Singapore Inc In The War For Talent
Continued global volatility may appear to be the order of the day, but the bullish confidence of Asia Pacific companies in their own performances has manifested in a war for talent.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global CEO Survey 2012, around 55 per cent of APAC chief executives surveyed anticipated increasing company headcount over the next three years – even as 70 per cent admit that hiring has become more difficult in the past 12 months.
This war for talent is beginning to have a quantifiable impact on companies in the region
Approximately 70 per cent of CEOs have had to cancel strategic initiatives in the last year due to talent shortage.
The same percentage of CEOs report that talent costs have risen beyond expectations.
These immediate pressures are worsened by a growing need for agile company leaders who can navigate a volatile environment and drive growth through a period of fast-paced change.
Having their skills in such high demand gives top performers greater mobility in an otherwise moribund employment market, causing companies to lose talent they can ill-afford to let go.
Given this unpromising scenario, Singapore – with its wide exposure to international markets and constant under-supply of human capital – is likely to be affected.
But while the situation certainly presents risks, it also holds opportunities that can unfold over the long-term, offering the country a way to upgrade itself into the truly innovative business environment it desires to be.
BRINGING BACK JOBS CREDIT?
Driving talent to key sectors is one of the most important concerns, and the Singapore Government can take the lead by defining specific initiatives that target the 12 priority sectors identified in 2010.
These sectors, which include healthcare, construction, retail and electronics, are the main focus for the Ministry of Manpower’s Productivity Taskforce, and it makes sense that any incentives announced in this year’s Budget should be directed towards enhancing growth in these industries.
As an example, it was reported in The Business Times that small-to-medium enterprises are hoping for the return of the Jobs Credit Scheme (JCS) in this year’s Budget.
Introduced in 2009 and withdrawn in 2010, the initiative offered cash grants to employers to help preserve jobs in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
If it returns, the JCS could be more tightly focused on the 12 priority sectors, and align itself closely with other government initiatives aimed at driving growth, such as tax subsidies for training or productivity measures.
A bolder combination of training and cash grants could be borrowed from European nations, where the government subsidises employees’ salaries while the latter work fewer hours per week and undergo training to increase their employability.
REGIONAL EXPOSURE FOR LOCAL TALENT
Broadening the definition of training and development could also address the productivity imperative and the search for leadership.
Without the necessary overseas experience, few Singaporeans are able to take on regional leadership roles.
At the same time, certain sectors of the economy like manufacturing are experiencing a slowdown, leading to lower productivity levels.
With financial support from the Government – such as lowered tax rates – companies can direct their local talent towards growing markets in the region.
The employees sent overseas benefit in terms of individual development, while the Singapore-based companies enjoy higher productivity and strengthen their regional outreach.
In addition, another’s loss can be Singapore’s gain.
Although companies’ instinctive tendency in hard times is to cut costs by reducing investments in development and human capital, Singapore-based enterprises can get ahead by enticing under-utilised or under-rewarded talent to its shores, as the West continues to grapple with instability and high unemploy-ment.
When the long-anticipated upturn arrives, it will do so quickly – and companies that have been proactive in talent investment will find themselves ready to take advantage of it, while their competitors scramble to locate new hires with the right skill-sets.
GETTING INNOVATIVE
Long-term growth for Singapore can only come from innovation, and the talent crisis presents a good opportunity to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs.
In a volatile global environment, traditional industries such as financial services respond by scaling back their hiring of fresh graduates.
The 2008 downturn saw the Government offering incentives to companies to continue hiring young talent, in the form of training subsidies and matching programmes.
These incentives continue to be useful, but they should run alongside a gamut of initiatives aimed at developing local entrepreneurship.
One suggestion is that the Government offer some form of a safety net around failure by linking investors up with small companies, or providing partial investments and incentives that reduce the risk to entrepreneurs’ pockets.
At the same time, the cultural conversation regarding risk needs to be shifted, possibly through a campaign profiling leaders or business people who have taken risks, failed and bounced back.
Building a similar resilience in budding entrepreneurs is essential.
If cultural perceptions regarding risk and failure do not evolve, cohort after cohort of Singaporean students will continue to opt for traditional career routes over more innovative paths.
