Degree-holders easier to get retrenched. True?

• Rock^Star

  27 Apr 10, 08:34

  What do you think? Now there's globalisation and open doors by the govt. Some tan ah kow degree in some remote part of india may beat your NUS degree; cheaper some more. Song bo?

  Posted by theonlinecitizen on April 26, 2010 7 Comments

  
  

  I refer to the report “More jobs saved as Singapore emerged from recession“ (Channel News Asia, Apr 26).

  According to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Redundancy and Re-employment report 2009:

  - Redundancies increased from 8,590 in 2007 to 16,880 and 23,430 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, an increase of 97 and 39 per cent respectively.

  - Retrenchments increased from 7,680 in 2007 to 13,920 and 20,160 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, an increase of 81 and 45 per cent respectively.

  - Professionals, Managers, Executives & Technicians (PMETs) saw the largest increase both in absolute and percentage terms, from 6,200 in 2008 to 9,570 in 2009 (rise from 37% to 41%).

  - The Redundancies by Occupation, 1998 to 2009, shows that for PMETs, it was the highest for the last 12 years.

  Since the data shown only goes back to 1998, I believe it may be a record historical high.

  So, the more educated and qualified you are, the easier it may be for you to get retrenched.

  The share of Redundancies and Retrenchments was also much higher for Residents compared to Non-residents, at 61.9 to 38.1 per cent for Redundancies, and 68 to 32 per cent for Retrenchments in 2009.

  So, residents (Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs)) had a much higher chance of being retrenched, relative to foreigners.

  For the Profile of Residents Made Redundant by Educational Attainment, those with a Degree was the highest at 32.1 per cent.

  So, people with degrees were the most likely to be made redundant.

  The Re-employment Rate Among Retrenched Workers has been falling from 78.7 per cent in January 08 to 50 per cent in December 09, with January 09 being the lowest point at 43.2 per cent.

  The Re-employment Rate of those with a degree was the lowest in 2009 at 61.2 per cent.

  Therefore, those with a degree, also had the greatest difficulty in getting re-employed.

  So, has all the rhetoric over the years, to re-train, re-skill, upgrade our qualifications, been worth it?

  To what extent has our liberal foreign labour policies contributed to the woes of PMETs?

  Well, let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of an employer.

  If we employ a foreign PMET at a monthly salary of say $4,500, we save $652.50 on CPF contributions a month plus annual bonuses, as employers do not have to make CPF contributions for foreign workers.

  Employers do not have to pay foreign worker levies for foreign PMETs on employment passes. Only S-Pass and work permit holders need to pay foreign worker levies.

  If we employ a male PMET, we don’t have to be inconvenienced by the up to 40 days of reservist training a year.

  Since foreigner PMETs on employment passes which are typically for two years, we may have less turnover problems, as foreign PMETs may be less likely to switch jobs.

  Foreign PMETs from countries with lower wages and cost of living, may generally be willing to work for lower wages.

  They may also generally have no families to support in Singapore, like Singaporeans.

  So, quite often, perhaps it is foreign PMETs who may be “cheaper, better and faster” than Singaporeans.

  With the NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) calling for the restoration of CPF, the savings to employers who employ foreigners may increase even more.

  With about 140,000 new PRs and about 40,000 new citizens in the last two years, the statistics on foreign PMETs may gradually disappear, and become “locals” (Singaporeans and PRs) statistics.

  Leong Sze Hian

   

• charlize

  27 Apr 10, 10:24

  They already told you.

   

  As long as you can be cheaper, better and faster, you will get a job.

• noahnoah

  27 Apr 10, 10:27

  Originally posted by charlize:

  They already told you.

   

  As long as you can be cheaper, better and faster, you will get a job.

  
  maybe local degree holders too exp to be hired

  therefore they got for overseas degree holder?

  Cheaper, better and faster?

• Arapahoe

  27 Apr 10, 10:32

  i think once you hit 40 and above its consider high risk....

  this is a country without Middle age man.

• dare82

  27 Apr 10, 11:12

  Haha then force CDC and MPS to give you job lor!

  The govt should be made responsible for one's joblessness if not more social problems would result.

• CheckmateA1

  27 Apr 10, 15:40

  
  

  (photo credits:seeyongfeng)

  Of Ph.D. taxi drivers and the aging conundrum

  Written on 18. Sep, 2009
  By Timothy Neo in Opinions

  SINGAPORE – He records his exploits and experiences in his blog. His story has a compelling twist to it. Holding a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and a protege under a Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine, he was supposedly at the prime of his scientific career until he was forced out of his job at the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology. He searched for other jobs until deciding on one ultimately – driving a taxi. He has attracted a fair bit of attention thus far with his engaging style of writing, and some readers of his blog even finished reading all his entries.

  He is none other than Dr Cai Mingjie. Some would agree that taxi driving should be viewed as a respectable profession, but no intended disrespect to Dr Cai, it seems he is over-qualified for the job. Nonetheless, one would suspect that he seems to love his new lease of life as a taxi driver, where he is set free from strife of lab politics, and is relishing his new experience. At one instance, he even remarked that a taxi driver is exposed to the real, honest side of his customers because there is no need for the latter to cover his inside with a shell of pretense.

