The Straits Times – 30 Jul 2003 H6

By 1 Mar 2005, anyone who wants to be a security guard must be certified by an NSRS-approved school. The National Skills Recognition System (NSRS), launched in October 2002, has approved 10 centres to conduct training for security personnel. Assessors from Spring Singapore, the former Productivity and Standards Board) will test the guards on what they have learnt. There are about 30,000 security guards in Singapore, of whom 10,000 are employed by security agencies. (Straits Times 30 Jul 2003 H6)

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) found that between 1997 and 2002, temporary employment increased by 45 per cent compared to permanent employment which increased by 8.1 per cent. (Straits Times 17 Jul 2003 H4)

Singapore Press Holdings yesterday axed 111 employees, trimming its wage bill by S$5.7 million a year in a bid to streamline operations to fit a lower volume of business. The retrenchment exercise, its third in three years, will mean a payout of S$7.2 million in one-off retrenchment benefits. SPH retrenched 116 people in 2001 and 97 in 2002. (Straits Times 1 Jul 2003 H2)

      The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) has extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns by phone or Internet to Friday 18 Apr 2003. Those filing by paper will have to deposit their returns in a post box before midnight tomorrow. (Straits Times 14 Apr 2003)(H6)

       A training scheme which helps to pay the course fee and a portion of the employee's salary may be part of the relief measures to be announced soon by the SARS ministerial committee. This will help hotels, restaurants and others in the service industry to save some jobs. SARS victims who are hospitalised will be charged C class rates. The cost of drugs will be absorbed by the Health Ministry. Health-care workers' entire medical bill will be footed by their employers. (Straits Times 11 Apr 2003)(1)

      The recently released results of surveys conducted by NUS and NTU showed that only 64 per cent of the arts graduates from the class of 2002 had a job by the end of the year. The employment rate was 67 per cent for science graduates. Employment rates for engineering, accountancy, architecture and building graduates were in the 70 to 80 per cent range despite the recession. The employment rate for BA honours graduates was 82 per cent, while for BSc honours, it was 87.9 per cent. Honours graduates also made about S$5,000 more a year than basic degree holders. (Straits Times 27 Mar 2003)(H3)

       A new blueprint named "Connected Singapore" launched yesterday by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) aims to create 3,000 new jobs and S$100 million of new projects. IDA said yesterday it wants to grow the contribution of the infocomm industry to Singapore's GDP from about 7 per cent in 2001 to 10 per cent in 2012 - the target set by the ERC's services sub-committee. The industry has been expanding at an average rate of 13 per cent since 1986, with total revenue for 2001 hitting S$28 billion. (Straits Times 27 Mar 2003)(A20)

      PSA Corp yesterday released details of the severance package for the 496 workers getting the axe on Monday 24 Feb 2003. The deal provides for a month's salary for every year of service, grants for older workers to retrain for possible second careers, and medical coverage until the end of the year. The package deal was struck after marathon talks between PSA, the Singapore Port Workers Union (SPWU) and the Port Officers Union (POU). (Straits Times Sunday 23 Feb 2003)(1)

      The Institute of Technical Education's (ITE) employment survey released yesterday reports that 82 per cent of its graduates - 8,000 in all from the 10 institutes - had found jobs within three months, down from 86 per cent for the class of 2001. The average starting salary of last year's ITE graduate is S$50 more than that of the class of 2001. (Straits Times Saturday 22 Feb 2003) (3)