JOBS abound even as unemployment looks set to rise. The Health Ministry is hiring.

So are the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Education Ministry. The construction industry is similarly looking for more than a few good men.

The integrated resorts, set to open by 2010, have already started hiring to fill more than 20,000 job vacancies over the next few years.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, gave this assurance when he answered Madam Halimah Yacob, MP (Jurong GRC), in Parliament yesterday.

More importantly, the Government and its tripartite partners have set up the $600 million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, which helps workers retrain and upgrade their skills.

Mr Lim's comments came amid sombre news: Non-oil domestic exports, including electronics and pharmaceuticals, fell last year.

Weaker consumer sentiments among Singaporeans have affected the property market and retailers, who are seeing slower business as consumers rein in spending.

'Unemployment and retrenchments will rise... We expect employment growth to further weaken and job losses to increase, in tandem with the economic slowdown,' Mr Lim said.

Mr Lee Peng Shu, 58, of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said he expects Singaporeans to brace themselves for the onslaught of unemployment.

'Our Government, our people, non-governmental organisations, have worked hard... It's important to prepare ourselves for whatever happens,' he said.

Mr Steven Lee, 43, a clerk, said: 'It's an employers' market now. I hope there're enough jobs to go around.'

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