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Barclays staff are braced for thousands of job losses as part of a far-reaching strategic review designed to cut costs and revitalise its struggling investment bank. Britain’s third biggest bank is expected to announce the job losses, which could amount to as many 15,000, alongside a radical restructuring focused on its investment banking operations. Antony Jenkins, the bank's chief executive, is expected to announce the closure of business areas that were once among the best performing in the bank, including commodities, emerging market fixed income and parts of its operations in continental Europe and Asia. The 300-year-old bank, which operates in 50 countries and employs 140,000 staff, is expected to announce the creation of a new “bad bank” that will oversee the sell-off of the non-core assets. Even so, some analysts have argued that the overhaul won’t be enough to achieve the bank’s profitability targets. In a note on Wednesday, analysts at Citigroup said Barclays may have to delay its target of an 11.5pc return on equity by a year until 2017.

Looks like MOM like to talk co.ck only. Discrimination against Singaporeans still going strong. Just a simple search on job ads reveal many foreigner only positions: So what exactly is MOM doing to stem the flow of discrimination? Or just print motherhood statements in the MSM, and continue shaking legs?

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/03/10/job-placements-decline-despite-record-jobs-vacancies/ Job placements decline, despite record jobs, vacancies? March 10th, 2014 | Author: Contributions I refer to the Department of Statistics’s (DOS) Monthly Digest of Statistics January 2014 released a few days ago. Job placements declining? Under Employment Services – the ratio of New Registrants to Placements has declined from 48% in July to 45, 38 and 33% in October, November and December, respectively. (Note: Placements – Number of people who were placed into employment by the career centres. This includes those who found their own jobs after receiving services from the career centres.) Record jobs, vacancies – but harder to get jobs? With record numbers of job vacancies, vacancies unfilled over 6 months and jobs creation for locals, in the 2 reports published recently by the Ministry of manpower (MOM) – why is it that the job placement rate for locals is declining? No breakdown into Singaporeans & PRs? Why is there no breakdown of the job placement statistics into Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs)? Previous Job placement rate just over 10%? However, according to previous Monthly Digest of Statistics’ reports, the ratio of Job Seekers Placed in Employment to Job Seekers Attended To was 14%, 18% and 12%, for 2011, 2012 and December 2012, respectively. More or less job seekers? Job seekers dropped from 100,504 to 24,500? According to media reports, “between January and November 2012, the number of people approaching the CDCs for training and employment assistance was 24,500, a 3 per cent drop compared to the same period in 2011. The success rates of those being placed into employment has also been higher in 2012. 11,800 were placed into jobs between January and November 2012, compared to 10,100 for the same period in 2011″ However, according to the Department of Statistics’ (DOS) Monthly Digest of Statistics Singapore June 2012, job seekers attended to by the CDCs and e2i, was 99,608 and 100,504, in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and job seekers placed in employment was 17,732 and 14,223, respectively. (“Easier to get jobs?“, Sep 7 and “Latest statistical highlights: Job placement rate drops to 14%, Jul 17) “Job seekers attended to” changed to “New Registrants”? It would appear that the Monthly Digest of Statistics was changed to “New Registrants”, instead of ”job seekers attended to”. This change has resulted in a dramatic increase of the job placement rate from 14 and 18 per cent in 2011 and 2012, respectively, to 36 and 49 per cent. What is the definition and difference between “New Registrants” and ”job seekers attended to”? Was this change announced to anybody? Job placement rate increase 172% (by magic)? So, this change has literally “by the stroke of a pen” increased the job placement rate in 2011 and 2012 by 157 per cent (36 divided by 14) and 172 per cent (49 divided by 18), respectively. So, how is it possible that 100,504 job seekers attended to by the CDCs and e2i in 2011, has dropped dramatically to only 24,500 job seekers approaching CDCs in 11 months (excluding e2i?)? Uniquely Singapore! Leong Sze Hian Leong Sze Hian is the Past President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an alumnus of Harvard University, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow and an author of 4 books. He is frequently quoted in the media. He has also been invited to speak more than 100 times in 25 countries on 5 continents. He has served as Honorary Consul of Jamaica, Chairman of the Institute of Administrative Management, and founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Brunei and Indonesia. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional qualifications. He blogs at www.leongszehian.com.

