S'poreans prefer relocation to 45-minute commute to work

Business Times - 13 May 2008


S'poreans prefer relocation to 45-minute commute to work

By CHUANG PECK MING

WORKERS in Singapore will grumble if they have to commute some distance to work. Yet they will readily pack their bags and hop on a plane to fly to the ends of the earth to find 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 indicated they were not prepared to commute more than 45 minutes each way to work.

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,' said 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, fell into the younger age group, 25-34 years, according to the poll.

'Typically, they have fewer family and other commitments that prevent them from relocating,' Kelly said in a media release yesterday. 'Males were more willing to relocate than females.'

'Family' was the overwhelming issue when workers polled were asked to rank the main obstacles for them to work overseas. Seventy-two per cent of those polled cited the family factor.

Other 'complicating factors' were language barriers (49 per cent), children's schooling (27 per cent), tax complications (24 per cent), property ownership (20 per cent) and pension/superan-nuation 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.'

Two in five of the workers polled also indicated they would like to shift from the place they now live and work before they retired.

'This suggests that significant numbers of people will be actively looking to change their jobs, homes and lifestyles, with implications for employment, urban planning and transport infrastructure,' Mr Shantilal said.

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.