We have received positive feedback from the public and readers about our recent move to increase the wages of our non-executive staff in support of the National Wage Council’s recommendations. At the same time, we have received questions about our recruitment policy and would like to take the opportunity to share more about this.
As a social enterprise of the Labour Movement, FairPrice’s recruitment policy has always been to hire Singaporeans first and to maintain a primarily local workforce.
As such, about 90 percent of NTUC FairPrice staff comprise Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PR).
In fact, over 80 percent of our total workforce are Singapore citizens.
Over 40 job fairs and walk-in interviews per month to attract locals
As we open more stores to serve our customers better, we also need to hire new employees and we have been advertising these vacancies locally to hire Singaporeans and PRs. We also work with various agencies like Community Development Councils, e2i, various polytechnics, and ITEs on our recruitment campaigns.
Every month, we hold about 40 job fairs at community centres and clubs as well as walk-in interview sessions at FairPrice outlets around the island. At such job fairs, our staff are on hand to address any concerns which job-seekers’ may have.
10 percent of staff are foreign to augment local workforce
Despite all our local recruitment efforts, we still face some manpower shortage. In order to continue to serve our customers well, we have to augment the local workforce with workers from overseas like Malaysia and China. About 10 percent of our staff are from overseas, which is a fraction of the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRCs) set for the Service Sector.
Wages of non-executives increased by up to 15.8 percent
To ensure that the salaries we offer are competitive and in tandem with economic and market conditions in Singapore, we recently announced that non-executive staff will get up to 15.8 percent in wage increment and adjustment. This means that the monthly gross wage (including allowances and bonuses, excluding overtime pay) of a full time non-executive staff at FairPrice, such as Retail Assistants and Cashiers, will move up from a range of $1,080 to $2,095, to a range of $1,200 to $2,200. With this effort, we hope to also attract more Singaporeans to join our FairPrice family.
We also review each employee’s remuneration package yearly. Welfare benefits that we provide for our staff include staff discount on purchases at FairPrice stores, comprehensive medical benefits and study grants for their children.
FairPrice hires on merit
FairPrice recruits employees on the basis of merit, such as skills, experience or ability to perform the job, regardless of race, age, gender and religion.
Apart from this, as a retailer, we also look for candidates who are service oriented and display a positive and cheerful attitude, have integrity and good work ethic. On top of this, we provide the required orientation and training to make sure that our frontline staff conduct themselves well, even in stressful and hectic situations, and remain good ambassadors for FairPrice.
Members of the public who are keen to find out more about job opportunities at FairPrice can do so by submitting their applications for these vacancies to us at recruit@fairprice.com.sg or visit us at www.fairprice.com.sg – Careers for more details.
Ms Rebecca Teo Yock Lan
Director (Human Resource)
NTUC FairPrice.
