Tough journey ahead for firms and workers: Swee Say

Prepare for more painful economic restructuring, says labour chief

By Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 4 Aug 2012

LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say yesterday warned that economic restructuring will get more painful for both companies and workers - given that Singapore does not have the luxury of having an unlimited pool of manpower.

"We now have to create a new growth path for the Singapore economy without (being) overly dependent on the rapid growth of the workforce," he said.

"The journey ahead will only get tougher."

The labour chief was speaking to more than 150 unionists and members of the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) youth arm, nEbO, at a National Day observance ceremony at Gardens by the Bay.

Despite the sombre message, Mr Lim noted that Singapore was still better off compared with the United States and Europe, which have grappled with problems of job shortages and high youth unemployment.

Singapore has avoided these woes because of financial and fiscal prudence, and pegging wage hikes to productivity gains to achieve sustainable economic growth, he said.

And while no country is perfect in all areas, Mr Lim pointed out that Singapore is held up as a model country. "On the whole, Singapore is highly regarded as an 'all-round' nation in the world," he said.

However, the country faces intense competition, and economic restructuring to achieve sustained growth is necessary, said Mr Lim.

He made it plain that while workers and companies have to bear the pain of economic restructuring together, the manpower crunch will hurt more in some sectors.

"One example is the hotel sector... which depends a lot on additional manpower to provide services (to their guests)," he said.

The labour chief pledged to help workers lift their pay through NTUC's progressive wage model.

Since June, the labour movement has rolled out systematic plans to gradually increase workers' pay in the cleaning, transport, childcare and hotel sectors through training and job restructuring programmes.

Before Mr Lim took the stand, four unionists and activists spoke on growing up in Singapore in the 1960s, and their hopes for the future.

Among the young people who gave their full attention to the speakers was 16-year-old Chung Cheng High School (Yishun) student Benjamin Oh.

When asked what the National Day observance ceremony meant to him, he replied after a pause: "It is to celebrate what we have achieved and a reminder that we have to continue to work hard."