SINGAPORE: The job situation in Singapore could have been worse given the severity of the global economic downturn, if not for the concerted efforts of the government, businesses and labour movement, said NTUC's secretary—general, Lim Swee Say.
Making the point in his May Day message to workers on Tuesday, Mr Lim said measures like the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and Jobs Credit have made a difference in saving jobs.
He said: "Many companies, (when) faced with a situation of excess manpower, they either retrench the workers or find ways to keep the workers at the minimum costs. In the case of SPUR and Job Credits, they have come in very handy, enabling many companies either to defer retrenchment or reduce retrenchment.
"We have come across companies asking for more, but at the same time we also have companies which have taken concrete action to try to find ways to break even at a much lower level of revenue, and yet at the same time working in collaboration to take full advantage of the various schemes offered by the economic agencies.
"(But) there are companies which will keep asking for more, (regardless of) whether the government or the union can do more to support them. Our message to them is: as we go through this downturn, the pain will be so severe that it is not realistic to hope for a painless solution.
"What the government and labour movement can do is to lighten the pain and share the load. And what we need is for the management to take the lead as well and play their part to find ways to cut wage and non—wage costs."
In the unionised sector, retrenchments were reaching as high as 900 per week during the Lunar New Year period.
However, the number has now dropped to an average of less than 300 per week, averting a potentially explosive situation of massive retrenchment in Singapore, said the Labour Movement chief.
"Everyday when I wake up, the first thing I look at is: what is the level of retrenchment, how many more jobs have we lost?" said Mr Lim. "The second thing I worry (about) is whether every job lost translates to another unemployed worker."
Mr Lim warned that the battle against the downturn is far from over. He said the retrenchments in the first quarter of this year would not be the only wave of job losses, but just the first.
Therefore, it was important for the tripartite partners to gear up for tougher challenges ahead of them, and not be disheartened.
Besides tackling the immediate challenges of cutting costs and saving jobs, the NTUC chief said the labour movement has got to be ready for the upturn and hence the need to also ensure that workers are ready to take on new jobs and new openings in emerging markets and new growth areas.
Mr Lim said: "Our key challenge today is not one of unemployment challenge, but rather the structural unemployment challenge. There are still jobs today: e2i (the employment and employability institute) today has got about 19,000 jobs, the job seekers about 9,500. And yet overnight, we have not been able to match because of a mismatch of skills, because of expectations."
He added that the tripartite partners are addressing this problem with SPUR.
At the same time, Mr Lim added that it is also important for the country to keep building new capabilities, upgrade service quality and restructure businesses especially at the time of a downturn, so that it can be prepared to take full advantage when the upturn comes.
— CNA/yb/yt
