Rilek1Corner

Tag: jobless

  • 38 Year Old Jobless PMET Divorced, Distressed

    38 Year Old Jobless PMET Divorced, Distressed

    Hi Gilbert,

    I truly need help I am feeling suicidal at times. My life has been a challenge since the beginning of my life. I try to get pass through by trying to compare myself to the less fortunate. I do not know how much longer I can hold on. I hope we can meet up and talk.

    I also hope you can publish the following at your site. Hopefully, there would be some like-minded readers who can provide some insight about my situation. If you can, please edit it for me.

    I am just stating facts and grieves of my life, if you want to be critical, please step out of your comfort zone and reply at a logical level. I am a true-blue Singaporean with roots as deep as 3 generations, aged 38.

    While in Secondary school, I started my working life sweeping the streets, literally. My single mom couldn’t afford to send me to a computer school after secondary school which was my interest. Thus, I have to work on school nights and weekends as a hotel cleaner from 11pm to 7am but that took a toll on my health and my education. Not to mention I had family issues. Unable to handle it, I dropped out of school, worked my way up slowly. After a few years of local jobs and my own business, I started my career in a multi-national company with rapid rise to management level. However, armed with only a O level cert, I could not get above $4.5k salary even though the role usually gets more, alot more.

    When I tried to get a new job, I couldn’t as I was not “educated” enough. I even remember when I went for an interview with a local hiring agency, the director of the company asked me why am I getting paid $4.5k with only a O level education. Moving forward, everyone wants to negotiate my salary dependent on my previously-earned salary.

    This would not happen in any other 1st world nation as they would not only look at your education only but your ability and the job role they offering as well. A culture only present in Singapore among developed nations!

    To SINGAPORE HR Folks : Does it really matter, what I drew in my previous role? Would you pay me a roadsweeper’s salary if I did 6 months of sweeping the roads as I cannot get employed? Staff remuneration should be based on the fact that what role you are offering, and a competitive remuneration to ensure retention.

    I stopped work so I can go after a Masters as a maturde candidate. I have passed my Masters without even taking a degree course. For those who are wondering, how?  I not ashamed to say I am pretty smart (Singapore Mensa tested at 142 IQ) and anyone I know would easily tell you I have pretty high E.Q. as well. I never needed to go to school to learn these stuff, I read or learn through life experiences and pretty much grasp almost anything.

    8 months have almost passed since completion of my Masters, and I still don’t have a job. I was even willing to take up non-IT roles as Condo Manager for $3k. Though I was able to impress in the interview, I was not offered a role. Only to find out later, that it was likely they were only willing to offer $2.8k for the position, which is the same they are willing to offer an inexperienced staff with diploma.

    I cannot get government jobs or government-related jobs which are advertised everyday, simply because I do not fit the profiled definition of a normal candidate.

    I have about $100k in the CPF unusable. I can’t afford a HDB, as I need to be employed and I cannot apply for BTO. Furthermore, I went through a divorce, I cannot get a HDB BTO home without waiting for 3 years after my divorce. I would be 39 by then, and by the time I get a home, I would be 45.

    I now sit in J.B. (Malaysia) still applying for jobs in Singapore while trying to figure out if I can start out on my own. Even trying to be an entrepreneur in Singapore is difficult, I cannot afford an office location. I cannot apply for grant for entrepreneurship as I have a previous company when I started my IT business. This is  restricting me from applying for a government grant under the entrepreneurship programme.

    All those people who support the current political administration, please tell me what is wrong with the picture? Am I not hardworking? Am I dependent on the government to spoon feed me? Am I too demanding?

    I am stressed to the extreme, though I don’t show it to people much. I still put up a fighting front, as no one likes a person who complaints too much. But it is getting to me, I needed an outlet.

    I need to know that there are also people like me who seep through the gap so I don’t feel so alone.

    Steve

     

    Source: www.transitioning.org

  • MOM: Unemployment Rate Up For Citizens And PRs

    MOM: Unemployment Rate Up For Citizens And PRs

    While layoffs dipped in the first quarter of this year, the overall unemployment rate continued to edge up, preliminary estimates released on Friday (April 28) by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) showed.

    Pointing to a “mixed” picture, the MOM report also showed that the total number of people in employment shrank.

    Seasonally adjusted, the overall unemployment rate — which covers citizens and permanent residents as well as foreigners living in households here — crept up from 2.2 per cent to 2.3 per cent between the end of the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first quarter.

    The unemployment rate for citizens and permanent residents, however, stayed unchanged over the same period (3.2 per cent), as did the citizen unemployment rate (3.5 per cent). An estimated 74,400 residents were estimated to be jobless at the end of the first quarter.

    Meanwhile, the number of layoffs dipped slightly from 5,440 to 4,800 between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first quarter, with redundancies continuing its climb in the construction and services sectors.

