There really aren’t many good reasons for businesses not to hire more people and expand their teams in 2021.
In 2020, the business landscape was extremely uncertain. This is rapidly changing today as the rules of engagement become clearer going forward.
Moreover, the government is throwing heavy financial support to help businesses with salary support and training their new employees. This significantly lowers the risk of hiring and increases the risk-return payoff for businesses.
In fact, it could even become challenging, if not already, for businesses to hire as we continue to emerge from the COVID-19-led downturn.
Read Also: 3 Ways To Overcome Hiring Challenges (As Recommended By MOM)
1. A #NewNormal That’s Not Going Away
Many businesses already understand that the new normal that we are living in is going to be increasingly digital. Businesses have to be relevant or risk failure.
Failure doesn’t just happen overnight either. It’s usually a long-drawn process of losing business edge to existing competitors and new innovators in the sector.
The opportunity is reimagining your business to stay relevant, and upstaging your business rivals. A major part of staying relevant is hiring relevant people.
2. Work On A New Business Model/Project
Relevant people need to work in relevant job scopes to make a difference. This can mean a painful change to your current business model and/or organisational structure – which you need to accept in the first place.
Depending on how great the impact of COVID-19 was on your business, you may need to pivot entirely, or you could embark on a new project/business model that you’ve always thought could be viable for your growth.
More relevant for smaller businesses, this can also be the time to build out structured departments in your organisation. In startups and small businesses, employees tend to double-hat or triple-hat or wear even more hats than that. While this is prudent – there must also be scope to advance the business to the next level.
3. Slack In The Jobs Market Right Now
There are close to 102,000 residents who are unemployed (as of January 2021), with the citizen unemployment rate near decade-high at 4.5%.
While this is a substantial talent pool, the reality is also that these people were retrenched or let go either because they did not possess skills for the #NewNormal or were working in industries deeply affected by COVID-19.
Hiring them will not be as straightforward, as businesses need to consider that training and reskilling these people are going to be part of the hiring process in the #NewNormal.
Read Also: Top 6 Transferrable Skills That Employers Are Looking For, According To MOM
4. Work-From-Anywhere: A Proven And Lower-Cost Alternative
Remote workers have been a thing for a long time, but its value is only being truly appreciated because of the pandemic. Many businesses are seeing that employees can work from home without suffering from a dip in performance or efficiency.
This has also paved the way for more businesses to work with employees based outside of Singapore. The regions immediately surrounding Singapore are typically cheaper to live in and have lower-cost labour. The additional advantage is that these people could be called into Singapore when required (once travel opens up of course), especially if they live in Batam, Johor or even other regions in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries.
5. Multiple Government Job Schemes That May Stack
The government is working hard to help individuals get employment and stand on their feet again. This has translated into several government job schemes that provide employers with salary support and training subsidies.
Some of these include the:
- Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI), providing between 25% and 50% salary support for new employees under 40 and 40 and above respectively;
- Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), providing salary support for new and existing employees;
- Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), to hire and reskill PMETs while receiving between 70% and 90% salary support for employees under 40 and 40 and above respectively, as well as training subsidies;
- Other schemes include the Senior Employment Credit, for senior employees aged 55 and above and earning under $4,000 (which is stacked on top of these schemes), PMAX to hire and train new employees, SkillsFuture Enterprise Credits (SFEC) to train employees and more.
Even if businesses do not want to hire full-timers, hiring trainees via the SGUnited Traineeship Programme or SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme can provide talent at significantly lower-cost. This also works as a career trial for both employers and employees, which can be converted to a permanent role.
Read Also: How Much Government Salary Support Can Companies Receive When Hiring A Full-Time Employee In 2021
(Top image: Raymond Quek)
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