School leavers mulling a military career stand to get bonuses of up to $25,000 under a new "recruitment bounty" scheme announced by the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.

Human resource consultants say such cash bonuses are becoming a common way for companies to attract and retain talent, especially to fill top-tier posts like for Chief Executives, or a job that requires specialised financial skills.

Mr Mark Ellwood, Managing Director, at Robert Walters (Singapore & Malaysia), a global HR consultancy, said: "Sign-on bonuses are fairly common towards the end of the financial year when individuals have worked a number of months in their current organisation, and in order for them to be incentivised to move from their current employer where they stand to receive a bonus in a few months time, they will negotiate either a sign-on or guaranteed bonus when joining a new employer.

"Usually towards the last quarter of the year, sign-on or guaranteed bonuses tend to be less common. Some organisations may put completion bonuses into individual??s contracts, especially those who are handling projects, to ensure that they see the project through."

Ms Laletha Nithiyanandan, Vice President, South Asia, Kelly Services, said: "With the current tight talent market, many firms are increasingly offering highly competitive incentives packages including recruitment bounties or sign-on bonuses, on top of salaries, to attract the best candidates from the talent pool.

"Some banks have started to devise a referral bonus that is aimed at recruiting talented people by encouraging their internal employees to provide referrals. This amount can range from $1,500 to over $10,000."

She added that the use of cash incentives has become popular because many organisations are experiencing a transition from a workforce of baby boomers to a new generation of knowledge workers in occupations that put them in high demand.

Mr Derek Berry, of Mercer (Singapore), said that in very "hot" industries, companies have also resorted to retention payments or shares that only vest after a specified period to retain capable staff.

Industry watchers said the scramble for talent in a the "war" for talent in the booming economy could be one reason why the Ministry of Defence and Singapore Armed Forces have revised their HR incentives.

Recruitment bounties are essentially an amount of money paid to a person for signing on with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

Mindef's revised bounties - up across the board by $10,000 from the previous sign-on bonus - are targeted at people who sign on as SAF Specialists, that is, uniformed SAF personnel who are not officers.

Industry watchers say the "bounties" offered by Mindef are significant.

For example, polytechnic diploma holders stand to gain a "recruitment bounty" of $25,000 per person if they decide to join the Combat Specialist service as, for example, an infantryman or anti-tank gunner, while an "A" Level holder stands to get $22,000 if he signs on for the same job, and ITE graduates will receive $20,000.

The bonuses for Non Combat Specialist careers amount to $20,000 for diploma holders, $18,000 for students with "A" levels, and $16,000 for an ITE graduate.

Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean announced the new incentives last night at the graduation dinner for the 38th Command and Staff College Course. The formal dinner, held at the Istana on Wednesday evening, capped a 37-week course attended by 125 officers from Singapore and 12 other countries.

The bounty will be paid as a one-time cash incentive, but diploma and "A" level holders will be locked in with a four-year bond. Graduates from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will be bonded for three-years.

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