Hiring process drawn out as caution rules
More eyes scrutinise candidates now in accounting, finance sectors
By CHUANG PECK MING
(SINGAPORE) In another sign of the slowdown in Singapore’s job market, employers are slowing their recruitment process - at least for jobs in the accounting and finance sectors.
Employers are now taking twice as long - eight weeks - compared to a year ago to sign up a new employee. The process is often prolonged because more senior decision makers in the company are involved, according to Ambition, a recruitment firm listed on the Australian Stock Exchange which has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and London.
‘Recruitment is all about market confidence,’ said Guy Day, Ambition’s managing director. ‘There are numerous examples of where relatively junior positions have required video or telephone conference calls with very senior executives in corporate headquarters before an approval will be given.’
While this may be seen as overkill, Mr Day said it is certainly a sign of the times. Just last week US based executive search firm Hudson reported that more employers in Singapore are putting recruitment on hold even as managers continued to expect higher sign-on pay.
Only 43 per cent of those Hudson polled here planned to hire more in the current quarter - a three-year low - down from 54 per cent a year ago.
Ambition’s findings show ‘no concrete evidence of significant job losses’ here despite a slowing global economy and job cuts in the financial services sector in the US.
But the firm added: ‘Cost control will continue to be high on the list of priorities of employers and so it is not inconceivable that we might experience some redundancies in more cyclical industry sectors.’
According to Ambition, employers have tightened hiring requirements and employees are more cautious about switching jobs.
‘Last year, companies were willing to compromise on more criteria but today any candidate falling below their expectations in a hiring process will be passed over and the search will continue,’ Mr Day said.
While there is no question that hiring by investment banks is down from a year ago, there are some more encouraging signs out in the market, according to Ambition.
Life insurance firms are doing admirably well and the fund management sector has taken up some of the slack for financial recruiters, it said.
‘Both segments have historically been less visible or attractive to the best candidates when compared to top-tier investment banks, but there is an increasing interest in these industries as they grow rapidly across Asia and show strong signs of continued growth,’ Ambition said in a report.
Within the commercial sector, the information technology continues to do well in Singapore, along with the petrochemical, healthcare and biomedical businesses.
Source : Business Times - 30 July 2008
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