Link: Singapore braces for higher joblessness.
Singapore’s jobless rate may climb rise from 3.7 per cent to about 5 per cent, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday.
He delivered the warning after US disk drive maker Maxtor was reported to be slashing 5,500 jobs in Singapore, closing down one of its two factories here, shifting work to China.
Singapore was in a "new phase of economic development" as companies shifted production to lower-cost countries such as China and India, said Mr Lee.
Other developed nations such as the US and Australia face about 5 per cent unemployment "even in good years," he said. "This could happen to us too, as we develop further," he added.
Singapore has about half a million – mostly older – workers with just basic skills who are especially vulnerable, he noted.
Reuters, AFP, the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times all led with the jobs warning.
But the local media led with the good news instead — about a new government initiative to help unemployed Singaporeans.
Mr Lee noted that Singaporeans were unwilling to take up jobs that were low-paid and physically strenuous, leaving them to foreigners.
So, the government has come up with a Job Re-creation Programme. Companies will be encouraged to "redesign" jobs to make them more attractive to Singaporeans. Upgrade menial jobs such as cleaners, he said — make them more more productive and better-paid. The Workforce Development Agency has set aside 10 million Singapore dollars to be spent over two years to help companies redesign jobs. Ten million Singapore dollars is just about US$6 million. Chump change in budget terms. Singapore actually spends millions on worker retraining programmes. But this particular initiative is very modest — a "small carrot" in the Prime Minister’s own words. But the local media led with that. No, they did not block out the bad news but highlighted what the government was doing to address the problem.
Tuesday, March 8, 2005 By
