'More Jobs
Available than Workers' article taken down by ST Online after too
many negative reader's comments
The story 'More Jobs Available than Workers' appeared on the front
page of today's Straits Times (ST 16 June 2011). It also appeared
on the front page of ST's online website www.straitstimes.com
before 11:00 am.
However after 11:00 am, ST Online decided to pull out
the story after incurring the wrath of its readers as evident from
the personal and vitriol comments that the latter
posted.
The last online comment was made by reader 'zwf_8888' at 10:30 am
who remarked 'This is again the garmen's reason for more foreign
'talent'. PAP stop all this type of news reports. U are making me
(sic) and many people EVEN MORE DISGRUNTLED AND ANGRY.'
Strangely enough, all reader's comments for the article can still
be viewed on ST's site, albeit under the obscure
'Discussion' section. See
http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?t=45525&page=2
In the paper edition, however, it was too late for
ST to remove the hated article.
It is not certain if ST's webmaster will decide later to put the
article up again. They might restore the article should news of its
disappearance start to rapidly circulate among online community and
if they desire to maintain their reputation, so to speak, in the
eyes of the broader general public.
The article in a concised version (the full version of which can
still be read in the paper edition of the ST), is published
below.
*******************************
More Jobs Available Than Workers - ST
By Teo Wan Gek
JOBS are now chasing workers, in a market that has rebounded
robustly to pre-recession levels.
In the first three months of this year, there were 139 job openings
for every 100 job seekers - a figure not seen since December 2007,
just before the economy went south.
This is up from 104 job openings for every 100 job seekers seen
from October to December last year, the Manpower Ministry noted in
its latest quarterly labour market report, released
yesterday.
The report said there were 49,300 job vacancies in March, a
substantial 32 per cent increase over the
year.
While National Union Trade Congress deputy secretary-general Ong Ye
Kung said the report was healthy and one ‘which many
countries will envy’. He cautioned that it did not
mean there were no problems in the labour market.
Significant challenges remain, he said, pointing to developments in
Europe and the United States as areas to watch.
“If growth in the US stalls and Europe goes into a currency crisis,
the impact on Singapore will be severe. Unemployment will go up,
not down. That will be very painful to Singaporeans’, he told the
Straits Times.
Agreeing, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin said
that while the figures show that demand for labour is strong,
especially for services there have been some signs of economic
growth deceleration’.
Yesterday’s ministry data showed that against the backdrop of
healthy economic growth and a tight labour market, the unemployment
rate here fell to its lowest level in three years.
The overall rate fell to 1.9 per cent as at March, down from 2.2
per cent as the end of December last year.
Commenting on the data, Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng cited two
broad trends for the surge in job vacancies.
One is the creation of new positions in the service sector. The
other is that vacancies can no longer be readily filled by
foreigners, possibly due to stricter regulation of the
inflow.
The Government has moved to tighten the tap, in part to
force companies to hire Singaporeans, and also to get them
to look at other ways to improve productivity in the workplace.
The service sector led the way with the most job openings. It
accounted for 36,100 or 73 per cent of total vacancies as at the
end of March.
The greatest demand for new hires was from the community, social
and personal services industries. These industries include health
(massages?) and social services
(ang mo social escort agencies?).
*******************************
Reported by Temasek Review.
