Integrated Resort Jobs Popular Among Singaporeans

With the commencement of the 2009 Job Fair, it seems that the most popular jobs among locals are that from the two Integrated Resorts (IR), namely Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands Resorts. According to reports, Resort World Sentosa has attracted more than 1000 within an hour of the opening day.

In another article, there are a total of about 4,500 job openings in the IR industry. These include croupiers, casino schedulers, and pit supervisors. Of the 4,500 openings, 1,500 will be supervisory roles. Good news though is that the first phase of recruiment will be for Singaporeans. In the first phase, 2,500 non-gaming positions including housekeepers, and technicians and waiters were offered.

I wonder if its a good or bad thing that the local government has allowed the setup of IRs in Singapore. In my opinion, though we are a well developed country, Singapore still has a relatively conservative society compared with other Asean countries like Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. We’ve been shielded by many outside factors by the local government. Before the internet came along, many of us don’t get to read external news. The only form of news we had was probably the Straits Times.

Having said that, credit has to be also given to the government for bring social stability and proper economic system within the country. We don’t see problems in our political scenes like that of Taiwan, neither do we have public demonstration like what Hong Kong people stages from time to time.

With the introduction of Integrated Resorts or simply termed casinos, one may wonder how will it impact the local economy and society.

Looking at the current economic status, the IR should come in at a timely basis. The number of new job openings will definitely boost the local economy, as many retrenched staff will be able to find new job replacements. Singaporeans so far seem to have confidence in the IR industry as well, with many people flocking to the IR booths in the opening day of the career fair.

10 years down the road, how well will the IRs be doing? That’s something that no one will know. Sometimes, I really wonder how the public would react to the gambling industry in Singapore. Its something that has been restricted by the government since “the beginning of time” and now we’re like inmates released from prison.

Socially it may turn out more harm than good in the long run, if more Singaporeans turn to gambling as a form of pastime. In addition, if the local economy becomes overly dependent on the IR, dire consequences may result if the IR closes down. Imagine the number of jobs that are lost at that point in time, as well as the confidence level of the people if that were to happen.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 12:20 am and is filed under Job Market, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.