Commentary

Even with some caution in the region driven by continued global economic instability, Singapore’s labour market continues to be characterised by critical skills-shortages, particularly in industries such as oil & gas, engineering, financial services and infrastructure.

As a small city state Singapore has managed to build an excellent reputation, it is perceived by the entire world as clean, safe and efficient, most cities can only dream of such an image. Some may say this conveys a boring persona for the city yet Singapore has overcome this and is obviously perceived as must see tourist destination with over 12 million tourists visiting the city last year.

Although Pinterest is taking the rest of the world by storm today, we have a take a modest stance when it comes to Singapore.

New economy thinking dictates that almost anything that is manufactured or offered as a service can now be replicated. So rather than focusing upon the core product or service, businesses have to focus upon the peripheral features.

All Hail the New World! The concept of telework, telecommuting or virtual work (different names for the same phenomenon) has been around for some time. In fact, ‘telework’ was nominated in the 2010 Word of the Year list published by the American Dialect Society. According to a recent study by MRI China Group, 47.7% Singapore based professionals stated flexible work hours as the highest priority over other factors such as benefits, personal development, etc. in their choice of employer. Several changes, both in the physical and in the digital world, are accelerating the adoption of this concept by organisations. The demand side changes include organisations’ need for multi-cultural experiences, war for talent and rising urban real-estate prices. On the digital side, ubiquitous connectivity, proliferation of connected, ‘smart’ portable devices and emergence of new collaborative tools under the Web 2.0 moniker are enabling employees and organisations to seriously consider virtual work environments.

If you are thinking of starting a business in Singapore, you must first decide on a legal structure for it. Usually you'll choose either a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a limited liability company (“company”).

Let me set the record straight.

While many remain focused on technology, and new ways to deliver mobile content to consumers, it is important to consider the consumers themselves as a key part of the equation. The mobile consumer has changed so drastically in the last couple of years that it may be worthwhile to consider this new behaviour, and how it should affect marketing efforts.

Singapore has the aim of hosting 150,000 international students here by 2015.

ASEAN integration into a single market under the ASEAN Economic Community or AEC2015 initiative will foster cooperation among ASEAN member countries in terms of economics, environmental, social cohesion and regional security, by enhancing self-management capabilities and promoting regional competitiveness.

As an accounting or finance professional, competition can be stiff in the job market in Singapore. Here’s how to stay marketable and attractive to any potential employer, with tips from our expert recruitment specialists:

For a country obsessed with getting the fertility rate up amongst Singaporean nationals one policy in particular doesn’t help the cause. There are no official paternity rights or leave in Singapore.

With a population of 5.3 million people, Internet usage at 4 million and mobile phone subscriptions reaching 7.7 million, Singapore has one of the most sophisticated digital landscapes we operate in.

If you have been conscientiously executing the 8 steps from my previous post on growing your twitter followers from 0 to 2,000 in 4 weeks, you should have a sizeable follower base now.

We all know the importance of having up-to-date, effective technology and the competitive advantage it can provide. Many Singaporean companies will invest significant money in implementing new planning software in to their organisations in 2012.

A couple of years back, the fashion industry was not open to the idea of going completely digital. With so many risks involved in the digital element, brands felt that they were putting themselves on the line. In fashion shows, accidents can happen at any moment during the show; models could have tripped or had wardrobe malfunctions, and brands did not want that to jeopardize their image.