter, substantial increased in hiring this quarter and the two sectors that showed most remarkable turnaround are IT and Banking Finance.

Q3 forecast as per Hudson's May survey shows - 32 percent of respondents in banking and finance expect to increase recruitment as compared to 19 percent in Q2.

While in IT & Technology due to the result of solid pipeline of revenue-generating projects built up in Q2 25 percent of respondents expects to grow headcount.

As an in-house recruiter in a mid size regional bank contrary to the negative hiring trend in the market outside in the past few quarters we've never slowed down on our recruitment pace.

However, lately and even more so this last 2 months I am getting to experience candidates that are willing to turn down or back out of offers while in the process of signing the contract or in one instance just days before reporting for work.

This to me, from past experience ( Y2K project and SAP boom days) is one sure sign that the job market is bullish and that candidates have in their hands multiple job offers.

Wishing all the recruiter folks out there happy hunting and good billings!

Executives' pay most affected by downturn

Singapore - Top executives have been most affected by the wage freeze, a widely-adopted measure taken by companies to cut costs and retain employees.

A global survey conducted by Hay Group across 2,000 companies from 88 countries last month reports Singapore as the country hit hardest by the economic downturn in South East Asia.

Eighty percent of the Singapore respondents predict that they would not be able to hit their business targets, compared to the 21% in a previous Hay Group survey in November 2008.

The report also show Singapore as registering a 0% base salary increase, with clerical level and high-performing employees as they only two groups of exception toreceived modest pay rises.

Many companies believe that the downturn has the greatest bearing on clerical level workers,and the nominal pay increase is used to balance the cost of living.

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.
  
  Click here to download Hudson Report

Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q3 2008

SEASONALITY AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH HIT ADVERTISING VOLUMES.

Robert Walters, the international recruitment consultancy, today publishes its Asia Job Index for the third quarter of 2008. The Robert Walters Asia Job Index tracks advertisement volumes for professional positions across the leading job boards and national newspapers in Hong Kong and Singapore.

KEY FINDINGS:

• Total job advertisements posted in Hong Kong in Q3 2008 8.5% lower than Q2 2008
• Total job advertisements posted in Singapore in Q3 2008 10.2% lower than Q2 2008
• Reduced advertising spend a direct result of a focus on cost management across many sectors
• Increasing prevalence of contract hiring
• Emphasis on recruitment of sales-focused candidates who will aggressively drive revenues
• IT personnel continue to be in strong demand with Singapore businesses in particular continuing to implement complex IT projects
• Organisations of all types still strongly committed to growing operations in Asia-Pacific region

Mark Ellwood, Managing Director at Robert Walters in Singapore, comments: "The Singapore economy has so far held up relatively well year to date in light of the global economic challenges. However, it was the first Asian country to announce it is in a technical recession so it is no surprise to see a reduction in the number of jobs advertised in the 3rd quarter. Despite this, there is still demand for high quality candidates as good talent is always hard to find. The financial services sector has certainly been affected and organizations are focusing on costs which will continue into next year but opportunities for talented middle management professionals will still remain."

Lehman in talks to sell!

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was forced into talks about a possible sale after the Wall Street investment bank's shares plunged more than 40 percent on Thursday, raising questions about its survival.

Lehman and U.S. regulators were in intensive discussions about a number of options, including a complete sale, but the firm was resisting government intervention, a source with direct knowledge of the talks said.

Even so, media reports said the government, including the Federal Reserve, was helping to broker a deal to sell Lehman that could be completed as soon as this weekend.

The U.S. government is hoping to avoid spending money on a bailout, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.

Bank of America Corp or Barclays could be suitors, according to various reports. Bank of America, Barclays and Lehman declined to comment.

Lehman stock closed down $3.03 at $4.22, and traded as low as $3.20 in after-hours trading. The shares have lost more than three-quarters of their value since Monday and more than 90 percent since they hit a 52-week high of $67.73 last November.

Source: Reuters

Wages for IT talent go up, up, up!

Singapore - With the banking and finance sector fuelling demand for talent, IT professionals can command a higher pay if they choose to job hop now.

Richard Talbot, GM of the IT recruitment firm, Sapphire Technologies, says with a low 2% unemployment rate and a shortage of skilled workers, there is a pressure on companies to increase the wages of IT workers.

Similarly, Watson Wyatt's quarterly HR Trends survey showed that IT sector had a 5.4% salary adjustment in 2008, cpmpared to 4.8% for general industries. This ranks the IT industry as one of the top 4 industries, payewise.

Singapore tops for expat living

Singapore had been ranked the best place to live in the world by expats in one of the biggeset international surveys of expatriate living ever conducted.

The Expat Explorer survey for HSBC Bank International found that as well as coming out tops overall, expats rated Singapore best for quality of accomodation and second in terms of luxury living.

