Job vacancies in the Civil Service

Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on job vacancies in the Civil Service

Parliamentary Sitting Date: 20 July 2009

Mr Seah Kian Peng: To ask the Prime Minister in light of the Civil Service’s announcement that it will be looking to fill 18,000 jobs in the next two years, whether he will provide an update on the number of new hires in the Public Service.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Prime Minister if any of the 18,000 public sector jobs to be created are already available and, if so, (i) what publicity campaigns have been conducted to raise awareness of these job vacancies; (ii) how many of these jobs have been taken up; and (iii) how many people have applied so far.

Oral Reply (for the Prime Minister) by Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister in charge of the Civil Service, and Minister for Defence:

I informed members in February this year that the Public Service expects to hire 18,000 persons over the next two years. I also informed members that we would continue to hire people with the right skills, values and attitudes, and would not compromise standards. 

Numbers Hired

From January to May this year, the Public Service and related agencies hired a total of 13,083 persons.  This comprises 7,485 officers in the ministries and statutory boards, 3,869 in the Restructured Hospitals, 1,438 in the universities and 291 kindergarten teachers.  The numbers recruited include both fresh school leavers and mid-career officers.

The majority of those hired in the public sector were employed by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).  We expect the total number recruited to continue to increase in the coming months as government agencies are still actively recruiting.

Publicity on Available Jobs

To increase public awareness on the jobs available, government agencies have been conducting recruitment talks, career fairs, career seminars and exhibitions.  Agencies have also worked with partners like the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and NTUC to match suitable candidates in their database to public sector jobs.  For example, recently in June, five government agencies (LTA, NEA, MOM, WDA & MFA) partnered the Southwest Community Development Council (CDC) to hold a recruitment drive targeting Professionals, Managers, Executives  and Technicians for 300 of their vacancies.

The public sector has a central job portal at www.vog.gov.sg.  Job seekers can easily view vacancies for jobs across all government agencies at this website and apply for jobs.  The portal also contains information about upcoming recruitment events and career talks.

The public sector still has vacancies in the education and healthcare sectors, and in the security agencies like the Home Team and MINDEF.  We welcome capable and committed Singaporeans to come forward to take up these positions.