Part of the reason is that they often tend to seek jobs that pay
close to what they used to earn, said MP Josephine Teo, who is also
assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union
Congress.
However, economists interviewed foresee their lot improving in
the new year, when growth is expected to hit 5.5 per cent,
according to a recent poll of 20 private-sector economists by the
Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Meanwhile, the labour market in the third quarter, following
Singapore's exit from recession, shows 'encouraging signs of a
turnaround', said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The revised figures show more jobs were added, fewer people were
laid off and there were more vacancies between June and
September.
In all, employment grew by 14,000, offsetting the 13,900 jobs
lost in the first half of this year. Still, the resident
unemployment rate among Singaporeans and permanent residents hit 5
per cent, a five-year high.
Also, more residents, regardless of their education level, are
taking beyond six months to get a job.
Known technically as the long-term unemployed, their numbers
have doubled, from 9,600 in the third quarter last year to 18,400
in September this year.
Worst off are university graduates. Their numbers have swelled
from 1,600 to 4,700, which works out to one in four of these
unemployeds.
It is the same story in other areas.
Degree-holders form more than one-third of workers made
redundant, either retrenched or released prematurely from their
contracts. They form 36 per cent of the 2,470 workers made
redundant, although they make up only 27 per cent of Singapore's
workforce of two million.
It is a similar situation with the re-hiring of laid-off
residents. Though this re-employment rate rose for workers at all
educational levels, the rate for graduates remains the lowest, at
44.4 per cent.
It was the same case in the second quarter, when it was 39.3 per
cent.
MP Josephine Teo said graduates tend to hold jobs, such as
supervisors, which are the first to be chopped in a downturn.
She also said retrenched graduates typically take longer to find
jobs because they have savings to fall back on and look for work
that pays almost as much as their previous job.
Graduate Chris Lim seems to fit the mould. The 31-year-old has
been jobless since she quit her marketing job in a bank in June
last year. She had wanted a similar job in the service industry but
the economic crisis has made it tough.
Said the business administration graduate: 'I've had a few job
offers but I rejected them because they weren't suitable. I'm not
super desperate because I have some savings.'
She is working part-time as a receptionist and is hopeful
because headhunters are calling her more often now.
MOM, in its statement, said organisations and jobseekers should
not be discouraged by the slight rise in the unemployment rate to
3.4 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in the first two quarters. It also
pointed out the 5 per cent resident unemployment rate is below the
record 6.2 per cent in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.
Economists say the peculiar situation of jobs growth coupled
with high unemployment is a result of more residents entering the
job market as the economy improves.
Singapore, which came out of recession at the end of June, grew
by 14.2 per cent in the third quarter,
Also, the rise in the unemployment rate could be due to a
mismatch between skills and jobs.
DESPITE signs of a turnaround in the job market, university
graduates are no better off.
In fact, more of them are without jobs and taking longer to land
a job, according to revised official figures released
yesterday.
Economist Tan Khee Giap expects the resident jobless rate to
fall by next June.
But there is a need to shorten the time the jobless take to find
work, he added.
Ms Heather Chua of hiring firm Kelly Services noted that 50 per
cent of residents retrenched in the second quarter found work in
the third quarter.
'This is a strong indication more companies are positioning
themselves to prepare for the nascent recovery,' she said.
However, MOM's Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan, noted that the
unemployment rate is likely to stay up for some time as employers
remain cautious about the pace and sustainability of recovery.
He said: 'The Government remains focused on job creation and
training, while those who are unemployed are encouraged to retrain
and re-skill so that they can find a job as quickly as
possible.'