S'poreans prefer to relocate than travel 45 mins to work

[Jho0001]

Read the below article in Asia One...are people really so niave?

 

They are highly mobile but prefer to relocate than travel 45 mins to work! doesnt make sense? plus commuting time in Europe is on average probably far longer than in Singapore...who write these stupid articles?

 

 

S'poreans prefer to relocate than travel 45 mins to work

 

WORKERS in Singapore will grumble if they have to commute some distance to work, but they will readily pack their bags and fly to the ends of the earth for the right job, according to a poll by Kelly Services.

 

Two in three of more than 2,000 employees here polled by the recruitment firm said they were not prepared to commute more than 45 minutes each way to work, The Business Times reported yesterday.

 

Nearly eight in 10 of those polled would consider relocating to another country to work.

 

This shows that despite their reluctance to spend more time commuting, Singapore workers are highly mobile when it comes to securing the right job.

 

More than half - 56 per cent - of the workers polled were even ready to uproot and move to unfamiliar territories where they don't speak the local lingo.

 

'With a more globalised workforce, there is increasingly a recognition that people may have to relocate to find the right work, or to advance their career,' saidMr Dhirendra Shantilal, Kelly's senior vice-president for Asia-Pacific.

 

'There are many skills that are easily transferable across borders, including in areas such as banking and finance, IT, science and engineering.'

 

Those willing to move, not surprisingly, are in the younger age group of 25 to 34.

 

'Typically, they have fewer family and other commitments that prevent them from relocating,' said Kelly Services.

 

'Males were more willing to relocate than females.'

 

It added that 'family' was the overwhelming issue when workers polled were asked to rank the main obstacles for them to work overseas, with 72 per cent citing it as a factor.

 

Other factors were language barriers (49 per cent), children's education (27 per cent), tax complications (24 per cent), property ownership (20 per cent) and pension/super-annuation rights (14 per cent).

 

'The finding that many workers are willing to be highly mobile in their search for work is good news for employers,' Kelly said.

 

'At a time of relative skills shortage, globally, targeting employees from another city or internationally can be one of the most effective ways of filling gaps in the labour market.'

 

Some 13 per cent of the workers polled said that they had already relocated to a country where they did not speak the language to find the right job.

[Testa_ross4]

The increase in pay makes the difference. I would not travel 45 minutes to work for little or no pay difference but would gladly relocate at 5 times what I am getting.

[Mustank]

 

[Nolicense]

another "nation building" article.. zero common sense.

[Ultramega]

Relocating is a one-off thing. Travelling 45mins to work is a daily thing. I don't see the link. Nothing wrong with having preference over the former mah.

[Blackyv]

the message to me is more like more people will not hesitate to be a "quiter" if the offer is right.....period.. no so much about "who enjoy our world class public transportation 45mins ride.."

[Perrier]

I guess that are missing the tangible benefits that comes with working abroad.

 

It is disappointing that the artile does not address the two sides of the story.

 

Most of us will consider the monetory, exposure, experience, market value aspect when working out of Singapore. Today, you can hire anyone from any part of the world so that really increase the competition and qualification of a job.

 

Personally, there is no value added to travel 45mins more for the same pay and job nature. Also, the report never compared the opportunity of the job offered, better or same.

[Perrier]

Today, even big MNC are not offering expatriate benefits for family of the hired.

 

If the package is good, I am sure it will solved most of the problems highlighted.

[Boyboy]

i think more than 45 mins is too long to commute to work. just MHO. but i may have to do that, LPPL

 

imagine 1.5 hours commuting each day. pubic tpt free-flowing nvm, one can still read or do work. but 1.5 hours squeezing butts and getting butt squeeze, or crawling in traffic? i'd rather move house

 

of course, must consider overall tpt needs of the family. imagine if everyone lives in THEIR optimal location, less strain on land transport

 

of course that's in the ideal and impossible world. but doesn't mean that since pple like to chiong for "good location", one must follow, esp if one works at those weird location like airport or tuas

 

but navy and air force folk damn scary. cos at either end of the island.. so better not do anything rash (like move to boon lay, wait kena posted to changi naval base!!)

[Minicop]

I think the 45mins might not be on our world class transport. It would be on your own private transport. Most properly if in the world class transport, it would take 2 hours. Most of the time you are being given free tour to half of Singapore daily.

[Boyboy]

ya lor. relocate may well be less painful than 45 mins daily.

 

but imagine if u relocate, same pay, weird culture weird food, then still long commute.

[Blackyv]

yahor...imagine for a less than 10Km trip from punggol to amk, i need just 20-25mins MAX on peak hours with driving (1 ever hit lesser than 15mins during school holiday period with all traffic lights to my advantage..) but imagine smelly smelly 1.5hrs on bus for the same distance if lucky with no rain/accident and dont talk about MRT since it's dumb to go south and back north with MRT......

[Kezg1]

Do you really believed all that you read . Just like when MIW plucked figures fr thin air to justify....

[Apollo]

they must hv made a mistake with the poll.. i think most SGeans prefer to vote out dumbo for creating so much traffic jams and yet not doing enuff and fast enuff to solve it.

[Chongster]

yeah, there's a big campaign now to show that singaporeans are spoilt and pampered and therefore we need FT/shouldn't be hostile to FT etc. this is just an attempt to slowly insidiously poison the mind of the public.

[Tiger21]

Maybe its something wrong with our world class transport system??

 

I have a Japanese friend who used to travel 2hrs (via train) to work in japan and feels nothing of it, but now in Singapore, a daily 45min MRT ride to work is irritating to her...

 

People dun change that fast... So it must be the environment

[Beei]

No, you are right.. It is the world class environment that make you feel irritated.. esp the smelly, leaking world class train.. and that irritating voice on the PA system..

[Minicop]

yahor...imagine for a less than 10Km trip from punggol to amk, i need just 20-25mins MAX on peak hours with driving (1 ever hit lesser than 15mins during school holiday period with all traffic lights to my advantage..) but imagine smelly smelly 1.5hrs on bus for the same distance if lucky with no rain/accident and dont talk about MRT since it's dumb to go south and back north with MRT......

 

Yes, it hard to travel in the world class public transport. They just do mary go round and trying to make you see a lot of place of SG. It is fine for 1 or 2 days but for daily that is killing. Which they can have something like HK. Mini bus that go short distance and direct to the destination.