Jobs Situation Report 19th Edition

WSG helped over 10,000 employers get new staff or transform jobs

1. The 19th Jobs Situation Report (JSR) focuses on recruitment strategies employers can implement to boost their manpower efforts, as well as the avenues put in place by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) to help employers overcome their hiring challenges.

More Support for Employers during Pandemic

2. In 2020, WSG and its partners – unions, agencies and employers – placed close to 55,000 locals into jobs, traineeships and attachments. This is complemented by efforts that were ramped up to support employers. As a result, WSG helped over 10,000 employers from a broad range of sectors. About half of them are from the following 10 sectors:

• Construction
• Education
• Financial Services
• Food Services
• ICT and Media
• Logistics
• Precision Engineering
• Professional Services
• Retail
• Wholesale Trade

3. These efforts include increasing outreach activities, expanding career conversion programmes, and introducing job transformation programmes to help them meet their changing manpower needs. The following table summarises the impact of these efforts.

Recruitment Strategies that Work

4. The 18th JSR had focused on jobseekers and how WSG and NTUC’s e2i helped them overcome barriers to accessing job opportunities. However, employers too face common challenges during the hiring process. This edition of the JSR examines recruitment strategies that can help employers overcome such challenges.

(A) Beyond plug-and-play: investing in skills top-up

5. Employers tend to believe that the jobseekers must have the full set of requisite skills to be ready for the job and generally prefer the “plug-and-play” approach, seeking experienced jobseekers who can hit the ground running. However, skills shortages in emerging areas will often mean that demand outstrips supply, resulting in unfilled vacancies even as wages spike.

6. Employers need to consider reviewing their approach. Many government schemes help with training, which allow them to expand the pool of recruits, including mid-career individuals. In many cases, these transitions are not too difficult. Mid-career jobseekers have transferable skills; with appropriate skills top-up, they can be effective in new roles.

(B) Beyond wages: transforming jobs into careers

7. Jobseekers often have higher aspirations that go beyond remuneration. They desire jobs with clear progression pathways, and which allow them to build a meaningful career with positive impact on society. Many also want better work-life balance. Employers who adapt to these aspirations tend to have better recruitment success.

8. To improve their appeal to jobseekers, employers can consider:
(i) Redesigning job roles and emphasising their impact to society;
(ii) Articulating their plans to achieve business success; and
(iii) Highlighting how they share gains and invest in people.

9. By transforming jobs into careers and adapting to current aspirations, not only will employers attract the talent they need, they also retain employees and increase productivity.

(C) Rethinking Job Descriptions

10. The strategies outlined in (A) and (B) constitute a two-prong approach to become more attractive employers. However, these efforts can be negated by ineffective job postings.

11. To get better responses from job applicants, employers can rethink:
(i) Welcoming applicants from other sectors or occupations;
(ii) Stating upfront training provision to bridge skills gaps;
(iii) Appropriate years of experience required, especially for entry-level roles;
(iv) Articulating the responsibilities and impact of the role on the company (or society at large);
(v) Highlighting the company’s culture (including any flexible working arrangements) as well as long-term vision and goals.

12. Consider the following two examples of job postings found on MyCareersFuture portal for a front office executive role. Despite Hotel B having offered a lower salary range, they were able to attract more applicants compared to Hotel A. This could be due to Hotel B’s willingness to provide on-the-job training, its detailed articulation of the role’s purpose and responsibilities, and its open-ness towards different skillsets.

On the Road to Successful Business Transformation

13. As our economy continues to undergo restructuring, existing jobs will be transformed, and new ones will be created. We will push on with our efforts to help employers fill new vacancies and support them in transforming their existing workforce to meet new needs.

14. Employers can also sustain their business growth in the long term by looking beyond immediate manpower challenges to transform operations and improve job quality for workers. This creates a virtuous cycle where employers are able to create high quality jobs that not only attract new talents but also retain good workers who have been with the company for a long time.

15. Take PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road for example, a more than 40-year-old hotel that used the downtime to rejuvenate its establishment, enhance guest experience and increase productivity and efficiency in their day-to-day operations through technology. This includes reducing the average daily manhours taken for the housekeeping and maintenance teams to check on the guestrooms (including room cleaning and laundry) from 12.5 hours to 2.5 hours with the use of their new Inncom System.

16. Besides transforming its hardware, the hotel also used the opportunity to transform and invest in its “heartware” – its jobs and people. Tapping on the Job Redesign Reskilling Programme for Hotel industry, PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road redesigned their jobs and trained their staff so that they are well-equipped with relevant skillsets to assume the enhanced and tech-enabled roles confidently. They also implemented robust change management and ensured that their workers understand and assimilate the purpose of the transformation and the hotel’s vision and goals.

17. By marrying both business and workforce transformations, the hotel was able to mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic and overcome their manpower crunch for the long term as 35% of their workers are now skilled in multiple functions and ready to be deployed to where demands are. The hotel aims to have their staff fully multi-skilled and versatile with their job scope whilst extending their career runway and increasing their job satisfaction.

18. One of them is 32-year-old Operations Executive, Jonathan Chan who now has more time for guest interactions as the amount of paperwork has reduced with the implementation paperless check-in solutions. With the strong support of his team leader, Gobi, Jonathan was able to pick up new skills from the ground up. Despite the industry having been badly hit by the pandemic, Jonathan decided to stay as he enjoyed his frontline role in hospitality and sees potential to grow. No two days are the same and he gets to interact with people from all walks of life and share his love for Singapore with them.

19. As the global landscape and industries continue to transform amid the pandemic, we hope more will emulate employers like PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road. We will continue to step up our efforts to help employers meet their manpower needs while responding to the new challenges coming our way.

For More Information

20. To find out more about:
a. WSG’s workshops for employers, please call WSG’s hotline at 6883 5885.
b. WSG’s programmes and career advisory and matching services, please visit www.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/careercoaching (QR code below) or call WSG’s hotline at 6883 5885.
c. Upcoming engagement and outreach events organised by WSG and NTUC’s e2i, jobseekers can visit https://www.ssg-wsg.gov.sg/events.html or https://e2i.com.sg/events/.
d. Tips and advice to sharpen and streamline hiring process, please visit www.content.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/category/employers-toolkit.