Hong Kong, ranked fifth, scoring high for earnings and savings. In fact, Hong Kong based expats were found to have the highest salaries in the world, with almost half earning more than GBP100,000 ($269,800) a year.

The top courntries for savings included Singapore, alongside the UAE and India.

source: TODAY

Singapore: Hiring slows down in second quarter

21/July/2008

HIRING by Singapore companies is slowing down as firms tighten their belts amid rising operating costs and margin pressure, say recruitment agencies.

This cautious approach is in stark contrast to the enthusiastic hiring seen a year ago and experts say the pullback is most evident in the finance and manufacturing sectors.

'Companies in general have become more conscious of their fixed costs,' said Robert Half International managing director Tim Hird.

'We have observed that our clients have become more selective and more cautious in their hiring, rather than imposing total freezes on hiring altogether,' he said.

The sector identified by recruiting firms as having suffered the biggest slide in hiring is investment banking.

But there are pockets of growth within the financial services sector - commodity houses, insurance firms, private equity firms and hedge funds - that are 'still hiring strongly', Mr Hird pointed out.

Another affected sector is information technology (IT), which has seen a 20 per cent fall in hiring.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

Highly skilled IT professionals, but paid enough?

ZDNet Asia conducted a survey on the Internet between late-2007 and early-2008, to gain insights into Asia's IT workforce and salary trends.

The survey drew 21,635 respondents from various industry sectors such as government, healthcare, IT, services, telecommunications, legal and finance, and across seven Asian economies: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Findings from the ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2008 reveal an IT field that is dynamic and has high skill sets, with salaries that are, in most cases, attractive. The survey indicates that IT remains a desirable and interesting profession, and one that has much to offer its practitioners and those who employ them.

The best-paying IT jobs are in Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and Thailand.

The study found that IT professionals from Hong Kong had the highest overall average annual salary at US$57,303. Singapore came next at US$44,858, followed by Thailand, where respondents had an overall average salary of US$24,108 per annum.

On average, Hong Kong respondents had 8.9 years of experience--the highest across the seven countries. They are followed by Thailand's respondents who have an average 8.8 years of experience, ahead of Singapore's 7.5 years.

Rosy outlook for Singapore job market in 2008

Against the backdrop of the US credit crunch and its ripple effect through out most of the financial capitals of the world the outlook of most companies here in Singapore viz-a-viz hiring remains very positive.

The above observation is based on the surveys conducted by various agencies for the 1st quarter of 2008.

As per the Hudson Report Q1 2008, 51% Singapore companies planned to increase their workforce.

The report also goes to say that despite the current credit crunch, the impact is low on recruitment plans across all markets surveyed, including Banking and Finance.

I am sure most of us, at some point or the other was worried about the possibility of US recession having a drastic effect on the market here in Asia. Honestly, I still fear that the US will go into recession and all of us including Singapore will be eventually effected. But after reading what MM Lee has to say on this subject, my fears upto a degree is gone.

Speaking to some 1,200 people at the Tanjong Pagar Lunar New Year dinner on Monday night, Mr Lee said Singapore is at the centre of the world's highest growth region, and is in a period of steady growth. "This is quite remarkable, for it will be the first time that when the American economy slows down and reduce imports from Asia, Asia will not go into recession."

What was remarkable about this great man and his insights was soon evident when he continued to point out that the US recession help the Singapore booming real estate market to cool down and this inturn did not result in Asia going through another financial crisis like the one in 1997.

Most of the banks did not stop hiring in Q4 of 2007 and the hiring trend seems to continue at the same pace in Q1 of 2008 and I am confident that this trend will continue for most part of this year.

This is the year of the rat - a time for renewal, hard work and a fresh start.

Hopefully, all the subprime mortgage crisis and the write downs can all be put behind and everyone will start a fresh and rebuild all that was lost.

This might just be a wishful thinking but I choose to remain positive and think only of good things for the year ahead.

And here's wishing happy hunting and clean closures to all my fellow recruiters in Singapore and across the world!

:: Good time for job seekers in S'Pore

Singapore employers continue to see positive hiring demands in the last quarter of 2007. According to Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey, net employment outlook of +43% showed that employers in Singapore will continue to hire at a vigorous pace.

The survey revealed that 51% out of 759 employers polled expected to hire more [eople during the fourth quarter of 2007. 31% projected no change in hiring intention while 2% expected a decrease in staffing levels.

The finance, insurance and real estate industries reported the strongest hiring activity with a net employment outlook of +70%.

:: S'pore IT Salary Report by ZDNet Asia

This ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark 2006 report provides an overview of salary data for several IT positions, including IT Management, Project Development and Systems Development. It also highlights the most popular technical skills and professional certifications.

This 9-page report focuses on Singapore and shows that IT Management positions are at the upper end of the pay scale. Project development ranked second.

