Private security company Certis Cisco first hired Taiwanese nationals as APOs, making them the first potential employees not to be Singaporeans or Malaysians.
Recruitment will begin next month, Cisco Cisco hopes to hire 120 college graduates, aged 20 to 40 years, a two-year contract.
The company did not say why it was recruiting from Taiwan, but Cisco’s Cisco spokesperson told the Straits Times that the unprecedented move would strengthen its resources and ease the labor squeeze.
“The shortage of manpower is a long-term situation in Singapore and we have been working with the authorities to recruit from the appropriate other sources,” she said.
APOs are trained in areas such as weapons disposal and counter-terrorism.
They can also be deployed to a variety of locations, such as immigration checkpoints, to manage traffic and crowds, and to conduct security checks on people, goods and vehicles.
The spokesman said that the specific scope of the deployment of new officers would depend on the needs of different places and on the suitability and ability of new arrivals.
She said that Certis Cisco had to get permission from the authorities before deploying the APO for recruitment and declined to comment further on specific roles or deployment areas.
The role of the ads initially appeared in Taiwan on Friday jobs, he said, the duties of these officials, including patrols, armed security services and monitoring at the checkpoint, and immigration checks.
Upon completion of the contract, the eligible person will receive an additional bonus of NT $ 60,000 ($ 2,700) per month.
They are also eligible for overtime.
According to a survey released last year by Taiwan’s labor ministry, salaries were higher than the average initial graduate wage in Taiwan of about $ 27,000.
Will also provide accommodation for Taiwan APO.
Prior to deployment, new officials will receive nine weeks of training, they will study Singapore’s basic laws and counter-terrorism efforts, and accept the health test.
Candidates also need to be able to read, write and talk in English.
Certis Cisco currently employs more than 3,500 APOs, all of whom are Singaporeans or Malaysians.
Earlier this year, Interior Minister Judge K. Shanmugam said about half of the 7,000 APOs were Singaporeans, including APOs from Aetos and Certis Cisco.
He is addressing the issue raised by parliamentarian Sylvia Lim of the Workers’ Party, which the Malaysians consider to be a large number of APO positions.
Mr. Shanmugam said that only Singaporeans, Singapore permanent residents are Malaysian citizens or Malaysians eligible to become APOs.
He added that only Singapore’s APO was deployed at Singapore’s land checkpoint.
This is the government’s prudent action despite the manpower challenge, as it recognizes the impact of recruiting and deploying the Malaysian APO, he said.
tammei@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on Dec 28, 2016.
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