THE MIT INSPIRATION
On this note, coordination between the Government, industries and higher education institutions should be enhanced, particularly in fields belonging to the 12 priority sectors such as clean energy and nursing.
For inspiration, Singapore can look to colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the first American institutions to collaborate with companies and government departments in creating successful ideas and products.
Even after graduation, mentorship programmes like the Global Accelerator Network – a partner of The Startup America Initiative – have worked successfully to translate students’ ideas into real-world start-ups.
Through such programmes, fresh graduates turned entrepreneurs gain valuable guidance in areas like marketing and investor communication.
While the Singapore Institute of Technology has taken the right step in bringing in partners like the Technological University of Munich, more can always be done to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of younger generations.
If all these efforts are undertaken successfully, Singapore will make the next leap to become an innovative, entrepreneurial city – and a top draw for talent all over the world.
Thorsten Barth is a director and Abu Amin is a senior manager in the HR Consulting practice at PwC LLP Singapore.
Today Online
Economy Grew 4.9% In 2011
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s economy shrank less than initially estimated last quarter as a surge in pharmaceutical production supported manufacturing at the year end.
Gross domestic product fell an annualised 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from the previous three months, less than an initial estimate of a 4.9 per cent decline, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a report this morning. Non-oil domestic exports will probably rise 3 to 5 per cent in 2012, the trade promotion agency said in a separate statement, reiterating an earlier forecast.
For the whole of the year, the economy grew by 4.9 per cent, after a 14.8 per cent expansion in 2010.
MTI also maintained the growth forecast for 2012 at 1 to 3 per cent.
GDP increased 3.6 per cent from a year earlier last quarter, after rising a revised 6 per cent the previous three months. The expansion matched the January estimate.
“There seems to be some near-term stabilisation signs but it should not be taken as a concrete signal of sustained demand,” Mizuho Corporate Bank economist Vishnu Varathan said before the report. “As fiscal austerity plans in the euro zone intensify and with Greece still on the edge, we don’t want to call a premature dawn.”
Singapore’s manufacturing rose 9.2 per cent from a year earlier in the three months ended Dec 31, after climbing a revised 13.7 per cent in the third quarter, the MTI said today.
However, the manufacturing sector contracted by 11.1 per cent on-quarter, compared to an 11-per-cent increase in the previous quarter.
The services industry grew 2.1 per cent last quarter from a year earlier, after gaining a revised 3.6 per cent in the previous three months.
The construction sector grew by 2.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a slight improvement from the 2.4 per cent growth in the preceding quarter. On a sequential basis, the sector contracted by 2.2 per cent (annualised) due to a decline in private residential and commercial building activities.
The wholesale & retail trade and transportation & storage sectors registered relatively weak growth of 0.9 and 2.4 per cent, respectively, on a year-on-year basis.
Growth in the finance & insurance and business services sectors were modest, at 3.5 and 1.9 per cent respectively on a year-on-year basis.
On a sequential basis, the finance and insurance sector declined by annualised 4.4 per cent, dragged down by poor performance in the sentiment-sensitive segments such as fund management and stock broking.
Credit Suisse economist Wu Kun Lung said of the MTI report: “Financial services were the main drag in the fourth quarter in terms of quarter-on-quarter growth, and also transport and storage. Both are quite tied to the global trade cycle. The financial market was very volatile at that time as well.
“But if there is a recession, it will be a mild and short one.” AGENCIES
Today Online
Workers’ Party Expels Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong
TNP FILE PHOTO
By
Andrea Ong
After weeks of insisting it would not respond to rumours, the Workers’ Party on Wednesday booted out Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong for not coming clean on his alleged extramarital affairs.
With that dramatic gesture, the party made history for being the first to expel an MP from its ranks, thereby ousting him out of his seat, as required by the Constitution.
Talk now swirls on a looming by-election. But Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on whom the decision rests, made it plain last night he would not be so easily moved by a chain of events that was the WP’s own doing. ‘The WP has let down the voters of Hougang,’ he said, adding that an election was a serious matter and he would have to consider the matter carefully first.
Background story
REFUSAL TO ACCOUNT HAS BROKEN TRUST
‘Shin Leong has been accused of several indiscretions in his private life. By continuing not to account to the party and the people, especially the residents of Hougang, he has broken the faith, trust and expectations of the party and people.’
