Tue, Jul 31, 2001 page19

• Singapore's `Pink Slip' party helpsjobless tofind work

  • By Amy Tan / REUTERS
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  The 200 or so people queuing outside a Singapore bar waited with anxiety etched on their faces for the city-state's first "Pink Slip" party.

  Some had arrived two hours early to attend the party, which borrows its name from a US practice of giving workers their retrenchment notices via a pink slip.

  In a reflection of the global dotcom bust and an economic slump, the ranks of 200 job seekers swelled to a horde of 800 as the event wore on.

  The Straits Times newspaper which organized the informal match-making session for job hunters and prospective employers, had initially expected just 200 to show up.

  Scramble for work

  The newly retrenched, faced with the stigma of being jobless, are scrambling to find employment as the job market shrinks.

  The Pink Slip party, targeted at information technology professionals, offered a novel alternative to employment agencies and newspaper advertisements.

  Inside the roomy bar, job seekers quickly formed more lines to interview with 13 employers at their makeshift booths.

  The group, mainly in their 20s and 30s, came armed with resumes. The free drinks and buffet were largely forgotten.

  "The participants were really focused. When they entered the venue, they were zooming specifically to the employers," said Elsie Chua, vice president of Singapore Press Holdings which owns the Straits Times.

  Employers at the party said the party did more than just provide job opportunities.

  "It's a great sign of maturity that people who are laid off would come and publicly say I need a job," Francis Yeoh, chief executive officer of Green Dot Internet Services said.

  "It does something to take away this [retrenchment] stigma."

  But not all employers are equally understanding.

  "They feel that you have been retrenched because you are not capable," said 24-year old Jerry Lim, who lost his job as a network support engineer when his company folded in June.

  Intense pressure

  Alan Wee, who was retrenched from his web developer post two months ago, said the pressure to find a new job was intense even though his friends and family were sympathetic.

  "Your family keeps asking why you still don't get a job," Wee said.

  Others who were worried about their current job security in the difficult times, were out shopping for a new job.

  "I'm in a very vulnerable position," said a foreign programmer who recently joined a local bank involved in takeover bid.

  Singapore, in comparison to some of its neighbors, has enjoyed relatively low unemployment.

  In the first quarter of 2001, the jobless rate stood at two percent, down from 2.8 percent a year earlier.

  But the government expects about 20,000 workers to lose their jobs this year, almost double the number retrenched in 2000.

  Newspapers, in recent weeks, have been brimming with articles of companies' cutting headcount.

  Competition for the 210 job openings available at the party was stiff but several job seekers remained hopeful of their prospects in Singapore.

  "I want global experience ... and Singapore is obviously a very good place in Asia," new British graduate Mark Ashworth said.

  "There's still good opportunity here and I like the place," said a programmer from India's technology hub of Bangalore.

  Employers were clearly the stars of the party as each candidate jostled for less than five minutes of attention.

  "Its a good time for us to pick," said recruiter Mok Chun Pong from JTC Corporation.
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