Randstad: This position is open to candidates who are NOT Singaporean Citizens or PR

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Randstad director sorry for misleading job ad

October 16th, 2013 | Author: Editorial

A reader highlighted a discriminatory job advertisement to TRE [Link]:

The reader highlighted a sentence in the ad [Link]:
“This position is open to candidates who are not Singaporean Citizens or PR”
The reader asked, “Does it mean the position is open to foreign applicants only? Or perhaps it meant the position is also open to foreign applicants, in addition to local ones?”
“Even if it meant the latter, with the requirement emphasizing that the position is open to foreigners, it clearly indicates that the employer already has foreigners in mind to take up the job. What’s this talk about developing a Singaporean core by the Govt?”
“Also, looking at the job requirements, it’s not rocket science that the company needs Nobel laureates foreign talents to do the job. Any local diploma or degree holders can do it!”
The job ad went viral on social media, prompting the country director of Randstad Singapore, Michael Smith, to issue a public apology yesterday night (15 Oct).
Mr Smith apologised for the misleading sentence structure and the confusion it has caused.
He said, “Perhaps a better way of structuring this sentence could have been ‘This position is also open to candidates who are not Singaporean Citizens or PR’, which we have now amended to read. It is an invitation that all candidates irrespective of cultural background are encouraged to apply.”
Mr Smith emphasized that the job ad falls in line with the new TAFEP guidelines of non-discrimination in advertising against all candidates: http://www.tafep.sg/fairemployment.asp?subid=3.
He further said, “Randstad supports the Government’s goal of building a diverse and Singaporean-core workforce, and we are not in the practice of promoting only foreigners for roles.”
“Randstad as an organisation places on average 60 permanent candidates a month and our YTD average is that over 90% of these placements have gone to local Singaporeans. Our organisation also employs over 101 people and 85% of these employees are local Singaporeans.”
Mr Smith currently serves as secretary of the Singapore Professional Recruitment Organisation, which encourages local recruitment organisations to follow a code of ethics that includes treating candidates and clients with respect, and that ensures candidates are not discriminated against in the recruitment process.


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