Fierce struggle' for skilled workers in Asia-Pacific(Source: The Straits Time)

According to a new salary guide published by Kelly Services, competition for knowledge workers in the Asia-Pacific region remains fierce even though demand might soften this year. It also noted that talent scarcity in specialist areas such as engineering, accountancy, technology and financial services is also increasing. Except for the banks and financial services sector, Singapore's health and life sciences sector, the oil and gas, construction and water sectors here will see continued hiring.

Biomed sector sees healthy growth in hiring this year(Source: Business Times)

Recruitment firms said that hiring in the biomedical sector is on the rise this year as new companies set up base in Singapore and existing ones scale up operations. They have been seeing a 10% to 20% year-on-year growth in life sciences recruitment, and reckon that the hiring growth for the sector will clock between 30% and 40% this year. They added that this pick-up in hiring in the sector is likely to continue for the rest of the year, if not beyond.

Kitchen confidential(Source: Business Times)

A stream of young chefs is turning to private cheffing for various reasons as the demand for private dining continues to grow. 6 such chefs were profiled in this Business Times report.

Singapore doctors abroad needed here: Mr Lee(Source: The Straits Times)

The former PM Lee Kuan Yew commented on the shortage of doctors in Singapore and noted that the hundreds of doctors produced each year by the medical schools here were not enough given the ageing population. He added that the recruitment of foreigners also has not quite solved the problem. While an increasing number of Singaporean doctors trained overseas are returning to work here, many are still remaining overseas to work after finishing medical school.

All SUTD undergrads will get chance to do research(Source: The Straits Times)

All 340 undergraduates at the new Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will be given the opportunity to carry out research. This sets it apart from most schools, where only a small proportion get the chance to do so.

PSAB to accredit about 20 specialists every year(Source: Channel News Asia)

Minister (MOH) Gan Kim Yong, in his welcome address at the Singapore Pharmacy Council Pharmacist's pledge affirmation ceremony, said specialist pharmacists are needed to provide specialised care for complex cases in tertiary hospitals. As a move to create more opportunities and career pathways for pharmacists whilst attracting more into the profession, the Pharmacy Specialist Accreditation Board aims to accredit about 20 specialists per year. This will be based on a new training and qualification framework, which will be rolled out later this year, for the accreditation and registration of specialist pharmacists.

Engineering’s many choices(Source: TODAY)

At the launch of One Degree, Many Choices, a book about the post-university lives of the 557 pioneer engineering students from Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI), DPM Teo Chee Hean remarked that the engineers of the modern day need to be equipped with both technical and business/economics skills. The book, targeted at students, aims to make engineering an accessible and attractive course to study in the face of a myriad of new options.