I AM impressed by CitiBank Singapore's extraordinary speed in rolling out its programme to hire 200 fresh graduates, tapping on a scheme by the Government to co-share the training of such hirees with employers in the financial sector.

I had broken the story only in March that the Monetary Authority of Singapore had approached banks and brokerages to participate in a scheme to boost internships and attachment opportunities over the next one to two years. 

MAS also offered to pay part of the allowance, or training stipends, to be given to these graduates while they were being trained by these organizations. 

Going by the positive feedback received from the local lenders, I had expected them to have a head-start in using the new resources provided by the Government to bolster their talent pool.

Instead, CitiBank seems to have beaten them to it.

Last weekend, when I ran into the bank's head of consumer markets, Mr Anil Wadhwani, I congratulated him on the zest in which the bank was securing its future in Singapore.

Despite all the hair-raising headlines that continue to emanate from the US about the problems confronting US lenders, CitiBank is thriving in Singapore, hiring the best and the brightest, only months after its US parent slashed worldwide workforce by 50,000 jobs. 

Even though the stock market is looking up over the past two months and business confidence is slowly returning to the real economy, unemployment will continue to rise in the next few months. Bread-and-butter issues will continue to dominate concerns among Singaporeans.

There is a study by a British economist, Mr David Blanchflower, on the debilitating effects of unemployment among young people and the "permanent scars" they caused.

Mr Blanchflower noted that while a year of unemployment for someone who was middle-aged might have little permanent effect a decade later, unemployment could demoralise the young, detach them from the labour market, deprive them of skills and raise the probability of unemployment and lower wages in later years.

Before writing the March story, I was worried about the young graduates who will encounter difficulties finding jobs due to the slowdown. In a Chinese New Year special on reunion dinners, the Sunday Times had quoted an unemployed graduate, Mr Goh Wee Meng, as hoping that the Government would implement some policies to help people like him to find jobs. 

Especially poignant was his comment “they keep telling us to be self-reliant, but we can’t be self-reliant without employment”.

It took me back to my own youth more than two decades ago, when fresh graduates were also in tenterhooks over their chances of getting employment because of the 1985 economic recession.

So efforts to boost employment among the young should be doubly applauded. 

I wish graduates like Mr Goh, quoted in the Sunday Times feature, all the luck in getting a job soon. 

The Straits Times runs a front-page story today to report that six government agencies will be sponsoring 2,500 apprenticeships and co-sharing the costs of paying their monthly allowances with the employers. About 60 companies are taking part in the scheme. 

I sincerely hope that more large companies such as the banks and the MNCs will step forward to take advantage of the Government’s offer. Similarly, I hope that the Government can throw its offer to all companies with the means to provide graduates with a well-defined career path.  

In difficult times such as these, companies can have the pick of the crop to strengthen their management pool. As the CitiBank’s example attests, it will only be a strong reflection of their confidence in their future. 

I won’t mind having a few young graduates working with me as well. They may learn a thing or two from a crusty financial journo like me.