Singapore Jobs Market
07-01-2006, 06:07 PM
Poaching a concern as Singapore job market picks up: analysts
By Jeana Wong, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : An expected vibrant job market in Singapore this year is leading to concerns about poaching in some sectors.
Analysts and industry players say they expect strong foreign players to dip into Singapore's existing talent pool as they hire for growth, especially in the hospitality and financial sectors.
Singapore's job market is heating up as bosses and staff gear up for a bullish year.
Latest figures from the Manpower Ministry show that private sector job openings totalled some 20,000 in the third quarter of 2005, up 6 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Analysts expect the uptrend to continue through the first half of this year as more employers look set to be hiring.
However, there are concerns that many of the new hires, especially in up-and-coming financial sectors such as personal wealth management, will be poached.
Said Kwan Chee Wei, managing director of Watson Wyatt Singapore, "You've seen to date the number of foreign players that are coming into the market and overnight, setting up an organisation with fifty, a hundred private bankers who were financial planners. The question is, where are they going to come from? Naturally they will look from within the pool that exists in Singapore today."
This applies to front-line staff too.
Said Eugene Tan, area director (human resources) at Shangri-La Hotel, "It's a double-edged sword. We want the economy to pick up; at the same time, we know people will start hiring. We're going to lose staff to other industries, to other hotels, and that will set us back again in terms of recruitment processes and all that. Taking in people for the hotel industry, especially the front-liners is going to be quite tough."
To stem the outflow, especially in the service industry, analysts say it is crucial to help workers see their jobs as a profession with advancement potential.
Those in hospitality say salaries and benefits in the sector are already competitive.
But they are worried about the entry of competitors with bigger financial muscle come 2009, when the integrated resorts open.
Mr Tan said, "Some of the big boys are going to start their own employee concierge. In a way I'm glad that they are coming in because that will push HR management one step higher. Environment plays an important part. The way you treat the staff within your own organisation is important because sometimes salary is not the thing."
Some hoteliers estimate that industry staff turnover hovers around 6 percent of the total employees.
They expect that one in ten staff member will be new hires as the economy picks up. - CNA /ct
By Jeana Wong, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : An expected vibrant job market in Singapore this year is leading to concerns about poaching in some sectors.
Analysts and industry players say they expect strong foreign players to dip into Singapore's existing talent pool as they hire for growth, especially in the hospitality and financial sectors.
Singapore's job market is heating up as bosses and staff gear up for a bullish year.
Latest figures from the Manpower Ministry show that private sector job openings totalled some 20,000 in the third quarter of 2005, up 6 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Analysts expect the uptrend to continue through the first half of this year as more employers look set to be hiring.
However, there are concerns that many of the new hires, especially in up-and-coming financial sectors such as personal wealth management, will be poached.
Said Kwan Chee Wei, managing director of Watson Wyatt Singapore, "You've seen to date the number of foreign players that are coming into the market and overnight, setting up an organisation with fifty, a hundred private bankers who were financial planners. The question is, where are they going to come from? Naturally they will look from within the pool that exists in Singapore today."
This applies to front-line staff too.
Said Eugene Tan, area director (human resources) at Shangri-La Hotel, "It's a double-edged sword. We want the economy to pick up; at the same time, we know people will start hiring. We're going to lose staff to other industries, to other hotels, and that will set us back again in terms of recruitment processes and all that. Taking in people for the hotel industry, especially the front-liners is going to be quite tough."
To stem the outflow, especially in the service industry, analysts say it is crucial to help workers see their jobs as a profession with advancement potential.
Those in hospitality say salaries and benefits in the sector are already competitive.
But they are worried about the entry of competitors with bigger financial muscle come 2009, when the integrated resorts open.
Mr Tan said, "Some of the big boys are going to start their own employee concierge. In a way I'm glad that they are coming in because that will push HR management one step higher. Environment plays an important part. The way you treat the staff within your own organisation is important because sometimes salary is not the thing."
Some hoteliers estimate that industry staff turnover hovers around 6 percent of the total employees.
They expect that one in ten staff member will be new hires as the economy picks up. - CNA /ct