http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,179319,00.html?
New tack in wooing members
NTUC opts for full-timers to do job
By Tan May Ping
October 08, 2008
NO GO: Former part-time recruiter V M Selvarajah was the top recruiter in his agency in 2005. He did not make the cut after a recent interview with NTUC.
AS a part-time recruiter of members for the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Mr Leong Siew Cheong, 74, was often the second most successful in his agency.
Paid $12 commission for each person he signed up, he regularly earned more than $1,000 a month.
But he had to stop work on 29 Sep.
The reason: The job he held has been reshaped.
NTUC outsources its membership recruitment to at least two employment agencies which in turn hire the recruiters.
But the labour union recently did a review and decided to use full-time recruiters instead.
The status of these workers will be changed from part-time to permanent, though they will still be employed by the agencies.
Mr Leong was among those who applied for the new positions but failed to make the cut, along with some other elderly workers.
But NTUC emphasised that age had nothing to do with the lay-offs. Indeed, it promotes the employment of older workers.
Its spokesman said its selection criteria were based on marketing skills and product knowledge, and not on age, and that the new recruiters' ages range from 30 to 59.
Under the new system, recruiters are paid a monthly salary of $1,000 as well as commission based on the number of sign-ups.
While the agencies nominated the candidates, NTUC conducted the selection interviews.
Mr Leong's agency, Seacare Manpower Services, shortlisted 18 candidates, and six passed the interviews.
The 18 included the agency's past and present recruiters, many of whom are older workers, with ages ranging from the 40s to 70s.
Disappointed
NOT FAIR: Mr Leong felt NTUC's new scheme deprived older workers like him of their jobs. He regularly came in as the second-top recruiter in his agency every month, but didn't get the job after an interview with NTUC. TNP PICTURES: TAN MAY PING
Mr Leong is disappointed.
'Other than at roadshows, I also did mobile recruitments on my own. I travelled everywhere to get people to sign up,' said the sprightly Mr Leong, who clocked eight-hour days five times a week.
'Despite my age, I was still able to perform quite well,' he said.
During the interview, he said he was told that in addition to recruitment, he would also have to take on other responsibilities like doing the paper work for people who lose their cards.
He was also told that under the new scheme, recruitment would be done only at road shows.
Mr Leong received a call a few hours later informing him that he had been rejected.
He said that he enjoyed the job and would look for another job to supplement his monthly pension of $600.
He hoped that despite his age he would be able to get any other part-time work.
Former Seacare recruiter V M Selvarajah, 56, who was also unsuccessful, said he went for the interview to see if the terms of employment were good.
He was the top Seacare recruiter in 2005 but stopped in 2006, and now works as a freelance engineering specialist.
When contacted, Seacare's senior manager, Mr David Sim, said his company has helped NTUC recruit union members for the past five years.
He confirmed that his agency had selected candidates to attend the interview by NTUC.
Mr Sim said he did not think age was an issue but surmised that NTUC was looking to station staff 'who have good communication skills' at roadshows as it wanted to become more service-oriented.
He said his recruiters used to bring in 2,000 to 3,000 members a month until early last year. In the past few months, they averaged only a few hundred.
'The number of recruitments have become stagnant. It's harder to attract people to join now,' said Mr Sim.
Mr Leong agreed that it was harder to recruit members now as he felt the market was saturated.
Still, he was able to get more than 200 sign-ups in August and about 100 last month.
'If you are willing to work hard, it is still possible to get about five sign-ups a day,' he said.
Mr Aw Wee Hock, a recruiter under Ptc Personnel Consultancy, said his agency did not put him up for the interview.
He had worked for three years with Ptc and before that, two years with Seacare.
His boss, Madam Karen Chng, 39, confirmed that she put forward only three of her six recruiters.
'We screened the workers and we chose the younger ones, who are in their 50s,' she said.
She thought that NTUC wanted a new image as it is focusing more on customer service.
In November last year, NTUC voluntarily disclosed the age of its workers on its website, to show support in hiring older workers.
The average age of its 10,521 employees was 42 years, and it had a higher proportion of workers aged 45 to 59 than the national average.