The overall average annual salary is highest in Hong Kong at HK$404,144 (US$51,964), followed bySingapore at S$64,943 (US$41,601). Surprisingly, Thailand is in third place with an average annualsalary of THB 994,203 (US$27,044). However, the correspondent base is also smallest in Thailand, therefore some caution is advised when interpreting results.

Overall Average Annual Salary by Country

Country	Local Currency	Average Annual Sal(Local curr.)	Average Annual Salary (in USD)
Hong Kong	HKD	404,144	51,964
Singapore	SGD	64,943	41,601
Thailand	THB	994,203	27,044
Malaysia	MYR	61,278	16,696
India	INR	662,310	14,702
Indonesia	IDR	102,379,052	11,231
Philippines	PHP	536,241	10,730

If you wish to access the complete survey report please Join activeTechPros! Get a salary comparison based on your job title at http://www.activetechpros.com/.

:: S'pore job-seekers demand 10% more than what employers expect to pay

Is it a case of overblown expectations or just market savvy?

More than in any other country in Asia, job candidates in Singapore tend to demand salaries higher than what employers are willing to pay, said the latest report by human resources firm Hudson.

More than half of the 723 employers from multinational firms in Singapore surveyed said they "often" or "very often" received such demands — the highest proportion of all the Asian markets involved in the study, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai included.

Singaporeans are increasingly aware of their value in a market where demand outstrips supply, said Hudson's Singapore country manager Mark Sparrow.

"When Singaporeans look for jobs, they are looking for higher pay, but employers haven't adjusted their expectations yet," he said.

.

Also, 57 per cent of respondents said Singaporeans are asking for more than 10 per cent above the salary offered — second only to what job-hunters in China are requesting.

While companies here "shouldn't bow down to job candidates", they do need to readjust what they are prepared to pay employees in a competitive market, he said.

by LIN YANQIN
yanqin@mediacorp.com.sg

Learn about Hispanic Recruiting at LatPro.com.

:: Satyam to double its office space in Singapore

Indian technology giant Satyam Computer Services will open a new 10,000 sq ft office in Changi Business Park (CBP) next week - a move that will effectively double its current floor space in Singapore.

Satyam's Singapore office, which is the company's regional headquarters servicing the Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, will be well poised to take advantage of this regional push.

Source: The Sraits Times, 13 September 2007.



Visit DiversityJobs.com for information on Diversity in the workplace

:: Singapore job seekers prefer SPH newspapers

Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) newspapers are the preferred medium for job seekers, according to the Singapore Workforce Survey (SWS) findings.

The SWS shows that 84 ercent of job seekers rely on SPH newspapers for recruitment opportunities.

That is more than double the number that use the Internet - the second most poplular medium - for the same purpose.

In addition, six in 10 of those who use SPH newspapers in their job search said they were eventually offered jobs, compared to 15 percent of those who used the Internet.

Source: The Straits Times, Friday, Sept'7 2007

:: Skill shortages remain the major challenge

Singapore employers see severe shortage of talent and high pay increases as major recruitment challenges for the third quarter in 2007. As per the Hudson Report for Q3, whilst 38% of respondents indicated that the most significant challenge for recruiters was a shortage of the required skills, 22% of those surveyed pointed out that high pay increases was the second most significant challenge facing Singapore employers today.

:: HR directors in Singapore paid double compared to India and China

HR directors located in South Korea are better off than those in Hong Kong and Singapore, with the highest average base pay of US$175,800 (S$266,137), Mercer’s Global Pay Summary found.

Singapore at US$131,800 lags Hong Kong by US$ 25,000, but beats Japan (US$129,100). Singapore HR director’s average annual base salary is about double of what their counterparts in the booming economies of China (Shanghai) and India are making. HR directors in Shanghai and India are paid US$68,179 and US$55,790 respectively.

The US leads in base salary of HR directors at US$190,000, followed by the UK at US$172,392 and Germany at US$169,032.

The Hudson report, Q1 2007, Singapore – Employment and HR Trends.

“Employment expectations are rising and companies express a high level of optimism about future performance. But the other side of the coin is severe competition for staff. Companies recognise they must be prepared to look at the ackages they offer which would now include significant increases in salaries and bonuses in order to attract appropriately talented individuals.” Mark Sparrow, Country Manager, Hudson, Singapore.

