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A look at talent shortage in Singapore, study by ManpowerGroup
In the final part of our job crunch series, we’ll walk you through the best way to strengthen your position in Singapore’s job market. We’ll also point out which sectors are in demand and which are not at the moment.
The Job Scene Now
For the first time in four years, the number of job openings in Singapore is smaller than the number of job seekers.
A study by ManpowerGroup revealed that Singapore experienced its sharpest incline in talent shortages in 2015. As many as 52 per cent of the employers who participated in the study said that the lack of talented personnel weighed down on their client relations.
Here’s an outline of vacancies and redundancies for the second quarter of 2016 by the Ministry of Manpower: –
Patrick Tay, the assistant secretary-general of NTUC, said jobs were available, but the mismatched skill sets were stopping posts from being filled up.
Here are the highlights of the talent shortage survey for 2015 by ManpowerGroup.
Source: ManpowerGroup
What Job Seekers and Employees Can Do
There are always options available to improve a dire situation. You could take a look at Jobsbank, a site from WorkForce Singapore, which helps local jobseekers and employers connect through an online job matchmaking platform. Nope, no dating involved here – it’s more like a net that reaches out to a bigger pool of jobseekers beyond the usual career centres.
Jobseekers using Jobsbank’s services will get notified when there are new vacancies that fit their job preferences. Their uploaded resumes can be searched and viewed by potential employers, and they can also track their job application status on the website.
Other useful government initiatives are Skillsfuture, which we’ve covered here, and the Professional Conversion Programme, or PCP, which aims to smoothen the transition of mid-career professionals over various industries.
And What About Fresh Graduates?
Fresh graduates will have to swim against some pretty strong currents to secure a job.
Glints’ CEO and co-founder, Oswald Ng, told local media about the skill gap between graduates and the jobs they apply for. His advice on to fresh graduates is to polish their skills through internships or part-time positions.
This way, they’d be able to gain the specific skills they sorely need and that employers want. Another key person in the recruitment arena, Foo See Yang, who is the VP and country manager of Kelly Services Singapore, states that there's a flourishing interest in freelance and contractual workers.
Contract work is a possible long-term career option which could provide similar remuneration as a full-time employee.
The bottom line is this – job security is no longer the central focus, but career longevity is. The harsh truth is that in the work environment today, no one is irreplaceable.
(By Annette Rowena)
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