Lim Swee Say
Singapore
“The number of reports received via the Snap@MOM app, number of valid reports and number of companies issued with enforcement actions between 2015 and 2017 are shown in the table below: All valid reports have resulted in warnings or enforcement actions.”
“In the case of students from ITE, polytechnics or autonomous universities, employers do not need to contribute CPF if the student is employed by them for training that is approved by their institutions.”
“Together with our tripartite partners at the national and sector levels, we have to do our best to transform across all sectors, for our economy to transform and grow, pervasively, as One Singapore Unlimited.”
“Between April and December 2017, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) concluded 3,750 employee salary claims where the employer was ordered to make payment to the worker. Salaries were fully recovered in about 92% of these orders. The remaining claims involved 139 employers.”
“The number of employed residents aged 62 and over, and 67 and over has increased over the last five years (see Table 1 below). Of all employed residents aged 67 and over in 2017, 64% were males; 80% held secondary and below qualifications, 9% had post-secondary qualifications, while 11% were tertiary-educated; 52% of this group of older w…”
“The proportion of full-time resident employees earning below $2,000 who received bonuses, including the Annual Wage Supplement, has remained stable at about 50% over the last decade. Employers and unions share the flexibility in structuring staff remuneration together under our Flexible and Performance Based wage systems.”
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“They will be the ones to help us to find companies among their members to provide the attachment. At the same time, at the end of the training, the responsibility to find placement would likewise rest with our industry partner, supported by WSG and e2i. So, it is a safeguard to make sure that the programmes will not be abused. Last but not least, about fair treatment. I can assure the House that these partners that we have, they are all reliable partners, responsible partners. When they make arrangements with their industry members, they also take on the responsibility to make sure that these companies taking them on attachment are, likewise, responsible employers.”
“Madam, I had earlier explained why we introduced Attach-and-Train. It is because of this timing gap between the hiring and the time needed for conversion. Having said that, we are mindful of the potential downside of the Attach-and-Train programme. This is the reason why we have no intention to roll out Attach-and-Train across all the 50 PCPs. It will be done selectively. I have earlier explained the selection criteria to minimise the danger that the trainees may eventually not be able to find jobs. Hence, we will only be working with sectors where there is a growing demand for such PMETs. With that in mind, on the first question about whether there will be an employer-employee relationship, the answer is no. These trainees will be selected by the industry body, and then they will go through the training as trainees. So, there is no employment and there is no employer-employee relationship. Secondly, the training needs to be fully funded between the WSG and SSG plus our training partners. The PCP programme right now is open to PMETs. Whether we need to have a PCP for rank-and-file, I am open to the idea. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, looking ahead to the future economy, we are going to see less distinction between PMETs and rank-and-file. In fact, we do need to upgrade the rank-and-file job as well, to professionalise them. Therefore, as and when there is a demand, I would be happy to launch them. Now, obligation to hire. We are putting the obligation to hire on the industry partner. For example, in the case of logistics, we are working very closely with the Singapore Logistics Association. They will be the ones helping us to screen the candidates, select the candidates.”
“In consultation with our tripartite partners, we will form a tripartite workgroup to study these issues, address the concerns of the freelancers and come up with workable solutions for the well-being of the freelancing workforce in our future economy. Mr Patrick Tay asked about reviewing the Trade Union Act to allow freelancers to become NTUC union members. The Trade Union Act, together with IRA and the Trade Disputes Act, regulate industrial relations between employers and employees. Hence, this set of legislation is not applicable to freelancers. This is not an employer-employee relationship. But this does not mean that freelancers today cannot join NTUC as members for NTUC to champion their interests. A good example is that many taxi drivers are freelancers with no employer and are today NTUC-U Associate members. So, we support NTUC in reaching out to more freelancers in more occupations, including the gig freelancers, and will be happy to work with NTUC and SNEF to pursue this issue further through the tripartite workgroup on freelancing. Madam, facilitated by technology, we can expect the gig economy to keep growing. There is potential upside, there is potential downside, too. So, our challenge is to maximise the upside and minimise the downside. The first survey is a good starting point for us to get better insights into the freelancer landscape in Singapore. We will continue to monitor the developments and, together with our tripartite partners, we will find practical solutions to address the issues faced by the freelancers.”
