More than 10,000 got laid off in Singapore

The Straits Times (Apr 6, 2009) has reported that more than 10,000 people has been retrenched or laid off in the first 3 months of 2009.

The global economic crisis is expected to last through 2010 and recovery may be from Nov 2009 onward.

About a decade ago, one of the first question asked over the phone by recruitment firms and employers would be, "Are you a Singaporean?"

The trend has bucked a few years ago, with recruitment agencies and employers asking, "What's your age?"

This is despite the government's Tripatite Centre for Fair Employment being set-up to advice employers to recruit or to give preference to older workers.

Unemployment or a mismatch in career (example, wrong career, downgraded to a junior position, severe paycut, no 5 days' week, etc) is one of the vital sign of impending rising crime rate because these employees will not be happy in their unpleasant work environment coupled with other factors like lesser fringe benefits, lower bonuses, low or no salary increment and many middle to senior executives and managers, as well as professionals, will struggle to keep up with private housing mortgage loans, car loans, home improvement loans, hire purchases, credit card bills, transportation costs, etc.

For those professionals and experts who are used to living and spending lavishly, may turn to frauds and crimes - cheating, criminal breach of trust, operating get-rich-quick scams, etc and those who are really pissed off by their former employers - government and private sectors alike, may resort to revenge - espionage, covert spying, theft, arson, vandalism, etc and those who are really frustrated could turn to terrorism, joining forces with organized crime syndicates, joining transnational criminal syndicates, providing smarter solutions to loan sharks utilizing technologies to evade detection, smuggling of arms, contrabands, prohibited and dangerous items and substances, drugs, etc.

After all, professionals and experts are potentially lethal if they are forced by circumstances to go against their code of ethics, professionalism, code of conduct, etc if they are being caught in a situation with no way out.

Architects and professional engineers - blueprint of the building (including materials, locations of sensitive rooms, data storage, vault, strong room, etc). They know where it's located, how strong is the materials used, the surrounding area, etc and they may pass these confidential or top secret information to terrorists, violent activists, smart criminals, etc to their advantage.

Doctors and other medical professionals too can be lethal - poisoning, torturing, etc of people, hostages, etc while under the command of terrorists, violent activists, mutineers, etc.

And so with other professionals and experts.

I'm still waiting for someone to take up my Million Dollars Challenge.