SINGAPORE: In a country built on meritocracy, more and more people—surprisingly—appear to be turning to fortunetellers for direction in making decisions, including business-related decisions such as hiring, CNBC recently reported.
While a jobseeker may have stellar credentials on his or her resume, some bosses consider the day and time a candidate was born when deciding whether to hire them.
People turning to fortune tellers more than ever means a boost for the fortune-telling industry. CNBC reported revenues increased nearly 70 per cent since 2017 to reach S$72.6 million in 2021.
In the same period, the number of fortune-telling establishments grew by 32.6 per cent or nearly a third.
The article quoted a marketing firm ex-employee who had been part of a hiring team for a company whose boss checked in with a feng shui master when making hiring decisions.
“If the feng shui master does not give a good reading, (the candidate) may not be strongly considered,” he told CNBC, adding that good candidates were those whose reading showed they “aligned” with the company.
This meant a candidate would not even be interviewed if the feng shui master’s reading based on the jobseeker’s birthdate was unfavourable.
And for some companies, a good feng shui reading was even more important in looking for hires for higher positions.
“The human resource manager has to do their work. But then we become one of the points of consideration when they decide to hire somebody, especially for important positions.
Especially if it’s a C-suite hire, or if it’s a very important hire and the companies are unsure. Or if they’re very sure, they just want to see if there [are] any blind spots to watch out for,” says Way Fengshui Group CEO Mark Tan.
He said that about 100 companies engage his firm per year.
The industry has grown steadily from 2017 to 2021, with the number of fortune-telling establishments in Singapore climbing 32 per cent, according to the most recent statistics given by Singapore’s Department of Statistics.
Interestingly, “When will I be rich? How come I’m not rich?” are among the most common questions people ask fortune tellers, according to Chase Woo, the managing partner at Hoseiki, a feng shui atelier.
Others turn to fortune tellers when choosing an auspicious date for marriage or their baby’s name. The CNBC piece added that there have even been mothers who have asked about the results of their children’s exams. /TISG
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