SINGAPORE: The second quarter of this year saw only one—third of the number of lay—offs experienced in the previous quarter for the unionised sector, said labour movement chief Lim Swee Say.

And while this showed an improvement over the nearly 10,000 retrenched in the first quarter, Mr Lim said Singaporeans must not assume the downturn is over.

When the economic downturn hit Singapore, the labour movement set itself three targets, said NTUC Secretary—General Lim Swee Say. These were: to avoid record retrenchments, a high unemployment rate as in 2003 when SARS hit, and to be among the first to bounce back when the upturn returns.

Mr Lim said: “After six months of tripartite efforts, we believe we are on track. We cannot say for sure that by the end of this year, whether we would be able to succeed to achieve all these three targets. But we will continue to pursue our ’Upturn the Downturn’ strategy.”

Mr Lim reminded Singaporeans that the downturn was not over yet despite recent reports that companies have started hiring.

A survey by consultancy firm Hudson said that for the first time since 2007, hiring expectations are up across the board.

The Singapore National Employers Federation also found from its regular quarterly surveys that the percentage of companies saying they were hiring had gone up from 20 to 25 per cent between March and June this year.

Stephen Lee, president, Singapore National Employers Federation, said: “Certainly this is a positive sign, but the question is how long will we be bottom—bumpy and how long will we stay at the bottom.

“Certainly there are no strong signs to indicate a fast recovery. So most companies are prepared that it will stay where it is and wait till the first quarter of next year to see whether it will pick up.”

Mr Lim added: “Let us remember that not all industries will recover at the same time and at the same pace. So when we see some companies starting to recover and starting to hire workers, we should be happy, but don’t be too happy.

“We cannot keep retrenchment down to zero. But we can make sure that when the worker is retrenched, he does not necessary become an unemployed worker.”

Hence the need to remain focused on the fundamentals, with cutting costs to save jobs being key.

Although there may be some signs of improvement in hiring, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation said it is not time for companies and workers to rest on their laurels.

They encourage both employers and workers to take full advantage of the various training and re—training schemes available to enhance the employability of their workers.

Responsibilities:

• Performs corrective and preventive maintenance for the mechanical systems, utilities supplies and facitlities to ensure efficient running of equipment (e.g. overhaul of centrifuges, lubrication of bearings, servicing of dryers, pump alignment).
• Performs predictive maintenance on critical equipment like the chiller pumps, purified water system, agitator for reactor, centrifuge applying various monitoring techniquest (e.g. vibrations, conduct measurement, thickness check, oil sampling).
• Provides simple troubleshooting and diagnostic of equipment failure to determine the root cause and perform immediate corrective actions.
• Operations and maintains Utilities and/or Production support equipment efficiently and reliably to support production activities.
• Assists in the improvement to enhance equipment or system efficiency, reduce energy cost/usage and other cost saving/avoidance projects.

Requirements:

• Diploma/ITC/NTC in Mechanical Engineering.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/petrochemical/chemical industry.
• Proven experience in maintenance fittings, welding and machining.
• Must be willing to work on shift.

Ø      Design, implementation, testing and commissioning of Digital Trunked and GSM/WCDMA cellular systems of large-scale transportation projects

Ø      Resolve issues in design work through liaison with architects and civil consultants

Requirements:

Ø      Diploma / Degree in Electrical or Electronics Engineering

Ø      1 – 5 years working experience in designing and implementing RF system engineering for in building and tunnel projects preferably in the metropolitan railway environment

Ø      Strong technical leadership, analytical, inter-personal and problem-solving skills

Ø       Perform site co-ordination with civil contractor, other M&E contractor and clients

Ø       Installation design and supervision of site installation works to meet authorities and customer’s standard

Ø       Ensure installation works are completed within schedule, meet budget and quality standard, and comply with MOM safety regulations

Requirements:

Ø       Diploma/ITC/ITE and above in Electrical/ Mechanical/ Electronics Engineering

Ø       2 years and above of working experience in project co-ordination/ site supervision, preferably with MRT or turnkey projects

The incumbent is to provide financial & accounting support and to work very closely among the team and with the consumer business controller to implement accounting policies and procedures. You are also expected to liaise closely with external customers & suppliers.

In addition, you will assist the CL SO Business Controller on the following:

Financial Information

• Responsible for the month end closing process
• Assist in the monthly financial and management reports
• Monthly GL analysis

Business Control Management

• Responsible for the credit management; this includes the monitoring of the collection process for which you have to work with KAM and account support.
• Support in Internal Control improvement and self assessments

Management Information

• Prepare and report reliable, timely and value adding financial data with focus on strategic business planning and decision makings with flexibility to accommodate changing business needs

Business Process Improvement

• Initiate continuous improvements to business processes with added value contributions to the business
• Support in the integration of work processes

Requirements:

• Minimum degree in Accountancy/ Finance
• 1-3 years of relevant experience
• Experience in handling full sets of accounts is essential
• Proficiency in Excel
• Experience in SAP is highly advantegous

Requirements:

• Perform repair and troubleshooting equipment related issues and minimize downtime
• Perform scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) and calibration on a timely basis
• Assist Engineers in the installation and hook-up of new equipment.
• Assist Engineer in equipment projects
• Compile data and generate technical reports
• Provide training and guidance to line Technicians
• Ensure compliance to housekeeping and safety in the workplace

Requirements:

• Diploma in Electrical / Electronics / Mechatronics / Mechanical/ Microelectronics Engineering
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in the Semiconductor industry
• Must be able to perform 12 hours shift and able to commit for overtime when required
• Able to work in cleanroom environment is a must
• Good communication skills
• Applicants should be Singaporean citizens or hold relevant residence status.

You will be responsible for whole spectrum of customer order handling activities including order entries, order confirmation, orders dispatch and liaising on urgent shipments, liaise with sales and production on critical pull-in/push-out of parts, issue and follow up on loading program and ensure parts are put to stock timely, ensure timely dispatches to achieve on-time delivery target set and coordinate customers returns, credit and debit issues. You will also optimize and generate weekly loading per product line capacity and do quarterly stock risk assessment.

Requirements:

• Degree/Diploma in Logistics, Manufacturing studies or similar with a minimum of 1 year exposure in order processing; or has previous experience in order and inventory management as a planner/scheduler
• Strong analytical skills in data analysis of incoming orders and bookings
• Good inventory management skills to ensure optimum stock level
• Possess working knowledge of SAP is advantageous