  Yet, Dr Cai epitomizes only the tip of the iceberg of the problem in which individuals are over-qualified for their jobs. The aging conundrum contributes to the problem. A survey by the Swiss banking giant UBS found that Singapore is set to be the world’s third-fastest ageing nation, as the proportion of those aged 65 and above will double to 20 per cent in 2020. Life expectancy has reached an all time high, but at the same time, standards of living has increased. According to a study conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit, Singapore is the 10th most expensive city to live in.

  The problem is further compounded by biased hiring practices which favors younger candidates over older ones. It will be difficult for these older candidates to land a job that commensurate with their qualifications, which they took on during their prime. In the end, they will be left with no choice but to take on jobs that they are over-qualified for in order to sustain their surviving years.

  The expansion of the educational market means that more people will have the opportunity to earn a degree, unlike during the yesteryears when it was so much harder to win a place in the universities. Nowadays, it is possible to obtain the degree of a well-known university without the need to step on its main campus. Such universities offer their degree programs in satellite campuses based overseas. With increased opportunities for further studies, graduates are now a dime a dozen. It wouldn’t be surprising if one walks on a street within a prime area, and ask 10 random persons if they ever possessed a university degree, and about half of them will say yes. Yet the question is will all of these graduates be able to land a job whose required qualifications commensurate with their degrees? As these graduates age, the likelihood of landing such jobs decreases.

  The combined effects of high life expectancy, high costs of living and biased hiring practices towards candidates will create a scenario in which aging personnel will be left with no choice but to turn to jobs that they are over-qualified for in order to sustain themselves for the rest of their lives. This situation will become more and more common in the foreseeable future.

  http://kentridgecommon.com/

• Rock^Star

  27 Apr 10, 16:00

  There must be protectionist policies despite the globalization happening around us. For example, aviation authorities around the world protect their skies and will not easily allow other countries' airlines to replicate their routes.

  Imagine CAAS allows hungry airlines like Air Asia to replicate SIA's routes, then SIA eat what sia. Jiak cao I think. Likewise, even though this world is facing dynamic changes, we cannot just allow any tom, dick or harry to work in Singapore. Having more of them would boost domestic consumption and of course the KEY govt performance indicator for PAP - the GDP. But this would have devastating perpetual effects of suppressing the salaries of the poor to middle class. It is something which no govt in the world can ever reverse once the damage is done.

  And in sg here, the damage has already been done. It will never be reversed. A fresh engineer grad today may take $3k but his salary will not have moved much even after 10 years. Why? Because of the influx of cheapo foreigners with similar degrees of sorts. The damage has been done.

• Lokey

  27 Apr 10, 19:07

   I think Singapore is getting more and more inhabitable 

• eugene_ang

  27 Apr 10, 19:44

  It is also true that eventually the PAP will get voted out

• TTFU

  27 Apr 10, 21:04

  I know its easier to find jobs as degree holders of course....

• Fcukpap

  27 Apr 10, 21:14

  nothing is as easier to get retrenched than the word "ATTITUDE" 

• CheckmateA1

  28 Apr 10, 05:49

  PMETs see largest increase in number of workers made redundant

  Temasek Review

  According to the 2009 Redundancy and Re-employment report released by MOM’s Research and Statistics Department, Professionals, Managers, Executives & Technicians (PMETs) saw the largest increase in the number of workers made redundant from 6,200 in 2008 to 9,570 in 2009.

  This represent an increase of 3,570 workers in absolute numbers or a rise from 37 to 41 percent.

  Production & related workers saw 11,330 or 48% made redundant, while clerical, sales & service workers saw 2,530 or 11% laid off.

  The same report also found that re-employment had improved after hitting a low in the middle of the year, though re-employment for the year was still lower than in 2008.

  The reasons for the high percentage of PMETs being laid off were not revealed, it is likely due to the easy availability of foreign workers in the Singapore labor market.

  In other countries like Australia and New Zealand, there are strict labor laws in place governing the hiring of foreigners who can only be employed in sectors where there is an acute shortage of local workers.

  In Singapore, foreigners are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them such as the PMETs.

  There is a scheme called the EPEC which allows foreign graduates from approved universities overseas to stay in Singapore up to a year to look for a job.

  More shockingly, English is not a basic requirement for foreigners seeking jobs in Singapore unlike in other English-speaking nations which require them to pass a basic English proficiency test like IELTS.

  Contact Singapore, a government agency even sent its officials to Taiwan lately to recruit a few thousand Taiwanese PMETs to work in Singapore.

  Despite rising disgruntlement on the ground, the PAP continues to insist that foreigners are “essential” to Singapore.

  Singaporeans are repeatedly exhorted by PAP leaders to compete with foreigners as the government cannot “shield” them from global competition.

   

• CheckmateA1

  28 Apr 10, 05:51

  Lim Swee Say “happy” that employers not rejecting his proposal to restore CPF contributions

  http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/04/22/lim-swee-say-happy-that-employers-not-rejecting-his-proposal-to-restore-cpf-contributions/

   

  Lim Swee Say “heartened” that employers did not disagree with need to increase CPF rates

  http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/04/26/lim-swee-say-heartened-that-employers-did-not-disagree-with-need-to-increase-cpf-rates/

• CheckmateA1

  28 Apr 10, 05:56

  Foreign worker who needs help in spoken English working as “accounts executive” in Singapore

  http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/01/14/myanmar-national-with-poor-command-of-english-working-as-accounts-executive-in-singapore/