“Many of us may have the impression that there are actually many more gig freelancers out there than the number reported in this survey of 20,000. I wish to point out that these 20,000 are those who freelance regularly, both part-time or full-time, but it does not capture those who freelance occasionally or once in a while. Also, traditional freelancers who do not actively make use of online intermediaries to find work are not considered as gig workers. Even though they may have an online presence to market themselves, they are still not considered as gig workers, for example, sport coaches and music instructors. Our future annual surveys will enable us to track if the number is growing and in which occupations. Finally, we also asked our freelancers about their concerns. Their top concern is whether they can find sufficient customers. As freelancers, customers are very important to them. They also have concerns over the lack of income security, for example, arising from work injuries, when attending training or going for skills upgrading. Some of them are also concerned about timely and complete payment from their clients. Last but not least, they are also concerned about their savings for housing and retirement. Madam, while these concerns may not be new to freelancers, yet we are taking them seriously. This is because the number of freelancers may grow in our future economy in tandem with the growth of the platform economy. 3.30 pm Mr Ang Hin Kee has asked how MOM will gather views of relevant stakeholders and safeguard the interests of freelancers. Ms Foo Mee Har has also offered her four suggestions in terms of how we can take care of the well-being of the freelancers better. I thank both of them.”
“The main reasons for choosing to freelance: more freedom, earning extra income, spending more time with their family. The remaining 19% freelanced, even though it was not their preferred choice. Sixteen percent of them are in primary, 2% in secondary. This group, that is, 16%, about 32,700 were doing primary freelancing but it is not their preferred choice. This is the group that I am most concerned about. Under Adapt and Grow, we hope we will be able to reach out to as many of them as possible and help them move into full-time employment because freelancing is not their preferred choice. Fourth, the top freelancing occupations are still the traditional occupations. The top three are taxi drivers, real estate agents and working proprietors, such as provision shop owners and other business owners with no employees. The other major freelancing occupations with more than 10,000 freelancers are insurance agents, private hire car drivers, hawker/stallholders and private tutors. Fifth, freelancers who use Internet platforms, also known as online intermediaries, to find work in the gig economy are still a minority. The largest group is private hire car drivers: the Uber and Grab drivers. About 10,500 of them. The rest are largely small. Among those with more than 1,000, we have professional services, including consultants, accountants and bookkeepers; creative services: graphic designers, interior designers and product designers; media and communications: producers, editors and photographers. Finally, delivery services like Foodpanda and Honestbee. All these add up to another 10,000. So, 10,000 in the private hire car, plus 10,000 from the rest of the groups, and if we put them all together, that would be about 20,000 gig workers we have today.”
“If you are a gig worker providing a service under a "contract for service", you are a gig freelancer, but under a "contract of service", then you are a gig employee. For the gig freelancers under "contracts for service", they are known as own-account workers in our labour force surveys and they are considered as self-employed persons by CPF and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. In short, "gig workers" can be gig employees or gig freelancers depending on his work arrangement. Madam, reliable and internationally comparable data on gig workers are currently not available. To understand better the freelancer landscape arising from the rise in the gig economy in Singapore, we supplemented our annual comprehensive labour force survey with a more detailed survey on freelancing last year. I shall now share some interesting findings with this House. First, the total number of primary freelancers remains flat at about 167,000 in 2016. These are workers who freelance as their main job. This is within the range of 8% to 10% of employed residents in the past 10 years based on our previous surveys. Second, if we add the secondary freelancers, then the total number of freelancers in Singapore would be about 200,000. The secondary freelancers are those who freelance part-time alongside other jobs. They have a primary job and freelancing is their secondary job. These would include students, housewives or retirees who take on side jobs for additional income. Thirdly, about 81% of freelancers do freelancing as a preferred choice. They are in freelancing because they prefer to be freelancers. Sixty-seven percentage points of the 81% are primary freelancers and 14 percentage points are secondary freelancers.”
