OCBC Group on Monday (Jun 15) announced that it would hire more than 3,000 people in Singapore this year across various entities, including about 2,100 in full-time roles.

This will provide opportunities for fresh graduates and other jobseekers “amid the economic and employment uncertainty brought about by COVID-19”, said OCBC in a media release.

The full-time job openings will be with OCBC Bank and subsidiaries Bank of Singapore and OCBC Securities, as well as insurance arm Great Eastern Holdings. These include roles in wealth management, corporate banking, risk management, data analytics, operations and technology, Channel News Asia reports.

OCBC said it would also hire for more technology-related roles to cater to the increasing number of customers accessing its digital channels and services, in addition to reskilling and upskilling its current employees.

The new full-time positions represent about 19 per cent of the group’s current workforce of around 11,000 employees in Singapore, said OCBC.

It will also continue to hire fresh graduates through its graduate programmes.

See also: DBS to Hire Over 2,000 People Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERNS, TRAINEES

The other 900 roles will be positions for trainees and interns.

More than 500 traineeship positions will be offered to university and polytechnic graduates under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme in areas such as corporate banking, data and technology. The other 400 positions will be for university and polytechnic internships.

OCBC will also continue to offer trainee positions through the Technology in Finance Immersion Programme, which helps jobseekers who are looking for a career switch in new technology areas such as cloud computing and cybersecurity within the financial services sector.

OCBC’s announcement comes after it previously said it would not lay off any of its 30,000 employees worldwide as a result of the pandemic.

It has been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, posting a 43 percent plunge in first-quarter net profit last month.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has caused widespread concerns on the employment front, with many businesses and organisations facing financial setbacks and looking to cut costs,” said OCBC on Monday.

“Economists predict that unemployment in Singapore will rise to about 4 per cent as a result of the pandemic.”

A survey conducted by the bank showed 55 per cent of the 1,000 respondents were worried about job security amid the COVID-19 crisis, and 46 per cent were worried that they would be retrenched in the next six months.

“We are committed to helping Singaporeans ride out this extremely difficult period,” said OCBC Group Chief Executive Officer Samuel Tsien.

“Though COVID-19’s impact on the economy has been severe, this crisis will come to an end,” he added. “When confronted with crises in the past, we have persevered, learned and adapted, then emerged stronger.”

“We will do the same again – and play our rightful part in not just saving lives, but saving livelihoods as well.”

OCBC’s announcement comes after another local bank DBS announced last month that it would hire more than 2,000 people in Singapore this year, with more than 1,000 in new roles comprising a mix of apprenticeships for fresh graduates as well as more specialised roles for seasoned professionals.

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