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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Why diploma holders have jobs edge?</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>9:47 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 8) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>25974.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Dec 18, 2009
Diploma-holders have jobs edge
They find work more easily than university grads in tough economy
<!-- by line -->By Kor Kian Beng
<!-- end by line -->
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DIPLOMA-HOLDER Joyce Wong had six job offers shortly after completing her media and communication course in May.
Two months later, the 20-year-old started work as an account executive at an advertising agency. Her monthly pay is $2,000, higher than the average starting salary of polytechnic graduates.
Meanwhile, degree-holder Lynette Tillai, 23, has had little luck since she returned in June on graduating from the University of California, Berkeley.
The psychology graduate applied to 10 local firms - mostly in the social services sector - but was rejected or ignored.
The stark contrast in their fate is a reflection of how the downturn has been kinder to polytechnic than to university graduates - across all age groups.
This picture emerged in the latest Manpower Ministry report on the job market in the third quarter.
Of the 83,800 unemployed residents in September, 5,200 (6.2 per cent) were diploma-holders while 18,400 were degree-holders (21.9 per cent).
It is not much different for the long-term unemployed or residents who are jobless beyond six months. Of these 18,400, the graduates from polys total 1,300 and from universities, 4,700.
Similarly, for redundancies: poly graduates made up 14.5 per cent of residents laid off or who have had their contracts prematurely terminated, lower than the 35.7 per cent for university graduates.
This phenomenon reinforces a trend that can be traced to September last year. For example, 5,400 of the 56,100 jobless residents then were diploma-holders against 10,800 degree-holders.
Economists, recruitment firms, and unionists cited several reasons for it: Poly graduates cost less to recruit and retain, and possess more practical skills that employers value, especially in a downturn.
Also, retrenched poly graduates are more willing to take lower-paying jobs.
Poly graduates' average starting pay hovers around $1,600 to $1,800 a month against $2,000 for university graduates.
Labour MP Halimah Yacob cited another reason: the banking, financial and manufacturing sectors, which hire many degree-holders, have been battered badly in the recession.
Ms Annie Yap, founder of recruitment firm AYP Associates, offered another reason: demand and supply.
Degree-holders formed 27 per cent of the resident workforce in June and diploma-holders, 12 per cent.
Said Ms Yap: 'Poly graduates are viewed to have more 'practical and hands-on skills'. Coupled with limited supply, employers tend to rush to hire poly graduates when there is a hiring need.'
Labour MP Josephine Teo said degree- holders fear taking a lower-paying job because 'it appears on your resume and you may have to start at a lower pay level when you look for the next job'.
But when jobseekers, like Mr Reuben Cheang, are willing to take a pay cut, employers are not rushing to welcome them.
Mr Cheang, 45, with a master's in engineering and an MBA from the National University of Singapore, has sent resumes to at least 20 firms since he was laid off last month as a factory manager. He is willing to take a job at less than half his old pay, but said 'employers are not willing to hire us because they think we would quit when the economy picks up'.
Mr David Ang, executive director of the Singapore Human Resource Institute, said diploma-holders are more sought after in the engineering, health sciences and shipbuilding sectors.
But degree-holders could explore sunrise industries, such as renewable energy, digital media and gaming.
'As Singapore flaps its wings into the Integrated Resorts horizon, there are many opportunities the degree-holders can tap on,' he said.
[email protected]
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Diploma-holders have jobs edge
They find work more easily than university grads in tough economy
<!-- by line -->By Kor Kian Beng
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
DIPLOMA-HOLDER Joyce Wong had six job offers shortly after completing her media and communication course in May.
Two months later, the 20-year-old started work as an account executive at an advertising agency. Her monthly pay is $2,000, higher than the average starting salary of polytechnic graduates.
Meanwhile, degree-holder Lynette Tillai, 23, has had little luck since she returned in June on graduating from the University of California, Berkeley.
The psychology graduate applied to 10 local firms - mostly in the social services sector - but was rejected or ignored.
The stark contrast in their fate is a reflection of how the downturn has been kinder to polytechnic than to university graduates - across all age groups.
This picture emerged in the latest Manpower Ministry report on the job market in the third quarter.
Of the 83,800 unemployed residents in September, 5,200 (6.2 per cent) were diploma-holders while 18,400 were degree-holders (21.9 per cent).
It is not much different for the long-term unemployed or residents who are jobless beyond six months. Of these 18,400, the graduates from polys total 1,300 and from universities, 4,700.
Similarly, for redundancies: poly graduates made up 14.5 per cent of residents laid off or who have had their contracts prematurely terminated, lower than the 35.7 per cent for university graduates.
This phenomenon reinforces a trend that can be traced to September last year. For example, 5,400 of the 56,100 jobless residents then were diploma-holders against 10,800 degree-holders.
Economists, recruitment firms, and unionists cited several reasons for it: Poly graduates cost less to recruit and retain, and possess more practical skills that employers value, especially in a downturn.
Also, retrenched poly graduates are more willing to take lower-paying jobs.
Poly graduates' average starting pay hovers around $1,600 to $1,800 a month against $2,000 for university graduates.
Labour MP Halimah Yacob cited another reason: the banking, financial and manufacturing sectors, which hire many degree-holders, have been battered badly in the recession.
Ms Annie Yap, founder of recruitment firm AYP Associates, offered another reason: demand and supply.
Degree-holders formed 27 per cent of the resident workforce in June and diploma-holders, 12 per cent.
Said Ms Yap: 'Poly graduates are viewed to have more 'practical and hands-on skills'. Coupled with limited supply, employers tend to rush to hire poly graduates when there is a hiring need.'
Labour MP Josephine Teo said degree- holders fear taking a lower-paying job because 'it appears on your resume and you may have to start at a lower pay level when you look for the next job'.
But when jobseekers, like Mr Reuben Cheang, are willing to take a pay cut, employers are not rushing to welcome them.
Mr Cheang, 45, with a master's in engineering and an MBA from the National University of Singapore, has sent resumes to at least 20 firms since he was laid off last month as a factory manager. He is willing to take a job at less than half his old pay, but said 'employers are not willing to hire us because they think we would quit when the economy picks up'.
Mr David Ang, executive director of the Singapore Human Resource Institute, said diploma-holders are more sought after in the engineering, health sciences and shipbuilding sectors.
But degree-holders could explore sunrise industries, such as renewable energy, digital media and gaming.
'As Singapore flaps its wings into the Integrated Resorts horizon, there are many opportunities the degree-holders can tap on,' he said.
[email protected]
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