“They allow businesses to tap on workers who are available "on-demand" to serve customers more flexibly and responsively so as to reduce costs and increase revenues. They also allow individuals to market their skills, provide their services to earn an income, and they can do so under a more flexible working arrangement. From the employment angle, my Ministry is monitoring closely their potential impact on the long-term well-being of the workers. Common questions and concerns raised, including those raised by Mr Alex Yam, Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Chen Show Mao and Ms Jessica Tan are: how different is gig work from traditional employment? Are gig workers adequately protected under our labour laws? Will they save enough for their housing, medical and retirement? Madam, first of all, I want to point out that not all gig workers are gig freelancers. Gig workers can be employees or freelancers. For example, if a private car driver joins a transport company with an employment contract and takes on jobs offered via app, he is in the gig economy but he is still an employee protected by labour laws because he is on an employment contract with the car rental company, even if he is on a short-term employment contract with the car rental company. There is no difference from other workers who are employed under what we call "contract of service". But if he provides a service in return for a fee, without entering into any employer-employee relationship with any party and, at the same time, he is not overly constrained by the conditions imposed by the platform owner or service buyer, then this is no different from any freelancer that we know today under what we call the "contract for service".”
“We are glad that the members find the new format easier to understand. CPF Board will also continue to reach out to members in the community through CPF retirement planning roadshows and mobile service centres as well as through mainstream and social media. Last year, CPF Board piloted a CPF Retirement Planning Service for members who are reaching 55, in other words, at the age of 54. We invited 1,200 members to test out this service and 95% of them said they would recommend this service to their friends. These one-on-one sessions help members to understand better the CPF schemes and the options available to them. As members have found this service useful, therefore, we will extend the CPF Retirement Planning Service to all CPF members turning age 54 this year. An estimate of about 20,000 of them will be invited. In conclusion, the Government has and will continue to strengthen our CPF system to help members improve their retirement adequacy. We hope that members will make good use of the options available to better meet their retirement needs, as well as those of their loved ones. Madam, I will now go on to the topic of the gig economy. Madam, there is no official definition of the gig economy worldwide. However, OECD and several international studies commonly refer to workers in the economy as workers on the "Platform Economy". These are online labour-sharing or capital-sharing platforms. These online platforms serve as intermediaries to match or connect service buyers with workers who take up short-term or piecemeal jobs. So, there is matching of supply to demand. From the economic angle, such online platforms create opportunities for businesses, workers and customers.”
“This is to allow members the option of starting their CPF LIFE payout, with a lower initial payout which can then be escalating at 2% a year. With this new option, from January next year, January 2018, CPF members will have three options: Standard and Basic Plans and now the Escalating Plan. Those who are already on Standard and Basic Plans, they will have one year to switch into this new option if they want to. CPF Board will provide further details later this year. Mr Ong Teng Koon asked if we should make company medical plans portable for individuals with pre-existing illnesses who have left the company. Madam, I think we should leave this to the market to decide because it would have impact on the premiums for all members on the scheme, not just those with pre-existing illnesses. So, MOM will have no intention to intervene in the market. We will leave it to the insurance market to decide. Madam, with these planned and pending enhancements, we would have strengthened our CPF system into what we call the "1, 2, 3" of CPF. Three basic needs: healthcare, housing, retirement. Education is not one of them. Three contributors: employer, employee and CPF Board. Three ways to grow your savings: CPF risk-free interest, CPFIS and LRIS. When you turn 55, three options for the retirement sum: Basic, Full and Enhanced. And when you reach the age of 65, three options for CPF LIFE payout: Basic, Standard and Escalating. Madam, to help the public understand these enhancements better and make more informed choices as they plan for their retirement, we have stepped up our communications and outreach efforts to CPF members. We revamped the Yearly Statement of Accounts last year and adopted a pictorial format. We also provided customised tips for each member.”
“To better serve the interest of CPF members, we are working on three areas of improvement to CPFIS. First, the introduction of a self-assessment tool to help members to determine for themselves whether CPFIS is suitable for them. In other words, we will provide a self-assessment tool for the CPF members to assess themselves. At the end of the test or assessment, if they still decide to proceed to invest through CPFIS, even though the self-assessment tool helps them to discover that they may not be of the right profile to use the scheme, it is still their decision. What we want to do is to help him, at least, to understand whether he is suitable. Second, the lowering of the cap on sales charge. This is to discourage financial intermediaries from proactively selling products to CPF members because investment churning could actually erode investment returns. Third, we are going to review the types of asset classes offered under CPFIS to see if they are appropriate for growing retirement savings. This is to encourage members to invest for the long term and provide members with a diversified portfolio. We will announce these changes after we have finalised them later this year. For CPF members who prefer a simpler investment option, they can look forward to CPF LRIS that we are working on. As recommended by the CPF Advisory Panel, LRIS will have low fees, simple investment choices, investments that are passively managed and mechanisms to encourage long-term investment. When we put together these schemes, CPF members will have three ways to grow their CPF savings in future: risk-free CPF interest rates, CPFIS and LRIS. Madam, we will also introduce an additional option for CPF LIFE plan, as recommended by the CPF Advisory Panel.”
