Even though the Republic's economy is on the mend, it would be a while before employment picks up again, according to Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Speaking to MediaCorp on the labour market outlook next year, Mr Gan said many employers had retained "excess workers" during the recession because of the various Government measures, including the Jobs Credit Scheme.
Said Mr Gan: "Many of these employers will tap on the excess manpower and capacity that they have before they start to expand and recruit new workers."
Moreover, employment opportunities typically lag behind economic recovery. "Over the next 12 months, we expect the employment market to remain more or less stable, but we do not see a massive recovery of the employment market," said Mr Gan.
He reiterated the importance of retraining affected workers "as it will take some time for them to get back to the job market" - many of the post-economic recovery job opportunities would require new skill sets.
Apart from retraining, workers' expectations also need to be adjusted. Despite having about 20,000 jobs "immediately available" on the database for 14,000 job-seekers, not all the workers could be matched to a job.
Said Mr Gan: "We have done much better in this recession than in the previous one because we have paid a lot of attention to helping the workers prepare themselves for employment rather than just simply job matching."
On their part, the tripartite partners - namely the unions, employers and the Government - were "already looking beyond Jobs Credit ... (to) asking ourselves how we can be cheaper, better and faster", said labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Said Mr Lim: "Being cheaper means enhancing our productivity so that every piece of equipment and worker can produce more output, so that we can reduce the costs of doing business and enhance our competitiveness."
More than just raising workers' productivity, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa called for a more resilient economy which practises "smart growth" by being "careful where our bottlenecks and constraints are ... (and) play on our niches".
"I have spoken to many business people and they have told me that they prefer to have a more steady growth... Excessive volatility tends to attract a risk premium to the business and thereby increasing overall costs," said Mr Liang, who is the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Finance and Trade and Industry).
- TODAY newspaper
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Dec 22, 2009
Dec 13, 2009
More jobs and better pay likely next year
Upbeat is the word. The outlook on the job and compensation front for Singapore next year looks promising.
More jobs will be available and pay packages will improve marginally, several human resource consultancies report, offering a ray of hope even as they add a few words of caution.
Much of the optimism stems from an improved forecast for the Singapore economy, though bud- get constraints and conservative projections for global economic growth suggest that the recovery, while firm, is still in its early stages.
- The Straits Times
More jobs will be available and pay packages will improve marginally, several human resource consultancies report, offering a ray of hope even as they add a few words of caution.
Much of the optimism stems from an improved forecast for the Singapore economy, though bud- get constraints and conservative projections for global economic growth suggest that the recovery, while firm, is still in its early stages.
- The Straits Times
Apr 27, 2009
Going green will create jobs
GOING green will help the economy, the Government hopes, by creating 18,000 more jobs and adding $3.4 billion to the Republic's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2015.
On Monday, Singapore's Government released its sustainable-development blueprint which projects that environment and water technologies and clean energy solutions will each contribute $1.7 billion to the GDP in the next six years.
Of these, 11,000 jobs will come from environment and water technologies, such as water-treatment plants, while 7,000 will come from the clean energy industry, such as solar-cell plants or biofuels.
To grow the clean technology - or 'cleantech' - sector, a $680 million fund has been set aside for research, development and training manpower.
January's Budget also pledged an additional $1billion for sustainable development over the next five years.
Though that figure is a small percentage of Singapore's $257.4 billion GDP produced last year, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said: 'We are not looking at headline-grabbing numbers...We are looking at something that is doable in the Singapore context, that is practical, that will give us results.'
- The Straits Times
On Monday, Singapore's Government released its sustainable-development blueprint which projects that environment and water technologies and clean energy solutions will each contribute $1.7 billion to the GDP in the next six years.
Of these, 11,000 jobs will come from environment and water technologies, such as water-treatment plants, while 7,000 will come from the clean energy industry, such as solar-cell plants or biofuels.
To grow the clean technology - or 'cleantech' - sector, a $680 million fund has been set aside for research, development and training manpower.
January's Budget also pledged an additional $1billion for sustainable development over the next five years.
Though that figure is a small percentage of Singapore's $257.4 billion GDP produced last year, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said: 'We are not looking at headline-grabbing numbers...We are looking at something that is doable in the Singapore context, that is practical, that will give us results.'
- The Straits Times
Jan 3, 2009
Singapore GDP Posts Biggest Fall on Record
Singapore plunged deeper into recession in the fourth quarter as gross domestic product marked its biggest quarterly decline on record, said the government, which lowered its projection for 2009.
The darker outlook for the small, trade-dependent economy -- considered to be a bellwether for the rest of the region -- likely means the government will step up spending to offset a slowdown in manufacturing and a rapid cooling in the construction and services sectors. It may also pressure the central bank to ease monetary policy to support growth.
Singapore's economy contracted at a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 12.5% in the quarter, accelerating from a 5.4% decline in the third quarter, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry's estimate. It was the biggest contraction since the government began publishing seasonally adjusted data in 1976.
"The global economic crisis has worsened since November, with sharp declines in global demand, trade and investments," the ministry said.
The government cut its forecast for 2009, projecting a range of between a contraction of 2% and growth of 1%, against its estimate in November of a range of a contraction of 1% and growth of 2%.
Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng is more pessimistic. He forecasts GDP will contract 2.8% this year. That would make the current downturn worse than the slump in 1998, when the economy shrank 1.4% as it was buffeted by the Asian financial crisis, and worse than the 2001 recession following the collapse of U.S. technology stocks, when GDP shrank 2.4%. "If we are correct, 2009 will mark the most severe recession in Singapore's history," he said.
Inflationary pressures are likely to moderate "more substantially," he added, predicting Singapore could see a brief period of deflation in 2009.
Singapore's economy, especially the electronics sector, relies heavily on overseas demand, which has imploded in the wake of the global credit crisis. The manufacturing and financial sectors have been hardest hit, while the tourism-services sector is also seeing signs of cooling.
- Wall Street Journal
The darker outlook for the small, trade-dependent economy -- considered to be a bellwether for the rest of the region -- likely means the government will step up spending to offset a slowdown in manufacturing and a rapid cooling in the construction and services sectors. It may also pressure the central bank to ease monetary policy to support growth.
Singapore's economy contracted at a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 12.5% in the quarter, accelerating from a 5.4% decline in the third quarter, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry's estimate. It was the biggest contraction since the government began publishing seasonally adjusted data in 1976.
"The global economic crisis has worsened since November, with sharp declines in global demand, trade and investments," the ministry said.
The government cut its forecast for 2009, projecting a range of between a contraction of 2% and growth of 1%, against its estimate in November of a range of a contraction of 1% and growth of 2%.
Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng is more pessimistic. He forecasts GDP will contract 2.8% this year. That would make the current downturn worse than the slump in 1998, when the economy shrank 1.4% as it was buffeted by the Asian financial crisis, and worse than the 2001 recession following the collapse of U.S. technology stocks, when GDP shrank 2.4%. "If we are correct, 2009 will mark the most severe recession in Singapore's history," he said.
Inflationary pressures are likely to moderate "more substantially," he added, predicting Singapore could see a brief period of deflation in 2009.
Singapore's economy, especially the electronics sector, relies heavily on overseas demand, which has imploded in the wake of the global credit crisis. The manufacturing and financial sectors have been hardest hit, while the tourism-services sector is also seeing signs of cooling.
- Wall Street Journal
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