The last time the economy shrank was in 2001, with bleak prospects for new job-seekers. But the good times came back by 2004.This time, though, many are predicting that the bad times will really hit hard. But belt-tightening may be a hard act for some, especially those aged 30 and below.
Young adults under 30, for instance, make up the fastest-growing age group of debtors in Singapore.
Of 507 people who went to Credit Counselling Singapore for help in the first nine months of this year, 18 per cent were under-30s, up from 8 per cent of 573 people in 2006.
The main reason was overspending. On average, each young adult owed $55,000 - to up to seven creditors.
More of them are running into bankruptcy. In the first four months of this year, people aged 30 and below made up 12 per cent of all bankrupts.
The Sunday Times spoke to 30 undergraduates and 20 young professionals below 30 years old. All but eight were unperturbed by the bleak economic outlook.
Arts undergraduate Derrick Tan, 24, said: 'So what if the economy is not good and I can't get a job? I'll just work as a waiter and live a simple life.'
Marketing executive Angelina Lim, 25, is sure her job will not be affected. 'I don't see people being retrenched in my company. Why should I fear for my job just because the stock market is not doing well?' the business graduate said.
Mr Leong Sze Hian, 59, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, said the young cannot be blamed for being unprepared.
'They are too young to have lived through a bad recession. They probably have read about it and don't know what it is or how bad it can get,' said the financial planner.
Economists warn that the full-blown recession will probably come next year when Singapore bears the full brunt of the global economic slowdown.
The 2001 slump had hit new graduates hard. In a 2003 survey, only seven in 10 graduates in the National University of Singapore's (NUS) 2002 cohort managed to get jobs. The figure was nearly eight in 10 from Nanyang Technological University's 2002 cohort.
All 30 undergraduates interviewed still expect to earn as much as their seniors.
But faculty staff are doing their best to see that they 'get real'. At Singapore Management University (SMU), graduating students are advised to be more pro-active in their job search.
Said Mrs Ruth Chiang, director of SMU's Office of Career Services: 'They may not receive multiple job offers now.'
NUS is encouraging students to adopt an 'open mindset' and consider taking up jobs in other industries or even venture overseas.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on October 26, 2008.