LONDON— Barclays PLC on Tuesday said it will cut up to 12,000 jobs this year as it reshapes its operations and grapples with a major slowdown in its investment bank. The bank, which has been selling loan portfolios and pulling out of European retail banking, posted a widened net loss of £642 million ($1.05 billion) for the fourth quarter, from £589 million in the last three months of 2012. Underlying profit for the full year fell to £5.17 billion from £7.60 billion, reflecting £1.2 billion in restructuring costs and lower revenue across the group. Barclays's investment-banking unit, usually its main profit generator, posted a rare quarterly operating loss of £329 million on higher expenses and declining fixed-income revenue. Fixed-income trading across the industry dried up last year as clients sat out uncertain markets. Despite the unit's stuttering performance, pay rose for many of Barclays's 26,200 investment-banking staff, with the unit's bonus pool up 13%. Restructuring costs hit other parts of Barclays, too, with the U.K. retail bank suffering a 40% fall in operating profit in the fourth quarter as jobs were cut and the bank started opening outlets in supermarkets. Losses widened in Europe, where the bank laid off 1,600 staff and shut 500 branches. Barclays's credit-card business also saw a slump in operating profit from adverse currency effects and rising expenses. Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins said the bank will continue to crack down on costs wherever possible and is taking "bold decisions" to reposition its business. He laid out a restructuring program a year ago to exit unprofitable businesses and shave £1.7 billion from the bank's annual cost base. So far, the program has cost Barclays £1.2 billion, including technology investments aimed at moving more customers online and out of branches. This year, the bank will reduce its 139,600-strong workforce by up to 9%. Around 7,000 of the job cuts will be in Britain, with the rest spread across its global operations. Some of the cuts will be at the highest level, Mr. Jenkins said, with 220 managing directors facing the ax. Barclays's decision to increase staff bonuses for 2013 despite lower revenue and profit prompted a backlash. "It cannot be right in any business for the executive bonus pool to be nearly three times bigger than the total dividend pay out to the company's owners," said Roger Barker, director of corporate governance at the Institution of Directors. "In 2013, the bank paid out £859 million in dividends compared to a staff bonus pool of £2.38 billion. The question must be asked—for whom is this institution being run?" Mr. Jenkins said the decision to increase the bonus pool from last year "is entirely appropriate for the long-term interests of our shareholders and I believe it to be consistent with our values to make sure Barclays is a sustainable enterprise." Analysts said the fourth-quarter and full-year figures largely met their expectations, following earlier guidance from the bank on how the numbers would stack up. Analysts at Espirito Santo said Barclays is doing a good job at improving its leverage ratio, a measure of equity to total assets, with around £140 billion in assets taken off the balance sheet since June and another net £60 billion reduction flagged by the bank Tuesday for completion next year. Some analysts were concerned, however, that toughened capital rules in the U.K. and Europe mean it will take longer than expected for the bank to start paying out higher dividends. The bank's shares fell 4%.

from yahoo : New jobs laws bite into Singapore food outlets, rents Singapore's restrictions on importing foreign labor have made it tough for the city-state's retailers and food outlets to find workers, limiting expansion plans and damping retail rents. "Almost everyone is facing labor problems," said Alan Cheong, senior director for Singapore at real-estate service provider Savills, citing feedback from the company's retail team. The Singapore government, which has faced public opposition to the country's liberal immigration policies, has announced a slew of measures this year to limit the influx of foreign workers to ease pressures on the public transportation system and housing cost increases. Foreigners - which make up almost 40 percent of Singapore's population of 5.4 million - are an important source of cheap employment, particularly for the country's manufacturing, construction and services sectors. "It's holding back the expansion plans of tenants and as a result of that, the demand for space was lacking in the third quarter. That caused rents to be a bit soft," Cheong said. Savills noted rents for the third quarter in the prime Orchard Road shopping belt slipped 1.5 percent from the second quarter, while the vacancy rate rose to 7.7 percent from 7.3 percent a quarter earlier. The company attributes the developments to the foreign labor restrictions stymieing retailers' expansion plans. read more of the stories, link : http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/jobs-laws-bite-singapore-food-232916973.html Prepare for a $10/- a bowl of fishball noodle or $2.50 per cup of kopi sui-tai at a normal coffee shop ....

I know there are many many rich people in Singapore but i am really curious what kind of job will give you more than 200k per annum. For the sake of discussion, let us just exclude 1) business man or self employed 2) MLM 3) insurance/ppty/car agents Easy guesses are inventment bankers, laywers, doctors, pilots, professors... but what else?

