Just a couple of days ago I was having a call with an ex-schoolmate who's currently pursuing a bachelor's degree locally and will be graduating this year. We chatted about how gloomy is the economic situation and how it would be difficult for their batch of Class 2020 to find a job.
The job market was already bad even before the Covid-19 crisis, given that I had already witnessed some of my good friends from local unis with stellar results taking more than a year to land a job, with the longest being 17 months.
And it's not like those lucky ones who got a job are well compensated. For instance, one of my friends who is an NTU graduate holding a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics with First Class Honours is getting $2,500 as his starting salary when he was finally offered a job in a Japanese MNC after months of job hunting.
But the situation now is worse.
Aside from the over 8,600 businesses which ceased or file to cease operations in April, most of the companies that's still trying to weather the storm stopped hiring and allocated extra workload to the remaining staff they did not lay off, joking that they should count themselves lucky for still having the opportunity to be overworked.
So the labour market is now influx with people who were laid off, ex-fresh graduates who have been seeking for a job since last year, and people with contracts who found themselves jobless after missing the last opportunity to convert to perm.
The competition for Class of 2020 is indeed a rough one.
As someone without a degree and is not working in HR, I won't be dishing out advice here because I have taken an alternative path of bracing the workforce without a degree, and am still lucky enough to keep my job even though I'm not in essential services (I really think it's pure luck for me, but hey, luck can be a competitive advantage too)
So what I will do is share some real-life experiences of what some of my pending-for jobs friends have done and their views about it:
1) Further their studies
For those who can afford it, or rather, those whose family can afford it, have started to explore their options to pursue a graduate qualification, be it a graduate certificate, graduate diploma or even a master.
To my surprise, the graduate diploma is a very popular choice because it is cheaper, lesser commitment and takes a shorter time to finish, and in case you still haven't found a job by the end of the course, you can still stack the credits for the masters.
It also allows you to have an opportunity to learn something irrelevant to your major, so you could decide if you want to commit to it for your masters.
Another perk that was mentioned is, not only will you give the impression that you have the lifelong learning and diligent attitude, you will also not be deemed as overqualified for a job, which increases your chance of getting hired.
For those who have a limited budget, they opted for MOOC or certified online classes from Coursera to pick up some skills such as Python, digital marketing, economics, and data analytics in the hope that it will be appreciated by their next potential employer.
2) Change industry or bring it online
We have seen the news about it. This crisis threatens the livelihood of the following but not limited to the airline, tourism, F&B, entertainment, retail, private education, manufacturing industry.
But bills, mortgage and education loans still have to get paid and to many, they still have mouths to feed.
And in times where it's an "adapt, evolve or die" situation, they either look for temp/ad-hoc jobs in essential services such as food delivery rider and temperature screener or try to bring their profession/ side hustle online with property agents providing consultation via Zoom and virtual tours and music teachers and private tutors offering classes online.
3) Trying to dabble into the stock market/ cryptocurrencies/ FX
The market is volatile. From the bull in the bear clothing for the stock market and the roller coaster ride with cryptocurrencies to the FX sentiments based on macros, some friends have started to test the water with their pocket money saved from their student life or some savings from their contract jobs.
Perhaps it's because they are young and adventurous or maybe it's just because the amount is small, usually a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousands, they are very willing to take the risk and try a variety of investment products.
In their theory, "If you lose money, it just that small capital you have put in, but if the market goes well, you can earn a lot from these trades"
4) Tentatively doing absolutely nothing about it
Aforementioned, the purpose of this post is not to dish advice but to share what some of the people do while they are still pending for jobs.
Not uncommon, quite a number of friends chose to do nothing but enjoying their time at home as a NEET( Not in Employment, Education or Training) with their family. They see it as the last guilt-free long vacation they could have before they have to start working once the economy recovers.
In their perspective, furthering education is just going to add financial burdens to their family and taking odd jobs in essential services will just increase their chance of exposure to the virus.
Furthermore, they confessed that after studying for a good two decades of their lives they just want to enjoy like how a primary school kid would in a December holiday (Have you really seen how kids nowadays actually spend their holidays?), and as a graduate, they don't want to be paid as low as a Poly grad (ahem??) or work in a mundane job that's just wasting their time.
In their words, "Now's the only time when you can contribute to society by doing absolutely nothing at all"
Of course, this comes at the expenses of their parents who are still working and could still afford to take care of them. And their parents are very understanding and willing to let them enjoy their last vacation because they know it first hand that the economy is really bad and it's difficult to find a job.
So what do they do at home then? I asked.
Playing video games, binge-watching Korean/American/Japanese drama or movies, helping out with house chores, watching YouTube videos, swiping Instagram and repaying the sleep debt from their uni lives or wage slaves lives.
Probably a life that many people would envy.
When I asked some of them if they have started to look for jobs, they said no, because it's not worth the effort. Aside from the fact that tons of companies are on the verge of closing down and not a lot of jobs with fair pay are available in the market anyway so what's the point? It's probably better to just wait till at least Singapore has completely reopened before starting to apply for jobs.
???? Really????
Is there no sense of urgency in look for jobs at all even if there is no dependent or financial commitment? I'm starting to think that responsibilities or even some debt may be good if that drives some motivation in people.
What about the opportunity cost of not earning money to save up for investments?
Or the utility and the meals they consume?
Don't they spare a thought on how to at least recover their consumption and help to lessen the burden on their family as quickly as possible while their parents are weathering the storm outside?
"My parents can afford it anyway" They added.
Now I'm jealous.
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