Singapore downplaying university degrees; bus death triggers riot

Downplaying varsity degrees

With thousands of unemployed graduates, the government plans to cap campus enrolment.

IT is clearer now why the government had been discouraging Singaporeans from depending too much on university degrees.

The reason is that the pool of unemployed graduates is expanding in this wealthy city, despite a general shortage of workers.

Almost by the week, new cases are being reported about well-educated professionals struggling to find jobs or being retrenched.

The latest example: A 29-year-old accountancy and finance graduate wrote of his failed job hunt for two years, saying: “I am deeply worried.”

Posted on a website, www.transitioning.org, which helps unemployed professionals, his is one of many such tales, including the following:

> A 51-year-old jobless graduate who earned S$4,000 (RM10,133) per month said he might have to become a security guard. “On some nights, I would wake up breaking out in cold sweat and worrying about my future.”

> A 28-year-old arts graduate has been jobless for one year, surviving on her savings.

> A 35-year-old Malay graduate ex-teacher and single mum is jobless and going homeless soon.

> A jobless 47-year-old graduate had only one offer in seven months – for a S$6 (RM15)-an-hour temp position.

> A 35-year-old jobless graduate and mum of two kids surviving on her security guard husband’s salary and with less than S$10 (RM25.30) in the bank.

There are others, all of which make sad reading, pointing to a deterioration of life quality for many middle-class Singaporeans as bosses prefer to hire “cheap” foreign workers.

The situation could worsen in the near future with nearly 10,000 graduates coming on-stream from seven local universities every year, seeking work.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recently, a further 18,000 Singaporeans were studying in foreign universities – half of them in Australia.

Unemployment among the highly educated has risen from 3.3% to 3.6% in the first half of 2013, worse than the national average of 2.1%.

Actually, Singapore is not unique. Countries in the developed West, too, suffer from rising graduate unemployment – with one exception.

Unlike these countries, densely populated Singapore openly promotes immigration. Last year it admitted another 27,000 “foreign talents”.

Unable to create enough meaningful jobs, the government is doing the next best thing – downsizing the Singaporean ambition for higher education.

Several Cabinet ministers recently began to talk down the importance of a university degree.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said that paper qualification is not the only route to success.

And National Development Mi­­nister Khaw Boon Wan sparked controversy when he said: “You own a degree, but so what? You can’t eat it. If that cannot give you a good life, a good job, it is meaningless.”

Earlier, a Wikileaks document revealed a government decision to keep the local university population from increasing too much.

It quoted a senior Education Ministry official as saying that the government had no plan to encourage more students to go for university studies.

The campus enrolment rate would be capped at the current 20%-25% of total Singapore students. The labour market, she added, did not need more graduates.

That report came as a shock to Singaporeans who worship higher education as a god of success.

It led to speculation that the government is doing it to bring in foreign graduates en masse, since it is cheaper and faster than to produce them at home.

Given past records, this is unlikely to be the whole truth. The government has always given priority to developing Singaporeans to play an economic role.

To economists, however, there are wider fundamental reasons for it. The demise of the manufacturing era has significantly altered the job market.

Many of the newly created jobs today are in services that do not require formal four-year university training.

“A degree is nice to have, but we need something else,” is a regular employer comment.

For example, the opening of the two resorts required some graduates to be retrained as casino dealers and roulette operators.

Getting Singaporean parents to cut back on their children’s education is Mission Impossible. Many have suffered sacrifices to get them into a top university.

Social commentator Lucky Tan said any cutback would work against lower-income Singaporeans because the rich could easily send their kids abroad.

Not all are against the government being cautious.

“It is important to maintain a balanced, orderly labour market for the sake of social order,” said one writer.

Years ago former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew spoke of the dangers of educating hordes of graduates and being unable to provide them jobs.

He noticed that many tended to end up roaming the streets and making violent revolution.

And later Lee remarked that Singaporeans were not getting smarter, only better educated.

From many indications, the economy may intervene in the debate.

A research expert said: “I expect employment, including of graduates, to start to slow over the next few years.”

As quality jobs decline, it may further reduce the arrival of foreign professionals, even if the government were to do nothing.

Contributed by Seah Chiang Nee  Insight Down South

Seah Chiang Nee is an international journalist of 40 years, many of them reporting on Asia. The views expressed are entirely his own.

