Am I crazy?

[3timemum]

Tell me I'm not crazy. We are looking for a full time local/PR  helper to help us manage our home and 3 kids now that I am going back to work (we don't have a maid's room in our apt so live in isn't an option).

We've been in Singapore 6 years. We are PRs and see Singapore as our home. Anyway, I have contacted 2 agencies. The first one quoted 3000/m!!! for 8am-6pm Mon-Fri. And the second one somewhat less and added that agency fee is 1000sdg.

I was hoping to find someone for 1500 to 1800 depending on qualifications. Does this seem like a unreasonable salary? I can't pay much more and have it still be worth it for me to work. Any advice on where to find someone or an agency that won't try to take advantage of me?

Cheers,

[GGirl]

NOPE!  I can sympathesise with you and I'm in a similar boat.  My helper leaving after 3 years and I'd prefer not to have a live in also now my kids are in full time school.  Wanted to come home earlier and employ a local for 2 hours a day.  Impossible to find!  I have to say that despite all despite the meltdown and daily news of job cuts, that I still find people are being very picky about jobs.

Even tryng to get an office cleaner at work, they all still want a ridiculous amount for an hour's hoovering and washing cups a day.  Even though they are hanging around the building doing nothing, they have not been willing to earn more income at a slightly lower rate.

I can only suggest that you avoid the agencies S$1K is ludicrous when there is no WP/passport/insurance stuff to process!  Try placing a notice on your local supermarket or MRT stop.

I think some of the blame lies with the Goverment sadly.  HK was great as you could employ a full time helper, but allow her to live out.  It's crazy te government can't trust adults who have made the bold step of expatriating themselves from home to earn an income!

[3timemum]

Thanks for the support. I asked what I get for the 1000 dollars - they said 1 replacement in 6 months. No insurance or anything... Doesn't seem like a very good deal for me (for them on the other hand, it's great!)

Another agent quoted 15sdg an hour which is crazy if I am employing someone for 45-50 hours a week!! They said I could get the price down if the person either only babysat or only cleaned.

I think I will follow your advice and check the supermarkets. Would actually prefer someone recommended, but most of the people I know who employ maids have live-ins.

Cheers!

[Available]

I see the BM has been busy again 

I've PMed you.

[not so bad]

How much are you hoping to pay?  I'd say that $10 per hour for that kind of job would be reasonable for here, although you'd pay double that in many western countries these days, so it's a bit of bargain really.

Cleaning and babysitting all in one is quite a tiring job for someone, especially if the children aren't at school, so $15 per hour isn't actually that bad - I'd want about $20 per hour if I was doing it!

[2timemum]

to OP: am in exactly the same situation, except i just have 2 sprogs. if you find a workable solution, can you please post it back here (without naming agencies, etc, as the b0ard owners delete them) so others like us can benefit, too? thanks in advance!

[weighing in]

Hi OP --

I agree with the PP. Your proposed salary range does sound on the low side (for the year, it would work out to an hourly wage of $6.92 - $8.31/hour), considering that so many local cleaners/babysitters make $10 or more an hour for p/t work. Also consider that if you are hiring local & you live in an expat enclave, that person is likely going to have to travel by bus/MRT/then some to your place - which would stretch the work day far past 8am-6pm. Being responsible for three kids & helping with a household is quite a heavy load for less than $10/hour, in my humble opinion.

I do think that the agency fee sounds pretty steep, though. You could save yourself some money by spreading the word amongst your friends/neighbors/etc. that you are looking for a local helper. Someone will probably know somebody who knows somebody who is looking. You could indicate that "salary is commensurate with experience" and see what ranges your best candidates suggest. Checking grocery store bulletin *** is a good idea, as suggested above.

Perhaps you can find someone great for the salary range you are proposing. But if not, you might want to think twice about going back to work (or try to negotiate a better salary range for your own job so that full time help is not such a financial stretch). I do appreciate the challenge. Lack of affordable care is what keeps many women from going back to work.

Good luck & hope things work out for you.

[3timemum]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it is most welcome. The kids are at school and my thought would be that a helper would have time to clean and cook when they are at school and could help with babysitting when they come home.

Thanks especially to "weighing in" for questioning my presumptions in such a thoughtful way.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Cheers

[hourly rate]

while the hourly rate you are paying does seem a  bit low, one has to bear in mind this is a full time position, unlike baby sitting which is random and does not guarantee a fixed monthly pay. admin assistants and call center staff do not get much more for a full time job.

[agents]

Many of these agencies take 50% of the hourly rate as their commission, ongoing.  It's exploitation and not much different to the maid situation.  If you can find someone by word of mouth, less expensive for you and the employee makes more money.

We had a helper thru an agency and were paying 12$ which I thought was reasonable until found out she only got half of this!!!! 

[Educate yourselves]

People do you have any understanding of where you live? About 4 weeks ago there was an article in the paper about a local graduate who was happy to accept a full time position in major hotel for $1k a month. She was happy because she realises how hard it is going to be to even have a job here soon. Many Singaporeans earn that much a month - i'm not talking about poor out-sourced construction workers who get even less but average shop assistants etc. One of my baby sitters is so desparate to get work that she has offered to look after my 3 children for a flat rate of $10hr. Last year her prices went up to $22. She can only get about 8 hours a week now and her family needs the money. Many would be grateful for a stable monthly income of 1 to 1.5k. Learn a little more about the country you live in before comparing it to 'back home'.

[Yes, but]

I'm not sure it's a case of us not understanding where we live. It's a case of a lot of local workers not understanding the realities of the situation e.g. your babysitter increasing to $22 per hour.

I had a lovely local babysitter. When I could no longer use her I gave her great references but she was incredibly fussy about what job she wamted even though she needed the money. She rejected various people that I know of because (1) they lived too far away (2) their house was too untidy (3) baby was already 7 months and she wanted a baby to bond with etc.

[jinty]

sorry, but I thought that it's up to the person to decide how much they charge or how fussy they want to be.  If they outprice themselves or are too fussy then they obviously won't get work, but it's up to them.  If you can't afford them look for someone who will accept your offer and conditions or do the job yourself.  It's a luxury to have these people help - not a necessity.

[Yes, but]

I don't disagree with you, Jinty. What I was trying to say is that expats are not struggling to find someone because they don't understand the country they live in, but because even though a graduate may be prepared to accept $1000/month a lot of babysitters with far fewer qualifications won't.

[local mum]

local mums who do this pay only around $500-700, but baby goes to nanny's house. do look around before jumping into expat-targeted places.