Record 15,360 job vacancies unfilled: MOM

Clivebenss SG

THE Ministry of Manpower released its annual Job Vacancies Report on Friday which showed that employers last year (2010) struggled to fill a record level of jobs for extended periods.

The number of job vacancies left unfilled for at least six months soared to a five-year high of 15,360 in September last year - a 51.5 per cent spike from the 10,140 a year ago.

Four in five of these unfilled job vacancies were looking for rank-and-file workers, with the remaining 19 per cent catered for white-collar workers - mirroring a trend also seen in 2009.

The MOM said the spike in unfilled job openings was due to the four-year high of 50,200 total job vacancies in last September - a 36 per cent jump from the 36,900 a year ago.

Most of the job openings last year, or 75.4 per cent, were found in services, while manufacturing contributed 17.1 per cent and construction 6.6 per cent.

The total job vacancy growth, said the MOM, was a result of the rapid and robust economic recovery, which grew by 14.7 per cent last year, compared to a 2 per cent contraction in 2009. The economy is expected to expand by 4 to 6 per cent this year (2011).

Clivebenss SG

75.4 per cent, were found in services = table cleaning?

Mr Milo SG

charlize could start a business to monopolize this gap

the Bear SG

how many lost their jobs at the same time?

Clivebenss SG

the Bear SG

also, i know how to massage the figures...

those whose contracts are up.. sort of like.. contract cleaners... are hired again...

each one is "one vacancy" filled

FBFIce SG

did i step on some bullshit?

the Bear SG

did i step on some bullshit?

you stepped on the mini-star?

charlize SG

75.4 per cent, were found in services = table cleaning?

You are too biased lah.

There are toilet cleaning jobs and dish washing jobs too.

These jobs are not hard to create.

Just increase the population and these jobs are almost automatically created.

Clivebenss SG

Services sector accounts for bulk of employment gains
By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 31 January 2011 1013 hrs

SINGAPORE : Singapore's total employment rose by 112,500 last year, three times higher than in 2009.

That brought the total figure to 3.1 million jobs.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the bulk of last year's employment gains came from the services sector, which added 109,500 workers, almost double the number in 2009.

Construction employment saw modest gains of 2,300 due to completion of several large building projects and fewer projects coming on stream.

While manufacturing employment declined by 2,700, MOM said this was much lower than the losses of 43,700 in 2009.

The ministry said in the last quarter of 2010 alone, some 30,600 jobs were added overall, supported by hirings for the year-end festivities.

Local employment grew by 54,200 last year, exceeding the 41,800 gains in 2009.

But with the strong economic recovery and higher demand for manpower, foreign employment increased by 58,300 after declining in 2009.

As at December 2010, there were almost 2 million locals forming 64.2 per cent of the 3.1 million persons employed in Singapore. The rest were foreigners.

For the whole year of 2010, 9,800 workers were made redundant, down substantially from 23,430 in 2009.

The overall unemployment rate rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 2.2 per cent in December 2010 from 2.1 per cent in September

But with the strong economic recovery, the unemployment rate averaged 2.2 per cent.

- CNA /ls

Clivebenss SG

the services sector, which added 109,500 workers

so many table wipers.

charlize SG

People need to eat, buy clothes and necessities.

When population increases, demand for such basic stuff increases.

Voila, jobs created.

Rostislav SG

so is it a good time to look for a rank and file job?

gUms SG

*Sniff Sniff* Smells like Sh|T here.

charlize SG

so is it a good time to look for a rank and file job?

Yes.

You can hide your university degree, MBA or PhD.

You probably won't be needing it.

dragg SG

any unfilled ministerial job?

Rock^Star SG

four in five workers were rank and file workers, 19% for white collar. That means fresh graduates jiak sai la. Most are unskilled or semi-skilled jobs. These kind of figures come out to bluff daft singaporeans.

charlize SG

10 years ago, they were saying to create "value added" jobs in all industries - hence retraining to increase productivity and upgrade skills.

Now it's just low wage, low value add service jobs.

How times have changed.

Junyang700 SG

any unfilled ministerial job?

2 vacancies.

Rock^Star SG

By Leong Sze Hian

I refer to the article “Record 15,360 job vacancies unfilled: MOM” (ST, Jan 28).

It states that “The number of job vacancies left unfilled for at least six months soared to a five-year high of 15,360 in September last year – a 51.5 per cent spike from the 10,140 a year ago”.

Now, if you think that this spells more openings for the locals and therefore it is good news, think again.

One of the primary reasons why job vacancies are left unfilled for extended periods may be attributed to the wage decline in certain job sectors.

Let me go on to substantiate my statement above.

Wage dropped 32% in 1 year?

Comparing MOM’s report: Job Vacancies, 2009 and Job Vacancies, 2010, the 25th percentile gross wage of civil engineering/building construction laborers dropped by 32 per cent from $800 in 2009 to $546 in 2010.

Source: forums.sgclub.com

This category occupies the second highest seat for overall job vacancies with a 56.8 per cent incidence of vacancies unfilled for at least six months. This category includes occupations such as transport operators, cleaners and laborers. In addition, office cleaners and waiters registered a decrease in 25th percentile gross wage from $700 to $697 and $930 to $879 respectively. (As these are nominal wages, they would have to be lowered to account for inflation adjustments.)

Waiters, for example, occupies the second highest job vacancy placing in the clerical, service and sales category at 2,150 openings. The primary reason may be because they receive the lowest pay for this category as well.

Highest vacancies in low paying jobs?

Service and sales workers accounted for the highest number of vacancies, at 10,330 or 22 per cent of the total job vacancies.

Since the services share of vacancies increased steadily from 68 per cent in 2006 to 75 per cent in 2010, reflecting the “growing importance of the service economy”, I thus refer that most of the job vacancies may be for lower paying jobs.

Many probably don’t earn enough to support their family. With reference to this statement: “Amid the tighter labor market, one in three (33 per cent) vacancies in 2010 were unfilled for at least six months,” one of the primary contributing factors to the tight labour market may be declining wages in jobs which pay so little. Hence this results in workers not being able to survive and feed their families, assuming they took on such jobs.