SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Community Development Councils (CDCs) have been seeing an increase in the number of people seeking job help and social assistance over the last few months.

The majority of them are aged 40 years and above.

South West CDC has seen a 52 per cent rise in the number of residents seeking jobs over the last five months, while South East CDC registered some 1,800 job seekers during the same period.

It is a similar picture over at North West CDC —— it saw 42 per cent more job seekers in the same period, with numbers spiking from October when the recession first hit.

Besides job help, more residents have also been seeking social assistance.

Mayor of North West CDC, Teo Ho Pin, said: "Means testing is the best way to determine how much and how to help the residents and their family members. So by working with our partners, especially our grassroots organisations, the welfare communities, constituencies and volunteer welfare organisations, we are able to conduct a proper means testing and identify the needs of the family members and render assistance accordingly."

Besides providing social assistance to the needy, the CDCs are also focusing their attention on job matching. Over the years, these councils have been able to build up close rapport with a number of companies within their area.

The CDCs have also been organising job fairs featuring openings available in particular sectors of the Singapore economy.

These are expected to continue as the CDCs brace themselves for larger retrenchment numbers after the Lunar New Year.