The Hudson Report (January-March 2007) is a quarterly survey on the hiring expectations across the industry in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore). These surveys are conducted by Hudson consultants amongst the executives from multi-national firms. Some of the key findings within the IT and Telecommunications industry in Singapore is given below:

• Permanent employment expectations: 56% of respondents are expecting to hire more staff in Q1 but an imminent surge is expected as usual in Q2, after detailed planning for the year during the 1st quarter.
• Permanent employment expectations by job roles: Demand for IT professionals is high at 17%, second to Sales jobs which is at 23%. Banking IT specialists are much sought after as more banks are setting up new operations or upgrading existing operations.
• Pay increases to attract managerial staff: 57% say they will pay more than 10%, compared to 35% in Q1 2006. Banks however are expected to pay by far the highest increase, with 78% saying the salaries will rise by ore than 10%.
• Year-end bonus payments: 51% of respondents plan to pay bonuses of more than 10%. Steep rise from 32% in Q1 2006. Banking sector again is making by far the highest bonus payments, with 76% planning to pay more than 10%.
• Staff turnover: 37% of IT&T companies are experiencing turnover of more than 10%.
• Reasons for staff turnover: Poaching is the most significant cause for staff turnover with 30% of the respondents attributing the turnover due to poaching. 10% of the respondents in IT&T, which is significantly higher than any other sector agree that ‘Low staff morale’ is also a very significant reason for staff turnover.

The year 2007 from staffing perspective is expected to be as buoyant as the Singapore economy outlook. Banking and IT are two sectors which will see a significant increase in resource augmentation and this is no surprise considering the number of banking institutions that are already/in-process/on the verge of setting up new/refurbishments/upgrade of operations and data centers.

As competition for quality resources heats up amongst the banks here, a major resource crunch is expected and banks and their recruiting partners will have to progressively look at ways to source and import talent from outside Singapore.

This means that further improvement in salary payouts will have to be implemented in order to attract, recruit and retain quality talents from location such as India and Hong Kong.

Of late, we are seeing a reversal in recruiting trend as far as India is concern – companies in India are looking to recruit from outside India. One of India’s largest Software Development company is in the process of luring back Non-resident-Indian IT pros for middle and senior roles for their projects in India and so are most of the MNC banks in India who are facing stiff challenges in recruiting senior level consultants. We are also seeing specialist recruitment firm such as Job options which is founded and managed by Mr. Achyut Menon. In his own words - “I am pretty convinced that 'global migration' of professionals will be a reality soon, and so it is better to dig ones wells..before one is thirsty!!”. He is of course referring to returning Indian professionals.

This obviously means that companies in India are prepared to match the consultant earnings abroad - dollars to dollars. This will also mean that they are willing to pay the talents within in India which will match their potential earning abroad in order to retain them. This trend is especially prevalent in the banking sector; with so many banks moving their back office support offshore to India this seems to be the obvious.

It therefore, does become necessary for IT&T and banking companies in Singapore to pro-actively look into their existing salary standards and make necessary changes and sacrifices to remain competitive in the fight for quality talents in this part of the world.

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***Happy hunting folks!***

53% of Singaporeans happy in their jobs.

More than half of Singaporean employees are happy in their work and they believe the quality of their bosses is getting better. (Source: HRM Issue 6.12)

Why do I get this feeling that this statistic could be attributed to the better than expected performance of Singapore economy and the higher bonus payouts thereof?

The survey was conducted by Kelly Services and those Singaporeans most happy in their jobs were in Education (62%), Business Services (57%), Financial Services (56%), Engineering (53%) and IT (50%).

This result also means that half the IT crowds are not happy with their job and the rest are happy. It might actually be more worst than what is actually being indicated here because IT industry as compared to any other industry is more dynamic, with more job opportunities, and attrition rates are therefore higher than other sectors.

And for the IT pros under such challenging circumstances chances are that you will have more IT pros that are not happy with their current jobs than those who are happy.

*** Happy Hunting Folks!***

Recruitment Services Company of the year 2006 - Singapore.

As per the survey conducted by HumanResources magazine in a special annual edition title HR Vendors of the year - voted by HR professionals the top ten Recruitment Services Company of the year 2006 are listed as below:

Rank / Company
1. Kelly Services

2. Hudson Global Resources
3. Adecco Personnel
4. Michael Page International
5. Robert Walters
6. GMP Recruitment
7. Recruit Express
8. Manpower Staffing Services
9. Drake International
10. Korn/Ferry International

Singapore economy for the year 2006 is expected to surpassed all predictions if we are to go by the percentage of economic growth in 3rd quarter 2006 which stands at 7.1%. The economy outlook for the year 2007 therefore also looks very promising. With the booming economy the recruitment business is also expected to experience booming business in the coming years.
Of late, we've also seen the increased acitivities of the various financial institutes either setting up new operations or refurbishing existing infrastructure here in Singapore and thereby increasing on their headcounts. As a result of which competition for quality technical resources are getting fiercer and more and more recruitment services company are compeld to scout for resources outside of Singapore.
This fierce competition for talents also resulted in mushrooming new recrutiment services company and while the likes of Kelly Services will continue to hold thier position in the top by offering various niche services to their clients we can also expect to see new faces in the year 2007 and two such players are Talent2 and Charterhouse Partnership.

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***Happy hunting folks!***