“On the whole, these recent CPF changes help both the younger and the older members to save more for their retirement. I hope more members will make good use of these options to meet their own needs better. Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin asked whether we could allow members to use their CPF savings for overseas training courses because, as she put it, some of these training courses are just too expensive. But in fact, it is for the same reason, why we are hesitating. Madam, CPF can only be used to support basic tertiary education at local approved institutions. With a longer lifespan, we are doing more to safeguard member's retirement adequacy. We need to be careful about expanding the use of CPF for other expenses. Therefore, we have no plans to open up the CPF Education Scheme for overseas programmes. But let me emphasise that, in fact, I do agree with Ms Kuik that upgrading is very important. It is not that we are not supportive of upgrading but skills upgrading or professional upgrading is not one of the main purposes of CPF. Upgrading is important but CPF savings is a wrong channel; not the right one. I will explain why later. Madam, this year, we will introduce two more enhancements. First, a review of CPFIS. The CPF Advisory Panel observed that CPFIS is not designed for members who lack the time and knowledge to manage their own investments. There is nothing wrong with the idea of the CPFIS investment scheme. But you must be in the right profile of investors. If you have the time, the knowledge, CPFIS is the right scheme for you. But if you have no time and knowledge, then CPFIS may not be the best scheme for you. In fact, it could be better off for those who have no time and knowledge to leave their CPF money to earn the risk-free CPF interest rates.”
“They need to set aside only the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) instead of the Full Retirement Sum (FRS). About 2,700 members did some transfer and this is 70% more than the year before. So, the number of members who did transfer to their spouses has increased. And about one-third of the increase was due to enhancements in our rules. In fact, one in five of the spouses who received transfers now have at least BRS. We also saw more cash top-ups last year to their own accounts or for their family members. Forty-nine thousand members received cash top-ups of $860 million. This is 27% more recipients than 2015. More members are now doing cash top-ups, either for themselves or for their family members. Beyond BRS and FRS, we introduced the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) last year. About 9,000 members exercised this new option. And those with ERS at age 55 will receive $1,900 per month for life when they reach the withdrawal age of 65. Last but not least, CPF members also now have the option of deferring the starting age of their CPF LIFE payouts up to the age of 70. They do not have to start at 64, even though the payouts' eligibility age is 64. If they want to, they can defer to the age of 70. Last year, about 900 CPF LIFE members did that and about 70% are still working. Half of them would have received payouts of more than $500 per month and they will all receive higher payouts by starting later. Mr William Wong turned 65 years old just last week. Under CPF LIFE, he would have received about $500 a month for life but Mr Wong chooses to defer his payout for as long as he is healthy and working. So, if he defers till 70 years old, his payout would increase to $680, instead of $500; an increase of about $180 per month, for life.”
“Madam, I thank Members, Ms Foo Mee Har and Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin, for their views and suggestions regarding CPF. Over the years, our CPF system has served Singaporeans well in supporting the retirement, housing and healthcare needs of Singaporeans. Retirement adequacy has been improving. In 2013, about six in 10 active members turning 55 met the Basic Retirement Sum. We expect this proportion to increase to seven in 10 for members turning 55 years old in 2020. With wage growth and higher labour force participation rate, especially among older workers, we can expect CPF balances to keep improving in the years ahead. To help CPF members to save more for their retirement, we made several enhancements last year. We raised the CPF salary ceiling from $5,000 to $6,000. About one million CPF members benefited. A member who is 40 years old earning $6,000 a month will save $370 more a month. And with interest, it will grow to $149,000 by the age of 65. If a person continues working from 40 to 65 years old earning about $6,000 a month, it will add another $149,000 into his CPF account by the age of 65. We are also helping older workers to save more. About 570,000 workers aged 50 and above benefited from the increase in our CPF contribution rates. Another one million CPF members aged 55 and above, benefited from an additional extra interest of 1% on their first $30,000 savings in CPF. For an older worker earning the median salary of $3,400 from age 50 to 65, the increase in CPF contribution and additional extra interest of 1% will add $14,000 to his retirement savings by the time he turns 65. Last year, we have also made it easier for members to transfer CPF savings to their spouses' account. This is an area that Ms Foo Mee Har is always concerned about.”
