Recruitment for foreign staff abating
Singapore – With 75% of companies hiring foreign workers in the last six months, a overwhelming 73% of employers say the recruitment of foreign workers is a positive trend.
According to Achieve group of companies, after surveying 500 Singapore-based companies, they say they hire foreign workers for reasons such as the inability to source for candidates locally (53%), cheaper labour (11%) and their willingness to work longer hours (6%).
As for the citizenship of choice, nearly one-quarter of companies say they prefer to employ Chinese nationals. Another 30% cited preference for employees from Malaysia, India and Indonesia.
But in light of the economic downturn, companies are now scaling back on its foreign recruits. Joshua Yim, founder and CEO of the Achieve group of companies says that based on clients’ feedback, recruitment for foreign workers has decreased from anywhere between 50% to 70%.
“Another trend I’ve noticed is that some employers have even let workers from China, for instance, go back home. Generally, the pay scale of foreign labourers has also gone down,” he adds.
While 87% of respondents say the recruitment of foreign workers has had no impact on local staff, only 7% say that foreigner workers motivate local employees to work harder. However, one can remain competitive as a worker by volunteering for more assignments and projects to enlarge one’s job scope. Yim says this will show bosses that the individual possess initiative, “which is highly valued by employers”.
| Why do you hire foreign workers? | |
| Reasons given by respondents | Percentage cited |
| Unable to source candidates locally | 53% |
| Others (job skills/ job scope / nature, etc) | 20% |
| Cheaper labour | 11% |
| Willingness to work longer hours | 6% |
| Lower turnover rate | 5% |
Source: Hiring of Foreign Workers – Report, Achieve group of companies
No to mummy manager?
Global – Is motherhood a reason why women cannot rise up in the workplace?
In a survey conducted by Manpower across 29,000 managers and directors from 33 different countries, it found 48% of both male and female respondents felt that a woman’s career potential is limited by having children.
Five out of eight APAC countries and surveyed indicated that starting a family restricts and hinders career progress. But the Americas viewed the situation differently – with respondents from all eight countries believing that it will not restrict a woman’s career.
Younger respondents under the age of 30 felt that a woman’s career potential will not be hindered when she chooses to start a family. The perception changes with the respondents from the older age group. Through experience, they have indicated that having a family does in fact limit a woman’s career, with 53% of the respondents aged 60 and above believing so.
Despite that, 72% of all survey respondents indicated that they know working mothers who hold top management positions. Questionably, however, 72% of the respondents from Japan indicated that they did not know working mothers who had attained top management positions, meaning that barriers for working mothers in Japan are more concrete compared to other countries.
Meanwhile, 50% of male respondents and 46% of the female respondents felt that those coveted top management roles would never be equally held by women. In the Asia Pacific region, 46% of the employers believe that women would not attain 50% or more of senior level positions at top corporations.
How long will it be before at least 50% of top management roles are filled by women?
| Time duration | Percentage |
| Less than 10 years | 16% |
| 10 to 20 years | 20% |
| More than 20 years | 6% |
| Never | 48% |
| Uncertain | 7% |
Source: Women in Management survey, Manpower
