Advice to MOM and WDA on Jobsbank

In April 2014, the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (“WDA”) consulted CCS in relation to the proposed new Jobs Bank web portal (“Jobs Bank”), particularly on whether the creation of Jobs Bank will lead to any competition concerns. The Jobs Bank, administered by WDA, is a free service provided to all Singapore registered employers and local individuals to make job vacancies more visible to local job seekers. It also allows employers to have access to a larger pool of candidates. The Jobs Bank also supports MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework which requires employers to consider Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities.

CCS worked closely with MOM and WDA to better understand the design of Jobs Bank. Following so, CCS conducted a competition impact assessment to assess how Jobs Bank will affect competition in the online recruitment portal market in Singapore. In its assessment, CCS noted the potential benefits that Jobs Bank may bring. CCS also provided MOM and WDA with several recommendations aimed at maintaining competition in the market, including how information relating to Jobs Bank should be disseminated to the industry so that no interested party might be unintentionally left out.