SINGAPORE — Amid rising operating costs, public transport operator ­SMRT announced today (Dec 14) that it will go on a hiring binge to recruit 700 more bus drivers, rail supervisors and engineers. 

In a tight labour market exacerbated by the entry of two new foreign bus operators, SMRT is dangling a maximum of S$3,000 in sign-on bonuses for new hires. It is offering up to the same amount for existing staff who make successful referrals of 
job candidates. 

The company, which has come under public pressure to ramp up its maintenance and engineering capabilities after a series of train disruptions, said it was poised to grow its businesses, but analysts noted that the company has to raise its game to meet public expectations, and to retain and hire staff in the face of a brewing talent war among public transport operators. 

United Kingdom-based operators Tower Transit and Go-Ahead Group have clinched the first two contracts under the bus contracting model.  

Seeking to hire 750 bus drivers by the middle of next year, Tower Transit has announced a higher basic starting pay and lighter workload for its drivers, compared with those working for incumbent operators SMRT and SBS Transit (SBST). 

Go-Ahead Group is planning to recruit 900 employees.

Dr Walter Theseira, a senior lecturer at SIM University, said the incumbent public transport operators are facing a hiring challenge. He said: “Working in the public transport industry generally requires shift work and adherence to strict standards… Many Singaporeans do not find the pay sufficiently attractive to offset those requirements.”

Assistant Professor Terence Fan, a transport specialist at the Singapore Management University, noted that SMRT will have to take a long-term outlook in beefing up its manpower amid a high cost operating enviroment. 

In recent weeks, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan had spoken about the Government’s strategy to restore the reliability of the North South East West Lines. Among other things, Mr Khaw said the current level of maintenance is inadequate, and SMRT and SBST are committed to significantly ramping up their maintenance resources, including manpower. 

SMRT said that job applicants hired as rail supervisors and engineers will earn the referrer S$1,500 and S$3,000 respectively. Staff who successfully refer candidates for the positions of bus drivers or trainers will receive S$1,600.  Bus drivers or trainers hired between last Friday and April 1 will each get a sign-on bonus worth S$2,000, for example. 

SMRT’s latest quarterly results - for the three months ended September - showed a 1.9 per cent increase in profit but its overall fare business posted an operating loss of S$1.4 million. The main train operations suffered an operating loss of S$2.8 million - mainly due to “higher costs to support an expanded and ageing network, larger fleet, efforts to improve rail reliability as well as increased repairs and maintenance related expenditure,” SMRT said previously. The LRT operations chalked up a S$1.2 million operating loss while the bus segment posted an operating profit of S$2.6 million, on the back of higher revenue and lower diesel costs.