42,000 unemployed find jobs through Spur

[Source: MyPaper, 23 Dec 2009]

THE report card for the Singapore Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) is out.

The programme has trained more people than it aimed to,found jobs for many trainees who were unemployed, and saved countless others from being retrenched.

Started in November last year, the programme has enrolled 264,000 workers in its various training courses, exceeding the target of 220,000.

The programme also helped about 42,000 of them – unemployed citizens and permanent residents – find jobs, mainly in the food-and-beverage, cleaning, wholesale and retail-trade, manufacturing, and security sectors.

About seven in 10 were rank-and-file workers with up to secondary education. Six in 10 were aged 40 and above. In addition, more than 2,770 others were given traineeships in more than 390 firms, under a government-funded Professional Skills Programme Traineeship scheme launched in May this year.

5.5% growth in 2010 means…?

Key Indicators: [Source: Statistics Singapore]

• GDP up 0.6% in Q32009
• CPI down 0.8% in Oct 2009
• Total Trade down 12.4% in Oct 2009
• Retail Sales down 11.8% in Sep 2009
• Index of Industrial Production up 3.6% in Oct 2009
• Total Population 4.99M in Jun 2009
• Employment 2.95M in Sep 2009
• Unemployment Rate (SA) 3.4% in Sep 2009
• Wages/Earnings (monthly average for quarter) S$3,562

It seems that despite the economic recovery ["Singapore declares its recession over"], unemployment is still pretty much a big concern in this country. We can always analyse the statistics and say things like “unemployment persist because of structural rigidities, especially since we recently came out of recession”, but try telling a PMET who had been retrenched and unable to find a job for the past 18 months just that, and see what kind of response you would get.

In a latest survey, private sector economists (from the financial institutions, obviously) projected optimistic figures for Singapore’s growth in 2010 – 5.5% [link here] but at the same time cautioned that economic growth will likely be “subdued”.

In all honesty, I don’t think the projected growth figures make sense to understanding and solving unemployment in Singapore– for one, you were polling fund managers and financial professionals whose agenda is more aligned towards making sure their clients’ financial portfolios remain attractive for them to stay invested. There has been a long-standing assumption that a recovery in the financial markets will always trigger actual economic activity and hence growth, but don’t be misled: it’s not always the case, even if the financial dudes in pin-stripe suits driving flashy cars and working from well-furnished offices continually try to convince you thus.

For one, consider the following sentence:

They are also counting on major economies stabilising so that consumer confidence can rebound and support manufacturing and export activity here.

Granted, we are an export oriented economy. It would then appear to make sense that if the major economies stabilise, consumer spending will necessarily increase, and with our manufacturing and export levels going up, it indirectly means more jobs to go around. Hurrah.

Take a good look at the words in bold– what these financial people (I don’t even want to call them economists) are telling you is this: we have no idea IF it happens but WHEN economies like the US and Europe recover, and we are very optimistic they will come back in a big way, the whole world will be happy once again. And please publish this in front-page news headlines so more people will purchase financial products. Past performance does not guarantee future performance–check with your banker to see how we fit you into a new “global economic recovery structured note (GERN)” that will target recovering economies.

And what then, for people hoping the economic recovery will bring about more employment opportunities? Well, more or less the response will be thus: Employment? Oh, don’t worry, because we have already said the economy will recover, you will find a job– I can’t gurantee what job, but you will have one. And oh, please go and invest in GERN– do your part, stimulate the economy. Past performance does not guarantee future performance, LISTEN to your banker…oh, you’re unemployed and can’t afford? Who cares then! I’m not a freaking charity, am I??

In Economics 101, we were taught that while GDP growth is a function of Consumer Expenditure, Investment, Government Spending and Net Exports, Consumer Expenditure takes up the large gist of the pie accounting for more than 70% in some economies. If you asked me, we’re better off having more Great Singapore Sales or putting up with more roadworks in Singapore to stimulate the economy than to count on the US, European and Japanese consumers buying made-in-Singapore products, or trying to get more people invested in pseudo-Ponzi schemes.

And here’s the thing: no job, no income, where got money to spend??

 

First World country,First World work terms

Reader’s reponse in today’s mypaper (14 Dec 2009)

I REFER to the letter, “Jobseekers must leave comfort zone” (my paper, Dec 11).

The writer mentioned that,as Singapore has moved from Third World to First, the mindsets of Singaporean workers
should move in tandem.

Hence, Singaporeans should not take working regular hours or high pay for granted, so that they can remain competitive relative to foreign workers.

This line of argument is mistaken.

Developed countries move towards greater work-life balance and higher standards of living.

An example would be France, which has moved towards a 35-hour work week and better benefits for mothers, with four months’ maternity leave.

To align our expectations of pay and work-life balance with those of foreign workers from Third World countries is for our society to move backwards.

Another example would be Australia, where labour policies dictate that employers must show evidence that no citizen is able to fill a vacancy before a foreigner can be hired.

