With just a Secondary 2 education and having been out of a job for the past 20 years, she said she was finding it next to impossible to get re-hired.
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September 09, 2008 Tuesday
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ST Breaking News | Blogs | ST's Home Ground
Jessica Lim
News Reporter
Lucky to have a job
September 09, 2008 Tuesday, 06:58 PM
Jessica Lim senses silent desperation at a job fair.
A 200-STRONG queue of jobless people snaked around the circumference of a small room at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Redhill from 1.30pm on Tuesday.
Outside, banners - from employers like Carrefour and Sakae Sushi - shouted out job placements for everything from sous chefs to golf assistants. Photographs of lush golf courses at Orchid Country Club lined the walls of the educational institute.
Inside the sparsely furnished rooms, job hunters - mostly N level graduates - clutched folders stuffed with their CVs and other papers as they fervently filled up forms.
The employment and employability institute has organised an exclusive job fair for certified service professionals - eight employers from the retail, F&B and hotel and accomondation sectors will be offering a variety of positions at Redhill Rd.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
(From Left) Ms Nirma Suryani,23, Ms Hidayah, 22 and Ms Nirmal Meiyarti,18, applying for a job at the employment and employability institute.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
Mr Anthony Seah, 59, a freelance chef looks at the application form to apply job at Orchid Country Club.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
Many had been trained on the Certified Service Professional programme developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency - which means they have attended classes to improve their service.
It seemed tranquil on the surface. But when this reporter dug a little deeper, what she found was quiet desperation.
“Why did you decide to come here today uncle,” I asked job-seeker Mr Anthony Seah, who was filling up an application form for a sous-chef position at Orchid Country Club.
“Aiyah,” he said, sighing. “Nowadays, so many youngsters give you pressure. They are so fast, we are so old. We cannot compete. So now I am here to look for a job. I don't want to miss anything.”
He has been jobless for a year - quite a long time considering that he has to foot medical bills for his diabetic wife and bring up four children.
His hope: To clinch a job that pays a stable wage of $1,500 a month.
Another, admitted that it was inflation that did her in.
Last time, said Ms Rani John, who is a part-time mail sorter at the post office for $4.50 an hour for four hours a day, it brought in sufficient to feed her family.
“Now its not enough since grocery bills have tripled,” said the 44-year-old. “We have no choice.”
One hour into the job fair and Carrefour has employed three people.
There are about 300 spots available in all - one of the organisers, an enthusiastic man in a black polo t-shirt, reckons that at least 30 per cent of the jobs will be filled up by the end of the day.
On the way out, I bumped into another job-seeker.
With just a Secondary 2 education and having been out of a job for the past 20 years, she said she was finding it next to impossible to get re-hired.
What are you doing anyway, she asked me.
“I'm a journalist for a newspaper,” I replied, a trifle embarrassed to be the only gainfully employed person there. “I write stories.”
But all she did was pat me on the shoulder and nod before telling me how lucky I was to have a job.
She was right: I should thank my lucky stars to be pulling a decent wage in these difficult times.
=====================
September 09, 2008 Tuesday
RSS
ST Breaking News | Blogs | ST's Home Ground
Jessica Lim
News Reporter
Lucky to have a job
September 09, 2008 Tuesday, 06:58 PM
Jessica Lim senses silent desperation at a job fair.
A 200-STRONG queue of jobless people snaked around the circumference of a small room at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Redhill from 1.30pm on Tuesday.
Outside, banners - from employers like Carrefour and Sakae Sushi - shouted out job placements for everything from sous chefs to golf assistants. Photographs of lush golf courses at Orchid Country Club lined the walls of the educational institute.
Inside the sparsely furnished rooms, job hunters - mostly N level graduates - clutched folders stuffed with their CVs and other papers as they fervently filled up forms.
The employment and employability institute has organised an exclusive job fair for certified service professionals - eight employers from the retail, F&B and hotel and accomondation sectors will be offering a variety of positions at Redhill Rd.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
(From Left) Ms Nirma Suryani,23, Ms Hidayah, 22 and Ms Nirmal Meiyarti,18, applying for a job at the employment and employability institute.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
Mr Anthony Seah, 59, a freelance chef looks at the application form to apply job at Orchid Country Club.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin
Many had been trained on the Certified Service Professional programme developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency - which means they have attended classes to improve their service.
It seemed tranquil on the surface. But when this reporter dug a little deeper, what she found was quiet desperation.
“Why did you decide to come here today uncle,” I asked job-seeker Mr Anthony Seah, who was filling up an application form for a sous-chef position at Orchid Country Club.
“Aiyah,” he said, sighing. “Nowadays, so many youngsters give you pressure. They are so fast, we are so old. We cannot compete. So now I am here to look for a job. I don't want to miss anything.”
He has been jobless for a year - quite a long time considering that he has to foot medical bills for his diabetic wife and bring up four children.
His hope: To clinch a job that pays a stable wage of $1,500 a month.
Another, admitted that it was inflation that did her in.
Last time, said Ms Rani John, who is a part-time mail sorter at the post office for $4.50 an hour for four hours a day, it brought in sufficient to feed her family.
“Now its not enough since grocery bills have tripled,” said the 44-year-old. “We have no choice.”
One hour into the job fair and Carrefour has employed three people.
There are about 300 spots available in all - one of the organisers, an enthusiastic man in a black polo t-shirt, reckons that at least 30 per cent of the jobs will be filled up by the end of the day.
On the way out, I bumped into another job-seeker.
With just a Secondary 2 education and having been out of a job for the past 20 years, she said she was finding it next to impossible to get re-hired.
What are you doing anyway, she asked me.
“I'm a journalist for a newspaper,” I replied, a trifle embarrassed to be the only gainfully employed person there. “I write stories.”
But all she did was pat me on the shoulder and nod before telling me how lucky I was to have a job.
She was right: I should thank my lucky stars to be pulling a decent wage in these difficult times.
:(
