3 new places SME’s can find staff in a tight labour market

Singapore is currently facing the tightest crunch for talents. According to a MOM publication, Singapore carried a 2.2% unemployment rate in 2010 and an even lower 1.9% (preliminary) over Q1 of 2011.

The only time we had seen a lower unemployment rate was over the 2nd half of 2007 but even so we were only experiencing an annual average of 38,600 job vacancies. Last year there were 44,200 job vacancies.

The situation isn’t expected to change much and many employers are pulling their hair out to fill those openings. The traditional means of hiring people from the same industry with the relevant skill sets could no longer be applied successfully in such a tight labour market.

How can prospective employers especially the SMEs continue to fill the headcounts?
1. Campus Recruitment – There had always only been three main groups of organizations that actively do this. Leading MNC such as Ernst & Young, Public Service and Insurance Agencies. You would almost never see any SMEs at such events. Unable to compete for attention at NTU and NUS? There are still plenty of educational institutes out there like PSB Academy and Kaplan.

2. Reassess qualifications – The basic barometer to all hiring. Many jobs require applicants to have a degree because, well, other people are doing the same thing. Far too often candidates are overlooked because of their shortcoming in this area. The football world didn’t require their players to have a PHD. Neither do Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They have something more: A Phd in Passion.

3. Look at career switcher – Your competitors are spending tonnes of money on talent retention and management. You are not going to get their top 20%. So why even try? There are plenty of individuals whose fervent interest could dwarf the prima donna you wanted to poach over. How to quantify their interest? Measure the level of research they done on your company. Are they keen to drop by your office more than a few times to market themselves?

Adrian Tan, Managing Director, RecruitPlus Consulting Pte Ltd