The top 10 companies Singaporeans love to work for

Not much has changed since last year when it comes to the companies Singaporeans want to work for.

Google retains its position as the most desired company among locals, according to a survey by JobStreet.com.

Apple and Singapore Airlines follow at second and third place respectively. The survey involved respondents across different sectors such as administration, accounting, engineering and media communications.

Human Resources attended the presentation ceremony of Singapore’s Top 10 Favourite Companies Award held last Friday at Republic Plaza, organised by JobStreet.com.

Here were the top 10 companies Singaporeans aspire to work for, as revealed at the ceremony:
1. Google
2. Apple
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Facebook
5. Shell
6. ExxonMobil
7. Microsoft
8. Changi Airport Group
9. Proctor & Gamble
10. Keppel Corporation

JobStreet.com explained the research was conducted keeping in mind the Ministry of Manpower’s vision to “develop a productive workforce and progressive workplaces for Singaporeans to have better jobs and secure retirement”.

Speaking exclusively to Human Resources at the presentation ceremony, Ho Geok Choo, chief executive officer of Human Capital (Singapore) discussed the type of jobs Singapore's economic climate is currently creating and the skills sets required by locals to fulfill them.

"Many of the new jobs that have evolved have been automated, and digitised. Singaporeans may not be ready with the skill sets needed to do justice to these roles, but they certainly have to pursue programmes to re-skill themselves for relevance.

"I believe that with the strong-will of the Singapore spirit and with so much investment put in by the government in terms of training programmes, we should be able to have a ready pool soon. In the meantime, I would still say we need foreign talent to fill in the gaps to augment the Singapore core. It makes sense to do this because we need the foreign talent who have such prized skill sets to transfer their skills sets to locals."

When asked what local HR professionals should do to make their workforce more skill-savvy, she said that "first and foremost HR practitioners have to re-skill themselves".

"Many jobs are going to be obsolete and be replaced. In that situation, HR professionals will need to look at these developments and re-look at how HR practices have to change in different industries. They will have to re-design the hiring practices, and learning programmes to suit the needs of their respective industries."

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The survey also delved into the top factors locals look out for when choosing an employer, and those that make these 10 companies so attractive.

A positive work environment and great leadership took precedence over elements such as salary among local job-seekers, it found.

"72.1% of the interviewees voted work culture, management and leadership as the key factor when reviewing a potential company," the survey stated.

The second most important factor was found to be benefits and incentives, such as performance-based bonuses, healthcare insurance as well as car and housing loans.
Other elements included company reputation, support and training, promotion prospects as well as passion.

At the ceremony, Jake Andrew, chief product officer of SEEK Asia, and JobStreet.com's country manager for Singapore also discussed with Human Resources on the elements HR leaders should keep in mind when designing an employer branding strategy.

"The most important thing is to ask your employees what they like and what they don't like, and be transparent with the results," he said.

"Employees like the transparency, they like the accountability and they like the fact that you take action about what they say. There are ways to [garner such feedback] - it can be informal, anecdotal. Generally, I think the most important thing is to maintain neutrality in the process. You can make it anonymous. I think that's better than sitting employees down and asking them where I'm going wrong."

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