In addition, certain jobs which are considered by Singapore employers to be menial, thus leading them to hire “monkeys for peanuts” (such as pump attendants, construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, postmen, cleaners and sanitation workers), are considered respectable in Australia.

This is because over there, the contribution of such workers is not measured solely in monetary terms.

Menial workers in Singapore are not well-paid as many are not academically well-qualified. Ignoring such workers’ intangible contributions and rewarding them based solely on academic qualifications is unfair.

After all, if there should come a day when office workers are all stuck at home without their access to computers for a week because of some crisis, there may well be little disruption to our daily lives.

Compare this with what could unclog sinks and toilets for a whole week.

Also, if we insist that Singaporeans should be able to compete with foreign workers by expecting less pay, longer hours and poorer work conditions, there will definitely be citizens who cannot compete, such as mothers who cannot work long hours because of family commitments, and older workers.

If a business in a First World country is not earning enough to provide decent incomes and First World working conditions for its employees, then it is not a sustainable business by First World standards.

MS ELLEN TAN

Step out of your comfort zones, Singaporeans!

Refer to the following letter from Mr Jeffrey Law in today’s MyPaper (Dec 11)

I REFER to the letter, “Pay too paltry in those jobs Singaporeans shun” (my paper,Dec 10).

Various reasons have been given for why Singaporeans are leery of certain jobs, and we should determine if they are valid.

A monthly salary of $1,000 is meagre in Singapore, where the cost of living is high, but, then, one should also consider the nature of the particular job.

It is not cost-effective to pay,say, a general worker in a coffee shop more than that amount.Ditto for a pump attendant at a petrol station.

Salaries are usually commensurate with the work and one’s skills, experience and qualifications

While it may sound cliched, a respectable company would not want to pay peanuts to get monkeys. Money aside, many Singaporeans dislike working shifts and irregular hours.

In our vibrant business environment,most companies such as banks and retail outlets operate long hours and even on weekends.

Gone are the days when most people worked from 9am to 5pm. As Singapore has progressed from Third World to First World, our mindsets should move in tandem with the rapid changes, lest we get left behind.

It is ludicrous to decline a job offer just because one has to travel to a remote area to work and travelling from one end of the island to the other should not be considered a bugbear.

Besides a good public-transport system, many companies also provide free transport for employees to and from work.
In neigbouring countries, it is common for workers and students to travel for two hours to their workplaces and schools. In other words, they leave home before dawn breaks and return home late.

The corporate world is becoming increasingly competitive and, unless Singaporeans emerge from their comfort zone, they will find it difficult to compete with foreigners for jobs.

MR JEFFREY LAW LEE BENG

Mr Law brought up some rather valid points in my opinion, and I have to agree to some of the views he brought up, while disagreeing with others. Incidentally, I don’t really like the use of the words “First World” and “Third World” to describe developed and emerging economies — the terms smack of colonialist prejudices, in my opinion.

That aside, I have to say that in my line of work, I am amazed sometimes when candidates tell me they reject a job offer because (as Mr Law points out) of the need to travel from, say Sengkang to Jurong East– some of these people drive, for goodness sakes, and it makes you wonder about the sincerity and commitment of these candidates. I also had candidates (both male and female) who tell me they don’t want to work in an environment that requires them to go out in the sun too often, and these are people who are supposed to be engineers!

However, I do disagree with viewpoints that perhaps people should be less fussy about salaries. Yes, most companies pay reasonably and commensurate with job expertise, experience and qualifications, but there is a huge difference between taking a 10-20% paycut, and a job that demands you do the exact same thing but only compensates the person 40% (or in excess) less than what they were paid previously. Case to highlight: I once had a candidate who was paid about $8,000 a month as a plant manager in a factory, but following the closure of his plant due to the economic downturn and bad business, decided to take up a position as an operations manager in another company that paid him $5,000 a month. When I presented him to a client, a renowned multi-national corporation, I was surprised that they overlooked his credentials and achievements and assessed him to be “worth” only $6,000 a month. I had thought that surely being an MNC, and in recognition of his contributions at his first company (he stayed there for close to 10 years), he would be offered something closer to his original $8,000 a month salary, but instead someone must have decided the pay-cut he took was an opportunity to pay “peanuts” to get a golden goose.

I would, however like to reiterate one point that Mr Law brought up to my fellow Singaporeans: foreign competition. Law Minister Mr K. Shanmugam commented in today’s Straits Times that “Singapore’s openness to foreigners enables the economy to thrive” [link here] and he was talking about how Singapore should join the “war for talent” to attract more talents into Singapore. What this means is that if Singaporeans do not step out of their “comfort zones” when it comes to jobs, there will always be that one foreign talent who will– and it would be a mistake to think these foreigners are necessarily less qualified or less experienced to want the jobs that Singaporeans shun.

[this post can also be found on my blog at http://sgheadhunter.wordpress.com]