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. stepped up the pace of bank cost cutting, setting plans to eliminate 17,000 jobs by the end of next year and reduce expenses by at least $1 billion annually. The move announced Tuesday by the New York company, the nation's most profitable bank in 2012 and the biggest U.S. lender by assets, will reduce its staff by 6.5% in one of the most aggressive reductions to date amid widespread financial-industry cutbacks. J.P. Morgan is considered among the healthiest of the big U.S. banks, but the cuts show that even it isn't immune to the struggle that is dragging down results at financial companies of all stripes

If our childhood dream jobs come true, maybe fire brigade, smrt, etc will have too many drivers? Can mr Heng tell teachers in schools to in-cul-gate the right mindsets to school kids that these are honorable, unselfish, public serving jobs that the nation needs? More interestingly, how many of us are actually working in our dream job now, or at least have done it before? Or our current job is good only for the pay but sucks? Or bad pay plus sickening? I do come across people whose job is what they like and these are quite happy workers, they have my envy Btw, I have no childhood dream job coz my parents killed it before I could repeat it: prime minister If money no issues, what kind of jobs we really like? Or just be a Tibetant, jobless also ok

Citigroup Inc. C +6.33% set plans to cut 11,000 jobs in the giant bank's first major strategic shift since Michael Corbatsucceeded Vikram Pandit as chief executive in October. The move, announced Wednesday, is the latest illustration of the immense pressure on big banks to take action in response to stagnant revenue and weak stock prices. The decision also shows the company's cost-cutting focus under Chairman Michael O'Neill, a banking veteran who took over for Richard Parsons in April and was known in his past jobs for recommending tough medicine. More than half the cuts will take place in the company's global consumer-banking unit, where Citigroup will close 84 branches around the world, including 44 in the U.S. Citi expects to sell or substantially scale back consumer lending in Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey and Uruguay. The company will cut 6,200 jobs in that unit. Citigroup also will cut 1,900 jobs in its securities and banking and transaction-services businesses, with most of those cuts coming in operations and technological-support jobs, and 2,300 jobs in corporate services, real estate and a unit that holds businesses the company is trying to sell or wind down. The New York company said the reductions will save $900 million next year and $1.1 billion annually starting in 2014, while reducing annual revenue by just $300 million or so. Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach, at a Goldman Sachs GS +0.47% financial-services conference, said the cuts are "a fairly comprehensive initial foray" and "part of a continuum" of business reviews and cost cuts by Mr. Corbat's management team. "What you can expect is a continuing examination of every one of our businesses," Mr. Gerspach said. "We will constantly seek new areas to improve efficiency." The decision is the latest sign of banks slimming down amid soft economic growth, uneven markets and tough rules limiting bank profits. Citigroup shares have risen 35% this year but are down 26% since the end of 2010, amid a broad slowdown in markets businesses whose revival after the financial crisis helped bolster major bank stocks. Of the six giant U.S. banking companies, only Wells Fargo WFC +0.73% & Co. shares trade above the company's reported book value, a measure of net worth. Citigroup shares surged 7.1% in Wednesday afternoon trade to $36.71. The cuts stand to make Citigroup, which before the financial crisis had by far the largest workforce among U.S. banks, the smallest of the big four U.S. commercial banks by employment, with around 250,000 workers. J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM +1.55% & Co., Bank of America Corp. BAC +5.66% and Wells Fargo each had at least 259,000 employees at Sept. 30. Citigroup said it would take a $1 billion fourth-quarter charge to cover the costs of the moves. The sweeping cuts are Mr. Corbat's first stamp on the bank as CEO. Mr. Pandit, 55 years old, departed in October following a clash with the board over strategy and performance, according to senior bank executives and advisers. Mr. Corbat, 52, was told a few weeks earlier that a change was possible by Mr. O'Neill. Mr. Pandit's resignation came after a series of missteps this year left some directors feeling that the company wasn't being managed effectively and that the board wasn't kept adequately informed, according to those executives and advisers. Citigroup shares dropped 89% over Mr. Pandit's tenure, and the company was hit this year by a shareholder revolt over executive pay, by the Federal Reserve's rejection of its plan to buy back stock and by a $2.9 billion write-down of a brokerage joint venture withMorgan Stanley MS +2.23% . Mr. O'Neill, 65, became Citigroup chairman in April and immediately began taking a closer interest in operations, in contrast to Mr. Parsons's focus on the job's diplomatic aspects. In a memorandum to staff after his appointment, Mr. Corbat said he would make "changes" after taking time to review the company and its structures. Mr. Corbat had spent a significant part of his recent career at Citi shrinking the bank, particularly its consumer-lending businesses, and dumping derivatives tied to mortgages. Before being elevated to the CEO post, Mr. Corbat ran Citi Holdings, an operating unit the bank formed to house businesses slated for disposal. The news of the layoffs comes as banks and securities firms scramble to tighten their belts to keep pace with shrinking revenue. Salaries, benefits and other compensation at 32 large, publicly traded U.S. financial companies are on track to hit a record $207 billion in 2012, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal based on data through Sept. 30. But revenue likely will decline for the second consecutive year, dragged down by the lumbering economy and skittishness among many investors and borrowers. Barring a surprise turnaround, revenue is on pace to total $561 billion, down 7.2% from its 2010 peak.

