SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has identified
structural unemployment as an issue the government is concerned
about, a problem he expects to get worse given the economic
outlook.
Mr Lim was speaking at a forum organised by the
Young Sikh Association on Saturday.
The labour chief told some 200 participants at the
forum that for real wages to keep growing, the economy must expand
by three to five percent over the next decade.
But it won't be easy.
A big concern is a mismatch between workers' skills and what's
demanded by employers.
Mr Lim said low-wage workers are vulnerable to structural
unemployment.
Another group is the Professionals, Managers and Executives
(PMEs).
He said the last 15 years have seen a concerted effort to train
workers better.
And the current focus on achieving sustainable and inclusive growth
is an extension of this goal.
Mr Lim said: "Simply put, sustainable growth is to ensure there is
enough opportunities. Inclusive growth is to minimise structural
mismatch. In other words, if a growing number of Singaporeans are
not able to take on these jobs that are being created in the
economy, then they'll be excluded."
The labour chief said one way out for the PMEs is professional
conversion to adapt to new jobs.
As for low-wage workers, the emphasis is on upgrading skills and
re-designing jobs.
Mr Lim, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office,
said the economy needs a mix of local and foreign enterprises to
grow.
And the government's aim is to ensure Singaporeans form the core of
the workforce, even as it continues to accept foreign
workers.
The ratio between foreign and local workers will be kept at
1:2.
Mr Lim recalled his time in the Economic Development Board (EDB)
when he was involved in persuading multi-national corporations to
set up shop in Singapore.
Faced with a lack of trained workers, the EDB offered these
companies a "package deal", where the agency would fund the
training of Singapore workers, who would go on to take up
managerial positions in these companies.
But the process of "glocalisation" - where multi-nationals
globalise their operations but localise their workforce - is more
challenging in Singapore because of its relatively low unemployment
rate.
"So we said, 'How about this? You don't have to localise your
workforce to the extreme'," Mr Lim said.
Instead, foreign companies would be persuaded to allow Singaporeans
to form the core of their operations here.
"If we do it in this way, over time the industry will sink roots in
Singapore. So when the companies think about moving out of
Singapore, they've got to think about the core of Singaporean
workers. This core has taken them five years, 10 years, 20 years to
invest. Why would they give it up?" said Mr Lim.
- CNA/ir