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Rightway: Too many graduates in Singapore, multiple skills are important

27 May 2013

Singapore tackles jobs controversy

BBC News - Singapore tackles jobs controversy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24697611

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24697611

Earlier this year, Singapore's government released a policy paper that predicted the population in the city-state would grow by 30% to 6.9 million by 2030, with immigrants making up nearly half that figure.

Thousands of Singaporeans have protested against government plans to offset the nation's declining birth rate by bringing in foreign workers.

In response the government has stepped in to promote Singaporean workers over foreign ones.

BBC News - Singapore tackles jobs controversy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24697611

Singapore bus death triggers riot

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/9493463/Fatal-crash-sparks-riots-in-Singapore
The BBC's Ashleigh Nghie

Police in Singapore have made 27 arrests after hundreds of people took part in a riot sparked by the death of an Indian national.

Trouble started after the 33-year-old man was knocked down by a private bus in a district known as Little India.

About 400 people took to the streets, hurling railings at police and torching police cars and an ambulance.

At least 16 people were hurt, most of them police officers, before the violence was brought under control.

Police commissioner Ng Joo Hee said it was the first rioting in Singapore in more than 30 years.

He condemned the rioting as "intolerable, wanton violence". "It is not the Singapore way," he added.

Rioting in Singapore is punishable by up to seven years in prison plus caning.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that "whatever events may have sparked the rioting, there is no excuse for such violent, destructive, and criminal behaviour".

"We will spare no effort to identify the culprits and deal with them with the full force of the law," he said in a statement.

Correspondents say the outbreak of public disorder is rare in strictly governed Singapore.

The hi-tech, wealthy city-state depends heavily on guest workers, with labourers from South Asia dominating sectors like construction.

Many congregate in Little India on Sundays to shop, drink and socialise.

Pictures and videos posted in social media showed two police cars being overturned by the mob. Several private vehicles were also damaged.

 

Rioters overturned two police cars

 

Little India is home to Singapore's South Asian workforce

m: "The protesters were overcome with rage"

Right person for the right job, how and what to do?

MEASURE twice, cut once is a term often used by carpenters and tailors when measuring material for a specific purpose. The point is to be very careful and judicious when measuring to avoid nasty outcomes once the wood or material has been cut.

However, this phrase is just as appropriate for the hiring process as well. Once an employee is hired, the company has to ensure that the individual assimilates well into the organisation and achieves the desired level of performance; otherwise the remedial action that needs to be taken can be very tedious and even unpleasant.

One of the many pitfalls of this situation is that employers, under the pressure of filling a vacancy, could end up hiring individuals who may not be the best fit, and as a result, could be setting a whole series of messy events into motion.

Not too long ago, one of my clients approached us to take on a sales director search. The client shared that he had been a bit too hasty in hiring the last sales director, and had failed to dive deep into the strategic value and scope of the role before making the hiring decision.

In our post mortem discussion with the client, it was clear that he had hired an individual who might have been suitable for a sales manager's position; one level below the sales director's position, but had given him the sales director role because of urgency and the lack of suitable candidates at that time.

The unfortunate result of that scenario was that the newly-hired sales director resigned after only three weeks on the job under the pressure and scope of the work, leaving a path of chaos amongst all the company's clients and suppliers. As such, half-way into its financial year, the company was forced to start looking for another candidate for the sales director role.

In this instance, the company may have benefitted from measuring twice and cutting only once, rather than having to repeat the process of hiring for the same position after such a short period of time.

Other than experience, another critical-but-often-overlooked consideration in the recruitment process is the salary range or the package offered for the role. Salaries and wages are always moving in tandem with the demand of a particular skill-set or type of profile. The more in demand a particular type of skill is, the higher the cost of acquiring that skill.

Some organisations are willing to pay above market rates for certain key positions, as the alternative of not having someone in the role may actually cost the organisation more, from a commercial standpoint. On the other hand, there are some companies which would rather keep within a certain salary band rather than pay the market rate to an individual with the right amount of experience for the job.

From my experience, it is essential to have not only a good understanding of the market salaries but also what the candidate's realistic expectation is.