What did the result indicate? 1. People now are more contended, focusing more on work-life balance (but still no baby!) 2. Dun earn too much cos it makes you less happy! 3. Desk bound jobs are more stressful! 4. 5. 6. :huh:

Top Ten paying jobs in Singapore I dont know if this writer is playing a joke or what

Hi Bros My Edix is over 5 years old! And COE is so high! So, time for some major servicing/ repair jobs. Anyone come across reliable workshop that specialized in this model? Guess, many Edix owners are having similar thoughts like mine. Cheers!

In an interview conducted by the Straits Times today on the expatriates working in Singapore, 37 year old Ms Zimmermann felt that Singaporeans are generally friendly to foreigners though some harbor anti-foreigner sentiments, that is to be expected.

See the similarity? http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/why-a...=rss_topStories

Adobe pulls plug on Flash for mobile Posted: 10 November 2011 0615 hrs Photos1 of 1 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/tec...164453/1/.html#http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/tec...164453/1/.html#2 NEW YORK: US software maker Adobe pulled the plug Wednesday on its Flash player for mobile browsers, which Apple's late chief executive Steve Jobs refused to allow on the iPhone and iPad. Adobe announced in a blog post it would concentrate future development efforts on the HTML5 format, which was favoured by Jobs over the Flash player widely used to view videos online. "However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively," Adobe general manager of interactive development Danny Winokur said in a blog post. "This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms. "We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook," he added. Winokur said he was "excited" about the move, and vowed to work with companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM "to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers." In contrast to the iPad, tablet computers powered by Android, the operating system from Google, and the PlayBook from RIM are capable of running Flash and this ability has been touted as a selling point by their manufacturers. Adobe's Flash announcement came a day after the San Jose, California-based company said it was cutting 750 jobs, nearly eight percent of its workforce. The firm said it was eliminating the positions in North America and Europe as part of a restructuring that will see Adobe devote more resources to digital media and marketing. Besides Flash, other well-known Adobe products include Photoshop and Adobe Reader, which manages PDF files. Adobe shares were down 8.76 percent at $27.76 on Wall Street in mid-day trading on Wednesday.

October 30, 2011 A Sister

sg.news.yahoo.com Google can only hope that Steve Jobs' final vendetta doesn't haunt the Internet search leader from his grave... "The main thing I stressed was to focus," Jobs told Isaacson about his conversation with Page. "Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It's now all over the map. What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest because they're dragging you down. They're turning you into Microsoft. They're causing you to turn out adequate products that are adequate but not great." This is what i called a Great Visionary. Steve is not just a phone maker. He makes great products, which make others to copycat him; like Andriod....... LOL

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-cofoun...28tZm91bg--?x=0 RIP to this great man..

I understand it is quite an odd topic. But as a forum that entertains idea, what is your take? 1) Both has an obsession for control 2) Jobs has close relationship with international media (creation, publishing) 3) Jobs is very influential to the tech world. 4) In terms of market cap, Apple is very big. 5) Eco system is quite proprietary 6) Jobs has been crown person of the decade , man of the year by several influential opinion leaders/ groups. 6) Tributes after death, 5 years after death, 10 years, 25 years, how many (non-family members) can still remember, appreciate them?

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma

Hi bros, any lobang on getting painters to paint my house? My friend gave me a lobang but he return back to his home country liao. Trying to save some cost as my contractor is charging me $1400 for painting the whole house... Cheers.

a friend ran a recruitment ad for sales since 2 months ago. according to her, based on almost 50 plus applications, only 5 are Singaporeans, rest all phinoys and mix of indian FT.... told her maybe yr end all wait for bonus. she say singaporean asking sky high pay with no relevant experience and some phinoys and the indians FT, with experience, offer to take 20%-30% less than what the company is willing to give.. the company is offering 2.2-2.4k per month. no wonder we are overrun. they are willing to accept less for more..........

Some say such jobs will bore a person to death?? 1. Beauty contest judge 2. Car mag tester 3. Massage 'specialist' in all-lady club 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Tailor who do make-to-MEASURE customised lingeries....

After knowing what food you crave for will affect your health, now the job that you do that likely to cause depression