Dec 25, 2007
Flexible labour policy has helped S'poreans
I REFER to the letters about foreign workers in Singapore and the competition they could pose to older local workers for jobs.
As Singapore has limited manpower, foreign workers supplement our workforce when there is a shortage in numbers or skills. Businesses cannot expand and will even move elsewhere if they cannot get the workers they need here. Singaporeans in these companies would lose their jobs. Rather than taking jobs away from locals, our flexible labour policy has instead helped our economy grow and benefited Singaporeans directly.
More Singaporeans, including older workers and women, are employed than ever before. The employment rate for those aged 25 to 64 is at a record 76.5 per cent as of June. As a result, wages have gone up. Singaporeans have also been taking up better jobs - nine out of 10 jobs gained by residents from 1997 to 2007 were those of Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs). The overall unemployment rate of 1.7 per cent in September is the lowest in almost a decade. We are effectively at full employment.
Despite abundant job opportunities, Singaporeans should still enhance their employability through upgrading their skills and productivity. We would like the letter writers who have difficulty finding employment to contact the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) at 6883-5885, so that we can assist them in training and job placement.
Jean Tan (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
for Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Manpower
In a single line the MOM person misled readers over how many jobs really go to SGians. Residents include SGians and non-Sgians leh, want to bluff who? And they created this wtf category PMET where technicians are lumped together with professionals and mangers?! WTF! Like that win liao lo!
MOM is spinning the same old broken record. And from the writing, i don't think the writer is half convinced of the what-the-fuck she wrote.
And oh today is X'mas and i believe in Santa Claus.. ♫
4 comments:
They are just so afriad to tell people the truth. Scare, scare, is it? Hey people are asking about jobs for Singaporeans and not jobs for Singapore residents.
Notice that they are also quickly converting PRs into Singapore citizens. So, next time, we should ask for figures for native Singaporeans and not converted Singaporeans.
When the numbers are big enough, I bet with you that they will revert to the term "Singaporeans", which include native and converted Singapore citizens.
Singaporeans are starting to sound like their neighbour 'native' Indonesian and Malaysian when referring to the Chinese-origin counterparts.
Why so xenophobic?
I quote a section of the govt's reply:
"The total annual pay for ministers includes all bonuses, such as the 13th-month payment, the AVERAGE performance bonus and the GDP bonus."
Notice how the word "average" is so well hidden!! Does it imply that some ministers' salaries are higher than the benchmark??
Also, do you know that the govt classify PRs as "S'poreans" in employment statistics??!! YES.
Also, does the employment statistics include part-time and temp work??
"Singaporeans have also been taking up better jobs"
I would imagine that these 'better jobs' are those rebranded jobs - unskilled jobs suddently have high sounding titles - gardeners being called 'landscape technicians', bus drivers being called 'bus captains' etc etc.
Many who lost their jobs because of the age factor normally have to take up jobs that are lower in pay but with the job rebranding exercises they would now become 'landscape technicians' etc. Oh yes, a 'better job' but with lower pay.Who is kidding who?
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