Job seekers in Singapore are influenced, either completely or to a certain extent, by online comments left by previous employees about prospective employers, according to a survey conducted by recruitment experts Hays.
The latest Hays web poll carried out in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore asked candidates, “Do the online comments of former employees influence your decision to apply or work for an organisation?”
Overall, over half (52 per cent) of respondents in Singapore state that they take online comments of ex-staff into consideration when deciding to apply or work for a firm. In addition, over a third (39 per cent) of them note that they are ‘definitely’ swayed by such reviews and opinions.
The global recruitment firm also notes that number of candidates in Singapore who do not take into consideration online comments about a prospective employer has declined. In an identical web-poll carried out in 2016, 15 per cent of respondents said they were not influenced by such factors when deciding to apply or work for an organisation while in the 2019 web poll, only nine per cent feel the same.
Commenting on this, Grant Torrens, Regional Director at Hays Singapore says: “As industries across the board become skills-starved, organisations could benefit from managing their online reputation from an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) point of view. In this digital age, it is a natural process for many hopeful candidates to look up what’s being said of working at an organisation which they are considering to be a part of. The Internet has made it fairly easy to gain access to comments of ex-staff, with many active employer review platforms and forums available online.”
“Organisations that want to attract high quality candidates and mitigate the potential risk of losing adept talents should position themselves as the employer of choice –– both online and offline. While it is difficult to control what people post online, there are social media platforms available which employers can use to give outsiders a glimpse of what is it like to work at their company while showcasing its successes and values. And as far as existing online comments go, it is best to assess the feedback made by both current and ex-employees, then create an action plan for not only your PR image but also your working environment.”
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About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2018 the Group employed 11,700 staff operating from 262 offices in 34 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2018:
– the Group reported net fees of £1.072 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £243.4 million;
– the Group placed around 77,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 244,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 19% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 26% in Germany, 24% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 31% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 58% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 42% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries/regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA