productivity Archives - pressrun.net

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 By Abhijit

Singapore average earnings fall, not unemployment

Average earnings fell while there was no drop in unemployment in the second quarter of this year, according to the Singapore labour market survey released by the Manpower Ministry today.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rates remained unchanged at 2.2 per cent overall and 3.2 per cent for Singapore residents, said the report.

There were 84,400 unemployed residents in June 2010. About 16,500 of them have been out of work for more than six months.

Average nominal earnings fell from S$4,310 a month in January-March to S$3,819 a month in April-June.

Average real earnings fell from S$4,263 to S$3,733 as consumer prices rose. The consumer price index was up 3.1 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. (See the Singapore Statistics Department data here.)

Generally worst off were the 182,300 people in the hotels and restaurants business, with average nominal earnings of S$1,451 a month. See the tables below showing the average earnings and occupations of Singapore's three million working population.

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: average, communications, construction, consumper price index, earnings, financial, information, june, manufacturing, nominal, productivity, real, resident, retail, second quarter, services, unemployment, wholesale

Thursday, September 9, 2010 By Abhijit

Public trust of politicians highest in Singapore

Singapore is first in the world for quality of higher education, first in math and science and Singapore's politicians enjoy the highest public trust in the world.

That's according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, released by the World Economic Forum today.

Singapore remains the world's third most competitive economy, overtaken by Sweden, which has jumped to second place from fourth. Sweden also has the third most trusted politicians in the world, after Singapore and Qatar. (See the list of countries with the most trusted politicians at the end of this post.)

Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy for the second year running, while America, the former No 1 which dropped to second spot last year, is now down to fourth place. Swiss politicians are the 12th most trusted in the world.

Singapore finishes in the top 20 in almost every category except judicial independence, in which it is ranked 21st, and intensity of local competition, in which it is ranked 28th.

The report is based on national and international data as well as an executive opinion survey. In Singapore, the business executives surveyed were selected with the help of the Economic Development Board. See How the Global Competitiveness Report is prepared.

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: america, competition, corruption, economy, education, global competitiveness, government, inflation, innovation, judicial independence, labour, market, math, pay, politician, productivity, public trust, rankings, research, science, sweden, switzerland, technology, world economic forum

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 By Abhijit

‘Singapore withdraws red carpet for foreigners’

Singapore withdraws red carpet for foreigners with eye on vote, says Bloomberg. The report, published by BusinessWeek, covers changes in government policy on immigration and foreign workers.

But is it right when it says, "The government’s shift, which includes higher school and medical fees for non-citizens, has spurred speculation that an election may be called as early as this year" ?

The Wall Street Journal reports Singapore moves to curtail immigration. It says:

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: babies, birth, birth rate, bloomberg, budget, citizens, employer, finance minister, foreign worker, foreigner, immigration, levies, manufacturing, opposition, permanent resident, productivity, property, SembCorp Marine, services, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, wall street journal

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 By Abhijit

Foreign workers boosted economy and wages: Tharman

Foreign workers not only helped the Singapore economy to grow but also helped raise the median income of Singaporeans, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his Budget speech yesterday.

That contradicts a Wall Street Journal report last month, which I quoted in an earlier post.

The minister and the Journal both agree the foreign workers helped the economy to grow.

But their presence was a damper on productivity and blue-collar wages, according to the Journal.

Foreign workers — over a million strong — make up about a third of the Singapore workforce.

The median monthly income of people working full-time rose 0.5% from 2,590 Singapore dollars in June 2008 to 2,600 Singapore dollars in June 2009, after soaring 11% in 2008 and 7.7% in 2007, the Ministry of Manpower reported on November 30, 2009.

But many Singaporeans are unhappy about the influx of foreign workers.

The minister said there was a need to "moderate the growth of the foreign workforce", using a "price mechanism", like for any other product in the market.

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: economy, employer, finance, foreign worker, growth, income, manpower, median income, minister, productivity, tharman, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, unemployment, wages, wall street journal, workforce

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 By Abhijit

Singapore in sweet spot despite slower growth

A rising number of Singaporean business and political leaders expect economic growth to slow significantly over the next decade as the country adjusts to being a rich, developed nation, signalling a possible end to Singapore's multidecade run as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: asian, economy, growth, productivity

Monday, February 1, 2010 By Abhijit

Singapore to keep foreign workforce at one-third

Singapore should tighten policies on foreign workers in the city-state to ensure their number does not grow significantly from current levels, a committee led by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam recommended today, reports Reuters.

"We cannot increase the number of foreign workers as liberally as we did over the last decade, or else we will run up against real physical and social limits," the government's economic strategies committee said in a report.

"This will also ensure that our economy's dependence on the foreign workforce over the long term does not grow significantly beyond current levels of about one-third of the total workforce."

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, another member of the committee, told a media briefing: "We want to maintain the current balance as it is, which is about one-third."

The committee said the government could increase the foreign worker levies in a "gradual and phased manner" but did not say by how much.

Foreigners make up about 34 per cent of Singapore's population of 4.99 million, reported the Financial Times, as mentioned in my previous post.

Dow Jones Newswires reports the committee also recommends:

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: bio-electronics, Economic Strategies Committee, finance minister, foreign worker, foreigner, gdp, gross domestic product, investment fund, knowledge, manufacturing, masterplan, nuclear energy, population, productivity, research and development, tanjong pagar, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, tuas, underground, waterfront city

Monday, February 1, 2010 By Abhijit

Singapore immigration curb won’t hit professionals: FT

Singapore will try to reassure multinational companies that plans to tighten immigration will not affect white-collar expatriates, reports the Financial Times.

Foreigners make up about 34 per cent of the country’s population of 4.99 million, following a long period of high economic growth up to 2008 during which Singapore accepted up to 100,000 people each year.

A report by an economic review strategy committee chaired by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will say that the focus of reductions in the flow of foreigners must be on blue-collar workers, says the Financial Times.

This follows growing concern among locals, it adds. But Singapore has to remain open to highly skilled professionals, says the newspaper, quoting "a person familiar with the report".

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: 5 per cent, birth rate, blue collar, committee, economic growth, economic strategy, finance minister, immigration, productivity, professional, review, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, white collar, worker, workforce

Thursday, January 14, 2010 By Abhijit

Foreigners boost Singapore’s growth, lower productivity

The Wall Street Journal has come out with the best piece I have read on Singapore for a long time:

By some estimates, a third or more of Singapore's 6.8% average annual growth from 2003 to 2008 came from the expansion of its labour force, primarily expatriates, allowing Singapore to post growth more commonly associated with poor developing nations.
At the same time, though, foreign workers have driven up real estate and other prices and made the city-state's roads and subways more congested. Their arrival has kept local blue-collar wages lower than they would be otherwise, exacerbating Singapore's gap between rich and poor.
Some economists say the most damaging effect of the immigration is that the influx appears to be putting a lid on productivity gains, as manufacturers rely on cheap imported labour instead of making their businesses more efficient. Labour productivity, or output per employee, fell 7.8% in 2008 and 0.8% in 2007—a phenomenon that could eventually translate into lower standards of living.

The Wall Street Journal graphic is invaluable.

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: expatriate, foreign worker, immigration, labour, productivity

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 By Abhijit

Singapore productivity falls sharply, average wages drop to 2007 level

Singapore productivity has gone down sharply, according to the latest government data. It started before the recession, dipping slightly in 2007, then plummeted last year — and hasn't hit bottom yet.

Average wages have also fallen back to 2007 levels. The "average nominal earnings per employee by industry" was 3,609 Singapore dollars (about $2,575) in the second quarter of this year — less than the 3,773 Singapore-dollar average pay cheque in 2007.

See how much productivity has fallen?

All the figures here are from the Monthly Digest of Statistics Singapore, October 2009.

Productivity fell by 0.8 percent in 2007, then by 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2008 before things went from bad to worse. The drop was 7.1 percent in the second quarter, even worse — 9 percent in the third quarter — then went into double digits, plunging 11.9 percent in the fourth quarter and a shocking 14.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Singapore was then in full-blown recession.

But the slide did not stop even when the recession ended. Productivity fell by 6.2 percent in the second quarter. Back to single digits at last!

Filed Under: Singapore Tagged With: construction, manufacturing, productivity, services, statistics singapore

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