New tack in wooing members
NTUC opts for full-timers to do job
By Tan May Ping
October 08, 2008
NO GO: Former part-time recruiter V M Selvarajah was the top recruiter in his agency in 2005. He did not make the cut after a recent interview with NTUC.
AS a part-time recruiter of members for the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Mr Leong Siew Cheong, 74, was often the second most successful in his agency.
Paid $12 commission for each person he signed up, he regularly earned more than $1,000 a month.
But he had to stop work on 29 Sep.
The reason: The job he held has been reshaped.
NTUC outsources its membership recruitment to at least two employment agencies which in turn hire the recruiters.
But the labour union recently did a review and decided to use full-time recruiters instead.
The status of these workers will be changed from part-time to permanent, though they will still be employed by the agencies.
Mr Leong was among those who applied for the new positions but failed to make the cut, along with some other elderly workers.
But NTUC emphasised that age had nothing to do with the lay-offs. Indeed, it promotes the employment of older workers.
Its spokesman said its selection criteria were based on marketing skills and product knowledge, and not on age, and that the new recruiters' ages range from 30 to 59.
Under the new system, recruiters are paid a monthly salary of $1,000 as well as commission based on the number of sign-ups.
While the agencies nominated the candidates, NTUC conducted the selection interviews.
Mr Leong's agency, Seacare Manpower Services, shortlisted 18 candidates, and six passed the interviews.
The 18 included the agency's past and present recruiters, many of whom are older workers, with ages ranging from the 40s to 70s.
Disappointed
NOT FAIR: Mr Leong felt NTUC's new scheme deprived older workers like him of their jobs. He regularly came in as the second-top recruiter in his agency every month, but didn't get the job after an interview with NTUC. TNP PICTURES: TAN MAY PING
Mr Leong is disappointed.
'Other than at roadshows, I also did mobile recruitments on my own. I travelled everywhere to get people to sign up,' said the sprightly Mr Leong, who clocked eight-hour days five times a week.
'Despite my age, I was still able to perform quite well,' he said.
During the interview, he said he was told that in addition to recruitment, he would also have to take on other responsibilities like doing the paper work for people who lose their cards.
He was also told that under the new scheme, recruitment would be done only at road shows.
Mr Leong received a call a few hours later informing him that he had been rejected.
He said that he enjoyed the job and would look for another job to supplement his monthly pension of $600.
He hoped that despite his age he would be able to get any other part-time work.
Former Seacare recruiter V M Selvarajah, 56, who was also unsuccessful, said he went for the interview to see if the terms of employment were good.
He was the top Seacare recruiter in 2005 but stopped in 2006, and now works as a freelance engineering specialist.
When contacted, Seacare's senior manager, Mr David Sim, said his company has helped NTUC recruit union members for the past five years.
He confirmed that his agency had selected candidates to attend the interview by NTUC.
Mr Sim said he did not think age was an issue but surmised that NTUC was looking to station staff 'who have good communication skills' at roadshows as it wanted to become more service-oriented.
He said his recruiters used to bring in 2,000 to 3,000 members a month until early last year. In the past few months, they averaged only a few hundred.
'The number of recruitments have become stagnant. It's harder to attract people to join now,' said Mr Sim.
Mr Leong agreed that it was harder to recruit members now as he felt the market was saturated.
Still, he was able to get more than 200 sign-ups in August and about 100 last month.
'If you are willing to work hard, it is still possible to get about five sign-ups a day,' he said.
Mr Aw Wee Hock, a recruiter under Ptc Personnel Consultancy, said his agency did not put him up for the interview.
He had worked for three years with Ptc and before that, two years with Seacare.
His boss, Madam Karen Chng, 39, confirmed that she put forward only three of her six recruiters.
'We screened the workers and we chose the younger ones, who are in their 50s,' she said.
She thought that NTUC wanted a new image as it is focusing more on customer service.
In November last year, NTUC voluntarily disclosed the age of its workers on its website, to show support in hiring older workers.
The average age of its 10,521 employees was 42 years, and it had a higher proportion of workers aged 45 to 59 than the national average.