    The services sector accounted for more than six in 10 redundancies (63 per cent). For the whole of last year, the number of job redundancies stood at 19,170, the highest since the 2009 global financial crisis.

    Total employment, meanwhile, contracted by 8,500, after it grew by 2,300 in the fourth quarter of last year, owing mainly to a dip in the number of work-permit holders in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

    For instance, the number of people employed in construction dipped by 12,900, the third straight quarterly fall.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

     

     

     

     

  • 29 Year Old SMU Accountancy Graduate Jobless For 2 Years, Losing Hope

    29 Year Old SMU Accountancy Graduate Jobless For 2 Years, Losing Hope

    By: Ivan

    I am a graduate of SMU, and have trouble finding a job for 2 years.

    I am wondering if there are any opportunities here because I have been looking on craigslist, indeed, jobsdb, regionUP, all for jobs but I suspect most of them are fake or just recruiters trying to collect resumes for the companies which are not even hiring.

    I have a Bachelor’s in Accountancy and Finance from SMU.

    At 29 years of age, I don’t see much opportunities in the PMET sector especially for males.

    I don’t know why. But I think employers generally prefer females in the accountancy sector because they will not shout out as loud as males, and are generally perceived as more meticulous than men.

    I am deeply worried that my 2 years of unemployment gap will affect my future career (if it even exists now).

    Right now, I am feeling that local government do not support unemployed workers, and just cover it up with the news saying that unemployment is low. Truth is many people are underemployed.

    I tried approaching friends and family, but none of them have opportunities for me. Instead they keep telling me supposedly helpful advice like “have you tried this… or that” etc.

    Almost implying that it’s my fault that I did not hang on to my previous job.

    Also, I don’t have much faith in the governmental national job bank. Seems to be touch and go in this pro-business government.

    Globally, I do sense restructuring trend affecting many young people like me, especially in Spain, Greece and other cities. In some cities like NY or London, people at my age are being paid peanuts or working for free as interns, just to get a foot into the door of corporations.

    In fact, one may argue that Singapore has real jobs but only as casino croupiers and waiters.

    That is not a career many want, yet they do it just to get by. This is highly unhealthy for the economy to keep ‘pushing down’ the burden to the young. Singaporeans are smart and good, why should they be ‘cheap’ and devalued by our own government?

    If businesses are so powerful already, why is the government not empowering the people to balance this?

    Why is the employment market ‘rosy’ in Singapore when there are so many people complaining on your website?

    I feel the government has failed us all. Especially my generation who graduated in the post-recession.

     

    Source: http://theindependent.sg

  • Female PMET Is Jobless And Homeless, Feeling Despondent

    Female PMET Is Jobless And Homeless, Feeling Despondent

    Hi Gilbert,

    I got your contact info from Zarina, who said that you might be able to help me get a job and/or help me financially as well.

    I’m a freelance editor who’s been out of work for a while.

    I have no home of my own, and am currently on govt assistance and staying at various hostels, where the rates vary by day.

    I don’t have enough cash to go on living hostel-style, and I haven’t been able to land a daily rated job.

    And I don’t exactly feel like I can commit to any monthly rated job or even attend media-related interviews in my current situation, when I don’t even have a stable place to stay or know when the govt assistance is coming in, etc.

    Plus, I’m living on limited changes of clothing, with the rest of my stuff at the mover’s. I’m sort of up in the air, if you know what you mean.

    As for helping myself, I have already tried to apply for daily rated jobs that I thought I might be able to do.

    Other than the media industry, I have no interest or experience in anything else, so I have no idea what else I would do or where I should apply for a “second” career.

    I used to temp as various things while I was still in uni, but that was years ago. Recruitment agencies I have approached in recent years for temp assignments have not responded to my applications.

    I’m guessing that would because I am no longer a student.

    I don’t have any long-term experience in anything other than the media industry. Teaching also did not quite work out for me. I’m not exactly big on kids / teens / the educational system here, for obvious reasons.

    As for pursuing any “second” career, so to speak –

    1. I have no other interest outside of the media industry, and

    2. even if I did get some other job, there would be no way to start it since I have no stable place to stay or even enough clothes to wear, etc. until I got paid.

    So I have no way of moving forward.

    I don’t know what to do to change this situation and move forward.

    I very much want to get my career back on track. I’ve applied for tons of media opportunities, which is where my experience lies, but haven’t been very lucky.

    Zarina says that you’ve got a wide network of friends and may be able to work something out for me.

    My resume is attached for your reference.

    Thanks in advance.

    Pam

    P.S. I’ve already tried writing to the PM’s office, to the HDB, went to one of the Meet-the-MP sessions, etc. There is no way for me to get my own apartment at the moment.

    Editor’s note: if you are a employer and require a marketing or PR staff, please let us know so we can forward  you Pam’s resume. I have personally visited Pam last week and found her to be bright and intelligent.

     

    Source: www.transitioning.org