5,500 reasons to switch to technology roles in 2016

Technology would be one of the best roles for your future career and it is encompassing a wide range of functions from programming to marketing

Singapore is facing tough economic challenges. Various headwinds are slamming our tiny and trade reliant nation. ASEAN noted that the continued Chinese slowdown and uncertainty around Brexit would cause its growth to drop from 4.7 per cent in 2015 to 4.5 per cent this year. China is ASEAN’s top trading partner which takes in 15 per cent of our exports.

If these two factors are insufficient to challenge our economy, the slump in oil prices has hit our oil and gas industry hard. Swiber was once Forbes’ best company under US$1 billion in 2008 before the oil slump in the second half of 2014 drove it to judicial management last month. The challenging oil sector has also implicated banks which had lent extensively to them.

Shifting Labour Market Developments

For the man on the street, all these challenges are more than companies losing money. It also means that they are getting laid off in droves. The latest Ministry of Manpower report shows that 5,500 workers were laid off in the last quarter. This figure was only eclipsed in the year 2009 when Singapore borne the blunt of the global financial crisis.

Source: Ministry of Manpower

This 7-year high labour market weakness has real market ripples. 400 RWS employees added their names to the 5,500 redundancies when they were laid off in June 2016 after less tourist arrivals. CIMB also contributed to the dour economic climate by retrenching 12 workers from its brokerage business in the same month.

As we break into the third quarter, Swiber retrenched 80 workers just before its collapse. Overall, Singapore added 5,500 jobs last quarter as it eliminated 5,500 jobs. Given new entrants and the lag time for jobs to be filled, unemployment had risen from 1.9 per cent in the first quarter to 2.1 per cent in the second quarter. Total employment grew by 1.3 per cent in Q2 to 3.67 million compared to one year ago. This is slower than the 2 per cent growth last year.

Adapting To Changing Employment Realities

If you look at the employment numbers closely, you will realise that the overall labour market is doing marginally well. For every job that was eliminated, there is one job that is created. The problem is skills mismatch, finding the company that is hiring after being laid off and compensation.

For instance, if you are a retrenched Swiber engineer and Grab is hiring a database engineer, you would not be an immediate good fit. Your engineering background would help you learn about the technology aspect, but you will have to endure a lower pay initially until your skill set can justify your higher compensation.

Every dangerous situation also presents opportunities to those willing to approach instead of running away from it. This is a break for you to explore the roles that you had always wanted to do but circumstances forced you to do your current job.

For instance, the Swiber engineer might want to work for Google after he graduated with his shiny NUS engineering degree in 2004. However, Google was not in Singapore then and he had a great offer back in 2003 before he graduated which is the norm in those days. Twelve years later, this retrenchment is the perfect opportunity for him to switch.

All he needs is a good resume and cover letter which not only speaks about his previous working experience, but also his transferable skills sets. After all, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page both studied computer engineering in Stanford.

Potential of Technology Job

If you are doing a mid career switch after being retrenched, it would be worthwhile for you to sit down and consider your options before jumping straight into it. The job that you are switching into should have long term potential.

For instance, technology has allowed peer-to-peer lending and invoice financing to be conducted over the Internet. These fintech startups had disintermediated a traditional banking role by pulling the lenders and borrowers together directly. All these changes have to be implemented by the talented programmer and engineer.

According to Kelly Services Singapore Salary Guide 2016, technology jobs are the highest paying and their chiefs can get paid between US$13,000 to US$24,000 monthly. There are a range of technology-related roles such as fintech developer, Big Data developer and digital marketing manager that are highly in demand.

These roles illustrate that the role of technology is not limited to the traditional image of a geek sitting in front of the computer the whole day. The digital marketing manager must have a basic understanding of web technologies but ultimately his role is to meet the clients to scope out their requirements and then implement an effective marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Dark clouds are indeed gathering for the labour market in Singapore. Instead of crying under the pillow when the unpleasant realities hit home, it is better to prepare for it by taking inventory of your skill sets that would be valuable to employers.

Technology would be one of the best roles for your future career and it is encompassing a wide range of functions from programming to marketing. If you can’t find a role in the likes of Google, you can always start with one of the IT startups found here. They are always in demand for people but you might have to compromise on your salary requirements.

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