Workers’ Party statement
Background story
PM: WP HAS LET HOUGANG VOTERS DOWN
‘An election is a very serious matter. We have just had a general election less than a year ago.
‘Now the Hougang single member constituency seat is vacant, as a result of what Mr Yaw Shin Leong has done, and the way the Workers’ Party (WP) has handled the matter. The WP has let down the voters of Hougang.
‘On whether and when to hold a by-election in Hougang, I will consider the matter carefully. There are many other issues on the national agenda right now. Under the law, there is no fixed time within which I must call a by-election.’
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in response to media queries on the WP’s expulsion of Mr Yaw, and when he might call for a by-election in Hougang
PRIME
At a media conference on Wednesday, WP leaders said they made the painful decision to expel Mr Yaw as he had fallen short of the party’s expectations of transparency and accountability in its members.
Straits Times
Electric Cigarette Explodes In Man’s Mouth
A man trying to kick the smoking habit was puffing on an electronic cigarette when a faulty battery caused it to explode in his mouth, taking out some of his front teeth and a chunk of his tongue and severely burning his face, fire officials said on Wednesday. — PHOTO: AFP
PENSACOLA, Florida (AP) – A man trying to kick the smoking habit was puffing on an electronic cigarette when a faulty battery caused it to explode in his mouth, taking out some of his front teeth and a chunk of his tongue and severely burning his face, fire officials said on Wednesday.
‘The best analogy is like it was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off,’ said Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department. ‘The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire.’
Officials have not publicly identified him, citing fire department policy. But a Facebook page under the name of 57-year-old Tom Holloway was filled with well-wishers commenting on the injury and database searches matched his address on the fire report with his name.
Mr Holloway was in his office at home when the device exploded, leaving behind burned chair cushions, pictures, carpet and office equipment. A scorched battery case found on a piece of melted carpet appears to be one for a cigar-sized device, the report said.
Straits Times
Expelling Yaw ‘Right Move, But Party Could Have Done More Earlier’
Mr Yaw Shin Leong and his wife leaving after his Meet-the-People session in Hougang on Feb 8. Opposition watcher Wong Wee Nam said Mr Yaw could have saved his political career by coming clean after rumours surfaced that he has had an extramarital affair. — ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
By
Janice Heng & Rachel Chang
The Workers’ Party’s (WP) expulsion of former Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong is the right move, but more could have been done earlier, said political observers on Wednesday.
‘Yaw could have saved his career by coming clean after the rumours started,’ opposition watcher Wong Wee Nam told The Straits Times.
Last month, rumours surfaced about Mr Yaw having had an extramarital affair.
Mr Yaw and the WP – from its ordinary members to its top leadership – repeatedly declined to comment, though Mr Yaw stepped down from his party’s central executive committee on Feb 7.
Straits Times
WP Chief Low Thia Khiang Back To Woo Hougang Again
Mr Low Thia Khiang speaking to reporters after a Meet-the-People session in Hougang last night. Over half of 40 Hougang residents polled on Wednesday still support the WP. — ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
By
Teo Wan Gek & Lee Xin En
The opposition stalwart who won Hougang in 1991 and left it in the safekeeping of his protege – only to have him expelled from the party just nine months after being elected – went back to his old homeground on Wednesday night.
A ripple of excitement went through the crowd of close to 60 who had gathered at the Meet-the-People Session of former Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong when they recognised the familiar frame of Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang.
Amid shouts of ‘Workers’ Party!’, Mr Low arrived at his old stomping ground in a show of unity after finishing his own MPS at neighbouring Aljunied GRC at 9.40pm.
Straits Times
Temasek Review Emeritus Website Unveils One Of Its Editors
Mr Wan (centre) speaking at the TOC/TRE Faceoff public forum yesterday together with Mr Philemon (left). Mr Kien M. Lee, founder and managing director of lifestyle website Senatus, acted as the forum’s moderator. — ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
By
Tessa Wong
One of the people behind Temasek Review Emeritus (TRE), a socio-political website known for its anti-establishment views, appeared in public for the first time on Wednesday.
Mr Richard Wan, a 49-year-old director of an IT company, is one of five editors running TRE, and is the only one based in Singapore.
