Salary increases alone not enough to attract fresh manpower to social service sector, say workers

Salary increases alone not enough to attract fresh manpower to social service sector, say workers

HIGH TURNOVER RATE

The turnover rate at non-profit organisation Dementia Singapore has inched up slightly in the past few years, from 14 per cent in 2021 to 16 per cent last year.

Over the past year, six in 10 staff who left were front-liners who conducted sing-along sessions and craft lessons for dementia patients. This has prevented the scaling up of the charity’s hands-on activities.

The attrition could be largely due to the rising cost of living, which may have driven some of their employees to look towards better paying sectors, according to the organisation.

Dementia Singapore’s chief human resources officer Tracy Kwan said former employees have gone on to work in banks and finance firms. It has been difficult to hire replacements, with job applications falling 30 per cent over the past six months.

“One very common stigma is that the job could be very emotionally and physically draining. Two, the jobs are also probably not paying well,” said Ms Kwan.

“And third, people view that there’s probably little career progression within this sector.”