If we pay too high above the market rate, this often sets a very high expectation for this person to perform. And in some instances, if the individual is unable to deliver the expected results, the risk of paying an inflated price to acquire this individual might not have paid off; and if the company had hired someone less qualified because that was all its budget could afford, then the less-experienced individual may also not be able to deliver on the expectation, as he or she may not have the knowledge, capability or necessary life-experience to do so.

Finding a solution

How can we put the measure twice cut once concept into practice?

One innovative human resource director shared with me recently that he had been trying unsuccessfully to fill a role in his department for quite some time. During this period, he was introduced to an individual who was not an ideal fit to the role in terms of experience but one who was teachable and would be able to work well with the rest of the team.

So, he crafted a role around the individual's profile and experience and got the revised role approved by the top management. This worked out well for both the company and the individual, as the expectations set were achievable and realistic. The human resource director, in this case, had to measure twice but only had to cut once as he managed to find a solution to his problem. The solution turned out to be a good one, as the individual successfully completed her probation period and met her key performance indicators.

Another client who was looking for a managing director for his company was also forced to take a less conventional route to filling his needs. The client shared with me that he had already interviewed more than 20 candidates for this role before approaching us to assist with this search. The only candidate who was given an offer turned down the job when he was counter-offered by his current employer.

As such, the client already knew the market and we were hard-pressed to come up with a new slate of candidates for the search. The client liked one of our candidates but felt he wasn't ready to take on the role of managing director yet. However, instead of disregarding a good talent, the client decided to hire the individual as an operations director.

As such, the individual was able to grow into the managing director's role and the company would also have the benefit of securing a good talent who could potentially achieve more for the company in the future.

In this example, our client knew exactly what he needed for the role and exercised some flexibility to acquire good talent rather than missing out on a high-potential candidate. In addition, he did not compromise on his requirements but was able to see beyond the immediate need to find a managing director.

Different approach

When to measure and when to cut? An important aspect of measure twice cut once, is that the person doing the measuring needs to take the time to get it right and not be in too much of a hurry to get to the cutting stage. A carpenter or tailor is a craftsman who takes pride in his work. Therefore, when we hire, it is essential to look carefully at all aspects of the role which needs to be filled and take the time to understand how a potential candidate will fit that role.

The technical expertise or hard skills are only one part of the whole equation. We should take the time to understand the personality profile of the individual, his or her motivations and long-term goals.

Most hiring managers often forget to look at options in the recruitment process. There is a finite pool of talent and the best talents would also have been earmarked by your competitors as well.

So, instead of doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome, perhaps it's worth the effort to try a different approach. Tailor the job to fit a good talent, or give the person another role to allow time for the individual to grow into the intended position. Although we may not always have the option of changing the status quo in this way, the purpose of this article is to offer another alternative solution to the talent shortage problem, and hopefully, bring about a better outcome.

Talking HR with Pauline Ng

Pauline Ng, consulting director and head of BTI Consultants, encourages every hiring manager to explore all options and leave no stone unturned when making the decision to hire by utilising assessment tools and having a comprehensive map of the talent market.

Fresh graduates not suitable and are ‘liabilities’, said employers

KUALA LUMPUR: Employers consider fresh graduates liabilities as many require additional training before they can perform.

Companies would rather hire experienced and skilled professionals who can bring instant returns, said Kelly Services marketing director for Singapore and Malaysia Jeannie Khoo.

She said employers felt many fresh graduates lacked communication skills and had poor English and needed to improve before they could add value to the business.

“This means additional costs for the company. Employers are looking for people who can hit the ground running,” she said after launching the Kelly Services Professional and Technical Salary Guide 2012 here yesterday.

Khoo said the 27 polytechnics in the country generated thousands of skilled workers every year but many of them needed to be retrained by their employers.

She advised fresh graduates to be less choosy and to have realistic expectations on salary and remuneration.

“You are unlikely to earn RM3,000 in your first job.

“Be willing to learn. If you are offered an internship, take it,” she said.

Kelly Services Asia Pacific head of professional and technical, Mark Sparrow, said demand was growing for professionals with experience and niche skills.

He said there was a global shortage of talent in specialised areas of engineering, accountancy, technology and financial services.

“There is high demand for engineers, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Indonesia and Thailand which are rebuilding their cities following natural disasters,” he said.

He added the “hot jobs” in Malaysia included risk management specialists, construction and environment engineers, software development specialists and marketing and sales personnel who are fluent in English.

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

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