The OCBC Group announced today that it aims to create job opportunities for fresh graduates and other job seekers this year by creating over 3,000 jobs this year.

Earlier this year, the corporation made a pledge to not layoff any of its 30,000 employees across the globe, as a result of the pandemic.

2,100 new full-time staff positions

According to OCBC's media release, over 2,100 of the 3,000 new roles will be full-time roles across the various entities, including OCBC Bank and its insurance arm, Great Eastern Holdings.

The 2,100 new full-time positions will represent about 19% of the corporation's current workforce of 11,000 employees in Singapore.

The full-time roles will cover the following areas:

• wealth management
• corporate banking
• risk management
• data analytics
• operations and technology

As the pandemic has increased the need for digital services, the corporation will be hiring more staff for technology related roles and improving the technological capabilities of their current staff.

Fresh graduates will hired through graduate programmes such as the OCBC Graduate Talent Programme and the Great Eastern Corporate Management Associate Programme, which will provide them with corporate training and personalised job rotations.

900 traineeship & internship positions

Another 900 roles will be offered to graduates from universities and polytechnics through traineeships and internships.

About 500 traineeship positions in corporate banking and data and technology roles will be offered to university and polytechnic graduates under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.

Another 400 internship positions will be made available to polytechnic and university students to nurture them for the banking and insurance industry and to help prepare them for the workforce.

In addition, OCBC will continue to offer traineeship positions through the Technology in Finance Immersion Programme (TFIP) to help jobseekers who are looking for a career switch to technology related roles in Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and Full Stack Development.

Unemployment could rise to 4% in Singapore: Economists

According to OCBC, economists predict that unemployment in Singapore will rise to about 4 per cent as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, as organisations face financial setbacks and aim to cut costs.

In an OCBC Financial Impact Survey conducted among 1,000 workers in Singapore, 55 per cent were worried about their job security during this pandemic and 46 per cent were worried they would be retrenched in the next six months.

Addressing the issue of the uncertainty of employment during this period, Group Chief Executive Officer of OCBC Group Samuel Tsien said:

“We are committed to helping Singaporeans ride out this extremely difficult period. By creating and protecting jobs, we contribute towards boosting disposable incomes and consumer confidence. Both are much needed to reignite the economy.”

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