He was one of two speakers at a public forum on Wednesday on how they run their websites. The other is Mr Ravi Philemon, editor of socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC). Called TOC/TRE Faceoff, the event was organised as part of Social Media Week, which is a series of social media talks and activities.
Mr Wan writes some of the articles on TRE and helps moderate comments.
Straits Times
WP Has Let Hougang Voters Down: PM Lee Hsien Loong
The Workers’ Party (WP) has let down the voters of Hougang in its handling of Mr Yaw Shin Leong’s alleged extramarital affair, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday. — ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
By
Janice Heng
The Workers’ Party (WP) has let down the voters of Hougang in its handling of Mr Yaw Shin Leong’s alleged extramarital affair, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday.
Mr Yaw was the WP’s MP for Hougang constituency until his expulsion from the party on Wednesday left the seat vacant.
Under the law, the Prime Minister decides whether to call a by-election. Mr Lee said he would consider the issue carefully.
‘Now, the Hougang SMC (single-member constituency) seat is vacant, as a result of what Mr Yaw Shin Leong has done, and the way the WP has handled the matter,’ he said in a statement to the media.
Straits Times
Yaw Shin Leong: Chequered Record Filled With Missteps
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: (Above, from left) Mr Yaw, Mr Low and Ms Lim meeting voters before the polls last year. He was introduced as a candidate with Ms Angela Oon, who was running in Nee Soon GRC, just before the elections. — ST FILE PHOTOS
By
Kor Kian Beng
After he filed his nomination papers for last May’s General Election, expelled Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong used a Hokkien phrase to describe himself – ‘pang sim’.
It means someone reliable that others can count on.
In recent weeks, however, his Workers’ Party (WP) colleagues probably felt he was anything but that, as embarrassing allegations of his extramarital affairs threatened to drag all of them down.
Background story
YAW’S UPS AND DOWNS
2000: Graduates with a political science degree from National University of Singapore. Volunteers briefly in former Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong’s Singapore People’s Party
June 2001: Joins Workers’ Party (WP)
November 2001: Is fielded on the WP team in Aljunied GRC but the group is disqualified because of a slip-up in their nomination forms
2001-2005: Serves as a legislative assistant for WP chief and then-Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang
May 2006: Leads the WP’s ‘suicide squad’ of mostly young candidates in Ang Mo Kio GRC against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) team. Appointed WP organising secretary a month later
May 2008: Criticised for revealing he had voted in 2006 for PAP’s Dr Teo Ho Pin, not Singapore Democratic Party’s Mr Ling How Doong
May 2011: Contests and wins Hougang constituency
June 2011: Takes over WP’s treasurer post vacated by former leader Eric Tan
Jan 2012: Allegations of extramarital affairs surface on the Internet. Repeatedly refuses to comment
Feb 7, 2012: Quits as treasurer but remains a party member
Feb 15, 2012: WP announces decision to expel him from the party for failing to be transparent and accountable to the party and his constituents.
They finally decided that, far from being reliable, he was a liability, and so turfed him out of the party on Tuesday.
Straits Times
Man Jailed 5 Years For $2.5 Million Study Loan Scam
Between 2006 and 2009, Go Boon Chai, 38, went on to cheat three banks of a total of $2.5 million. The former education agent was jailed five years for cheating. He had pleaded guilty two weeks ago. — PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
By
Khushwant Singh
He went to take up a business management course at Brookes Business School but learnt how to obtain fraudulent study loans. Between 2006 and 2009, Go Boon Chai, 38, went on to cheat three banks of a total of $2.5 million.
It was payback time on Thursday. The former education agent was jailed five years for cheating. He had pleaded guilty two weeks ago.
A district court then heard that sometime before November 2006, the advertising assistant went to sign up for a business management course at Brookes. Go asked to pay the fees in instalments and the school’s principal then, Benny Yap Chee Mun, 41, is said to have suggested he apply for a study loan instead. Court documents also state that Yap provided him with documents that inflated his course fees.
Go applied for two $20,500 study loans and was able to get $12,000 from RHB Bank and $15,500 from Citibank. These were paid to Brookes. Yap kept $9,000 and gave $18,500 to Go. It is not known if there was any payment of course fees.
Straits Times