"Face up to slower growth and productivity push: Lim Swee Say - The Straits Times 27 Feb 2016
Singapore's "golden era" of galloping economic growth in the past 50 years is over, and everyone working here will have to accept slower growth while continuing to boost productivity, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said yesterday.
But it is not all doom and gloom, though, he stressed at a forum on tripartism, or the uniquely harmonious ties among the Government, employers and workers here.
The other stalwarts of tripartism present were economist Lim Chong Yah, founding chairman of the National Wages Council; and Singapore Airlines chairman Stephen Lee, who was president of the Singapore National Employers Federation for more than 26 years.
Mr Lim said the Government, businesses and the labour movement were in the midst of identifying skills and jobs of the future in 25 sectors of industry, so they could design better careers for most.
He also said that rapid and disruptive improvements in technology and higher automation would not necessarily lead to loss of jobs, but create even more jobs to complement newfangled machines. The aim was to shape every Singaporean as "precious human capital".
All the best!!
Singapore's "golden era" of galloping economic growth in the past 50 years is over, and everyone working here will have to accept slower growth while continuing to boost productivity, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said yesterday.
But it is not all doom and gloom, though, he stressed at a forum on tripartism, or the uniquely harmonious ties among the Government, employers and workers here.
The other stalwarts of tripartism present were economist Lim Chong Yah, founding chairman of the National Wages Council; and Singapore Airlines chairman Stephen Lee, who was president of the Singapore National Employers Federation for more than 26 years.
Mr Lim said the Government, businesses and the labour movement were in the midst of identifying skills and jobs of the future in 25 sectors of industry, so they could design better careers for most.
He also said that rapid and disruptive improvements in technology and higher automation would not necessarily lead to loss of jobs, but create even more jobs to complement newfangled machines. The aim was to shape every Singaporean as "precious human capital".
Mr Lim said that if everyone kept pursuing the sort of growth that took per capita income here from US$516 in 1965 to US$56,742 in 2014, "even if the operation is successful, the patient may be dead"."
True. Improve or die!
1. productivity movement was at its height almost 30 years ago with the launch of the National Productivity Board, the Worker Bee's mascot, and the famed Japanese QCC contests, and later on the 6 Sigma movement on continuous improvement. Now, or as recently as 5-8 years ago we are talking about productivity improvement again! WHY?;
2. Reason: why would employers bothered when they can find unlimited number of unskilled and lowly paid foreign workers? Those who DID NOT are just being plain practical and 'smart'! Lower cost and acceptable output makes the employers happy! Pure and simple!;
3. Then the government tightened the quota on Foreign Workers (Talent and blue-collar alike) not due to the 'bad idea of having lower priced workers that may or will depress the wages of the locals, but due to the loss of a GRC in the GE2011, though officially denied! So the screw was tightened and the SMEs that supposedly hired more than 80% workers cried fouls and reluctant to jump on the productivity improvement trail, despite massive incentives to do so. WHY? They were hoping that by stalling, the initiative will just die of a natural death. Well, it is simple too important and critical to fail and the government persisted and pushed ahead. RIGHTLY SO!!
No pain no gain. It is as simple as that. Boys and girls, grow up and take up the challenge of improving productivity instead of whining about it.
All the best!!
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