THE job market today may be tough if you're looking for full-time work, but a contract position could well be your next best option amid the current economic downturn.
According to a new survey by global recruiter Robert Half International, just over one in two Singapore companies (52 per cent) said that they saw senior-level contract finance professionals as a viable staffing solution in a slowing economy - the highest rate among the 17 countries polled.
Nearly nine in 10 (88 per cent) said that they were open to hiring such professionals, well ahead of countries such as the United Kingdom (68 per cent), Australia (64 per cent) and Japan (29 per cent). 49 per cent of Singapore firms also said that they saw this trend of hiring contract staff increasing in the near future.
According to Robert Half Singapore's managing director Tim Hird, these latest findings in the Global Workplace Survey 2008 also revealed that companies want to bring in contract staff 'for specific projects or peak activity periods, making their engagement a variable rather than a fixed cost'.
He added that there has been a rise in demand for contract professionals in the past few months, as payroll costs account for about 40 per cent of a company's fixed costs, causing many bosses to be cautious about increasing their permanent headcount.
When asked why they felt contract professionals were becoming increasingly popular to recruit, Singapore companies cited reasons such as the ability to gain access to specialised skills, and a growing need to be more cost-efficient during the slowdown.
Said Mr Hird: 'Companies that hire senior-level contract finance professionals obtain immediate access to specialist skills and experience, which is especially critical for strategic turnkey projects. Companies can benefit from the added objectivity these consultants bring to their projects, as well as more effectively manage their costs.'
This is the first time Singapore has been included in Robert Half's global workplace survey since it was first launched in 2004. In all, nearly 5,000 finance and human resources were polled in countries, including France, Switzerland and New Zealand.
Among the companies in Singapore that have benefited from hiring a senior contract finance professional is IMS Health Asia, a business intelligence provider for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
The company had an urgent need to fill a position for one of its projects for a short term, and preferred not to hire a permanent employee due to the timeline and the one-off nature of the project.
Said IMS Health's director and finance leader Leigh Jason: 'It made sense to engage a senior-level contract professional for this particular project. Utilising this targeted approach, we were able to plug the resource into the project with minimal ramp-up time and realised immediate productivity.'
This article was first published in The Business Times on December 11, 2008.
