Employers have become more cautious in hiring in the second half of the year, with two in three planning to freeze recruitment altogether, according to a survey by local recruitment firm Achieve Group.<\/p>\n
For those who still need workers – 32 per cent of those surveyed – most are taking in only small numbers. This means an increase of no more than 5 per cent, according to 35 per cent of the employers, while 42 per cent declined to be specific.<\/p>\n
Some 18 per cent see employment growth of 5-10 per cent and another 5 per cent expect headcounts to be “more than 10 per cent” higher.<\/p>\n
Salary increases for the new staff will also be modest. Most – 41 per cent – of the employers hiring say they will offer increments of “less than 5 per cent”. Only 2 per cent are ready to up pay by 10-15 per cent.<\/p>\n
Achieve’s chief executive Joshua Yim says industries still looking for workers are property & construction, hospitality, retail and food & beverage, healthcare and pharmaceutical and professional services.<\/p>\n
Despite the overall caution in hiring, the survey finds local workers still hard to come by for many employers.<\/p>\n
An “alarming” 52 per cent of the employers surveyed are finding it tough to fill their vacancies with Singaporeans. They list three main reasons – Singaporeans are “too choosy” about their jobs; they demand “too high” salaries; and many don’t answer to job advertisements.<\/p>\n
The survey covered 450 employers in 9 industries – banking & finance; healthcare and pharmaceutical; IT telecommunications; hospitality, retail and F&B; shipping & logistics; industrial manufacturing & engineering; oil & gas; professional services; and property & construction.<\/p>\n
“Fewer organisations are intending to hire during this period (second half), with the majority appearing to take a wait-and-see stance before they commit to increasing their headcounts,” Mr Yim says.<\/p>\n
Given the “lingering” uncertain economic backdrop, Achieve’s survey shows 53 per cent of the employers looking to slower business growth of 2 per cent at most. The more upbeat ones projected growth of over 5 per cent, but they make up just 12 per cent of those surveyed.<\/p>\n
Still, only 2 per cent of the employers in the survey say they will take drastic actions to cut staff.<\/p>\n
But salaries are likely to stand still in the second half of the year – and 58 per cent of the employers indicate that’s their stand. Only 2 per cent are prepared to increase salaries by over 5 per cent.<\/p>\n
Source: The Business Times, 15 Aug 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Employers have become more cautious in hiring in the second half of the year, with two in three planning to freeze recruitment altogether, according to a survey by local recruitment firm Achieve Group. For those who still need workers – 32 per cent of those surveyed – most are taking in only small numbers. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24,29],"yoast_head":"\n