The recent job vacancies survey conducted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) found that low pay is the primary driver behind job vacancies. According to the survey, 32.6% of the professionals, managers, engineers and technicians (PMETs) find salaries in Singapore too low to accept the offer. For non-PMETs, 48.7% find salaries too low to be accepted.
Singapore employers are also complaining that there are not enough degree holders in Singapore, and that competition for local PMETs are stiff. The Information Technology sector finds there is a shortage of IT-related degree holders in Singapore. Low salaries also afflict all PMET jobs with 74.7% of the nurses believing they are underpaid.
Non-PMET employers, especially in the retail, FnB and security sector, said that they are unable to fill in their job vacancies because of long working hours. For cleaner companies, 80.7% of the employers said the low social status of cleaners is the key reason why they are not able to hire.
The report however omitted the statistics on the number of jobseekers, but the last employment figures revealed that jobseekers now outnumbered job vacancies by 100 to 91. The report also run in contradiction to the government’s call to discourage Singaporeans from getting a degree.
You may view the full report here.