More than half of Singaporeans willing to forego part of salary during crisis

Only a third though are threatened with lay-offs, making Singapore labour market most upbeat among peers in Asia.

Singapore – Continued uncertainty in global economies does not appear to be affecting confidence in the local labour market, with two thirds of employees in Singapore feeling upbeat about their employer’s financial performance, according to the Randstad Workmonitor Report for Q2 2012 released today.

The figure is among the highest from a global survey of 32 countries, with respondents across the region also feeling confident, such as in China (64%), Hong Kong and Malaysia (59%), Australia and New Zealand (57%). This contrasts with Greek (36%) and Spanish (38%) respondents.

Randstad Regional Director, Singapore & Malaysia, Ms Karin Clarke says: “While data from Europe and the United States remains soft, Singapore’s labour market is underpinned by strong fundamentals – with unemployment sitting at its lowest point in 14 years.

“Across the region, economies are still experiencing growth – albeit more slowly than previous years – so there is continued demand for specialist skills across a number of industries and positive job creation.”

The survey of 405 employees also found that more than half (54%) of employees in Singapore are willing to forego part of their salary to secure their job, should the local market deteriorate.

Ms Clarke says the findings indicate a willingness among employees to make small sacrifices during times of economic uncertainty.

“The economic crisis of 2008/09 saw some companies in Singapore shedding jobs to meet financial targets. With this fresh in their minds, employees here are indicating stability is important and they will forfeit part of their salary, should market conditions deteriorate in the second half of the year.”

The theme of friendship among colleagues was also clear in the research, with the survey also finding that the majority (65%) meet their colleagues outside working hours and four in five have close friendships with fellow employees.

Ms Clarke continues: “This tells us that remuneration, while still very important, is not the key driver for people to choose and stay at a workplace. Given we spend a significant amount of our time at work, what people want is to be surrounded by colleagues they get along with.

“Companies that make an effort to build a strong workplace culture will ultimately benefit from having an environment where their people are productive and enjoy their work. Employees told us in the recent Randstad Award research that this is a key factor when choosing to work for a company, and it was one of the key reasons that Singapore Airlines won the title of Singapore’s most attractive employer.”

The survey also found that:
• Four in five respondents believe they work to live, instead of living to work;
• Due to social media, 58% of respondents have more contact with colleagues outside of working hours than before;• Half (54%) of respondents would quit if there was no room for personal development.