Local Uni Class of 2020 - COVID19 Batch - Are your lowering your expectations?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Lol being in HR Talent area myself I would say thats a big lie - its not equal to a 1 year probation. Most contract jobs exist because the firm has some project and they need some manpower to fulfill the assignment successfully.

Not all firms do projects 100% of the time, thats why they wont 100% extend your contract or convert you to perm.

The difference with perm is that the responsibility of the perm job is there to fulfill essential BAU functions. Thats why there is more safety net than a contract role.

Being terminated from a perm job is pretty rare unless you do a major fk up or we enter a big recession like this.

Sometimes also you take a contract job, headhunter or HR will use it as leverage to nego. For your next job, they offer you perm job but they dont give u increase of base salary cos its a big **** that youre moving up from contract role so u should be glad to receive on par base salary, or even worse pay cut.

So think carefully before you accept unless you have no other options. Think long term.

y garmen got so many contract 1 yr jobs but so few perm jobs? all the projects are not bau?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

y garmen got so many contract 1 yr jobs but so few perm jobs? all the projects are not bau?

Gahmen is rice bowl job meh? Even the minister and PM is not permanent. 4 years contract pending re election hehe

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Gahmen is rice bowl job meh? Even the minister and PM is not permanent. 4 years contract pending re election hehe

Yes it is an iron rice bowl. The worse that could happen to public servants would be a furlough.

Retrenchment rarely happens.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Gahmen is rice bowl job meh? Even the minister and PM is not permanent. 4 years contract pending re election hehe

Minister and PM job in SG may as well be permanent. No way our society will take the plunge and mature into one where we won't just think of the PAP as the only people fit and worthy to rule and lead Singapore.

Back to topic though, gahmen job IS an iron rice bowl job. VERY UNLIKELY for them to retrench on the scale and suddenness of private sector, and if they do it's more because of internal restructuring and changing of operating ideology than because "times are hard".

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Gahmen is rice bowl job meh? Even the minister and PM is not permanent. 4 years contract pending re election hehe

even if ruling party change, civil service still have to do their jobs what. haha

[sinkingfeeling]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

y garmen got so many contract 1 yr jobs but so few perm jobs? all the projects are not bau?

Gahmen used to be perm jobs, those who became civil/stat board serpents in the 90s have iron rice bowl

Nowadays, even BAU jobs becum contract to cut cost

Originally Posted by sinkingfeeling

Gahmen used to be perm jobs, those who became civil/stat board serpents in the 90s have iron rice bowl

Nowadays, even BAU jobs becum contract to cut cost

yeah now govt only hiring from AM/M onwards. executive all contract jobs

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Lol being in HR Talent area myself I would say thats a big lie - its not equal to a 1 year probation. Most contract jobs exist because the firm has some project and they need some manpower to fulfill the assignment successfully.

Not all firms do projects 100% of the time, thats why they wont 100% extend your contract or convert you to perm.

The difference with perm is that the responsibility of the perm job is there to fulfill essential BAU functions. Thats why there is more safety net than a contract role.

Being terminated from a perm job is pretty rare unless you do a major fk up or we enter a big recession like this.

Sometimes also you take a contract job, headhunter or HR will use it as leverage to nego. For your next job, they offer you perm job but they dont give u increase of base salary cos its a big **** that youre moving up from contract role so u should be glad to receive on par base salary, or even worse pay cut.

So think carefully before you accept unless you have no other options. Think long term.

Are you in private or public sector HR? Cause your explanation seems to represent private practices more.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Are you in private or public sector HR? Cause your explanation seems to represent private practices more.

A contract role is a quick and easy way to cheat on headcount quotas for both public and private sector managers while meeting current business needs.

The upside for the employer is there are none of the usual HR fuss on appraisals/evaluations and there is an easy option to get rid of the employee by just not renewing the contract, instead of going through the tricky process of firing, especially for govt and MNCs where firing someone requires an actual proper process.

The downside for the contract employee is, likely unbeknownst to you, a significant portion of your employment cost is commission taken by your contracting agent, as well as a restrictive contract from your agent that prevents conversion by your employer to permanent roles, no matter how much they like you. Unfortunately, the employer has no say in this as it is accepted market practice.

While a contract role could be a way into the firm that you like, do bear in mind that the restrictions are big buzzkills for the hiring manager to convert you. Many often do not get converted and they get trapped in the contract role for a long time without any personal progress. Very often, people fall into the limbo between 'good enough for me to pay the break cost to convert' and 'bad enough for me to not renew'.

Weigh your opposing needs of needing an immediate job/income vs long term prospects of a permanent role accordingly.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A contract role is a quick and easy way to cheat on headcount quotas for both public and private sector managers while meeting current business needs.

The upside for the employer is there are none of the usual HR fuss on appraisals/evaluations and there is an easy option to get rid of the employee by just not renewing the contract, instead of going through the tricky process of firing, especially for govt and MNCs where firing someone requires an actual proper process.

The downside for the contract employee is, likely unbeknownst to you, a significant portion of your employment cost is commission taken by your contracting agent, as well as a restrictive contract from your agent that prevents conversion by your employer to permanent roles, no matter how much they like you. Unfortunately, the employer has no say in this as it is accepted market practice.

While a contract role could be a way into the firm that you like, do bear in mind that the restrictions are big buzzkills for the hiring manager to convert you. Many often do not get converted and they get trapped in the contract role for a long time without any personal progress. Very often, people fall into the limbo between 'good enough for me to pay the break cost to convert' and 'bad enough for me to not renew'.

Weigh your opposing needs of needing an immediate job/income vs long term prospects of a permanent role accordingly.

Agree on this. Sometimes there isnt a direct restrictive convenant but the firm has to pay the agent (for example if youre contracted under a Recruitment Agency payroll) another lump sum fee if they decided to convert the contractor to perm. So less incentive to convert you too if you're not justifying their money's worth