Overseas recruiters brought in to help Singapore's PMETs find new jobs

Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who are looking for work can now turn to two foreign recruiters for help.

Workforce Singapore (WSG) has drafted in the expertise of UK-based Ingeus and one other recruiter, which had not yet been named, to boost the employment capabilities of local agencies.

Under a two-year pilot scheme, the overseas experts, as well as local recruiters, will offer a free service to help PMETs who have been made redundant or have been looking for work for more than three months find new jobs.

“Jobseekers will gain access to industry knowledge and insights and receive coaching in resume preparation, managing of interviews and profiling themselves to prospective employers to highlight their strengths,” said WSG.

Workers who approach WSG for help will be assigned randomly to Ingeus or the second recruiter, which is due to start operating at the end of June.

This new scheme follows two previous initiatives, which yielded mixed results. One, between 2011 and 2014 and the other from 2014 to this year did not achieve a better placement rate than the 60 per cent WSG had managed itself.

“WSG is constantly seeking ways to facilitate more effective job matching between jobseekers and hiring employers,” said Tan Choon Shian, chief executive of WSG.

Lack of job vacancies should not prove to be a problem – earlier this year, figures released by the Ministry of Manpower showed that half of all Singapore’s job adverts are for PMETs. In 2013, the figure was 36 per cent but by 2016 it had reached 48 per cent.