“So, please have confidence in ourselves, in one another and in our future. Let us transform and grow together to create growth in our economy, adapt and grow together to create good jobs, better careers for all our people to live a better life. On that note, thank you. [Applause.]”
“So, working in unity, we are pro-worker, we are pro-business because, if one is weak, the others cannot be strong. The two are either mutually reinforcing, like what we have here in Singapore, or mutually weakening, like what we see elsewhere. The mutual support we give to one another, the mutual trust we have built and earned with our people, workers, unions and our businesses has enabled us to emerge from every economic downturn, from every economic restructuring, not weaker, but stronger. We are not the only one trying to unlock the door to a future of good jobs and better careers, a future of fair and progressive workplaces. Many countries are searching for keys, too, but not many have succeeded. Some may have found one out of four, two out of four or even three out of four, but not four out of four. At least not yet. So, maybe these four keys are simply not there in the bushes in the first place. This is why instead of joining in the search for keys, whether in dark bushes or under a bright lamp post, we have always made our own keys to create our own future, the Singapore Tripartite Way. Madam, guided by the seven strategies outlined by CFE, our tripartite partners, both at the national and sectoral levels, are working together to implement all the ITMs. Together, we can help our businesses to transform and create quality jobs, help our people to adapt to new jobs, make our local workforce more inclusive while strengthening the complementarity in our local-foreign workforce and, lastly, enhance our employment protection framework for a fair and progressive workplace. So, these are the four keys to a future of better careers for all. We know what we need to do and we are working in unity to get there ahead of all the others.”
“We are also committed to help SMEs transform themselves, streamline manpower and maximise the usage of resources, so as to bring value-for-money products and services to both domestic and export markets more quickly. When it comes to economic transformation, Singapore has never failed. Be it now or in the future, we will continue to be successful. I, therefore, urge everyone to be confident and to have faith in the future. Let us work together to strive for better jobs for our workers, better markets for businesses and a better future for our people. (In English): Madam, it was dark at night. A man was looking for something under a bright lamp post. A passerby asked: "Are you looking for something?" He said, "Yes, I am looking for my key." "How big is your key?" "This big." "Oh, that should be easy to find." So, the passerby joined in the search. After five minutes, they found nothing. "Are you sure the key is this big?" He said, "Yes." "Are you sure you lost it here?" "No, no, no, over there, in the bushes." "Then, why are we searching for your key here?" "Because it is too dark over there." "It's brighter, it's easier to search here." Madam, many countries today face the problem of failure: problem with high and sticky unemployment, problem with wage stagnation. What we face is different. Not a problem of failure but challenges of success. How to sustain wage growth? How to sustain full employment? We got here because we did not take the easy way out: searching for lost key at the wrong place. We had the courage to restructure when needed, continuously. Most of all, we got here because our tripartite partnership is strong and our workers, our businesses, our people, they are good.”
“They wonder if job prospects would be more uncertain in the future and if there will be less job security. Entrepreneurs in Singapore are also wondering, with so many difficulties in getting customers and workers, will it become increasingly difficult to conduct businesses and manufacturing operations? I can assure our people that what we are trying to achieve for our nation and companies is not a slowing economy and employment market. On the contrary, through economic transformation, we want to strive for better business opportunities, better jobs, better prospects in the future economy and a better employment market. In this fast-changing globalised economy, competition is stiff and survival hinges on creativity and innovation. To succeed and thrive, workers and companies must be highly-skilled and utilise technology fully. At the outset, it seems that utilising technology would reduce demand for workers, hence, it is not good for them. In fact, however, if we are able to adopt and make use of technology faster than other countries and companies to enhance our competitiveness, technology can improve how we work and help us do more and do better, then more and better opportunities will come to Singapore. All these will benefit our people as they enjoy better job opportunities and our SMEs will have even more opportunities and more room for development. We all know that success does not come easily. If we run too slowly, we might lose our competitiveness. If we run too fast, some businesses and workers might lag behind. Therefore, we must be decisive and united, support one another and move forward together. The tripartite partners will do their best to help workers upgrade their skills, adopt technology, adjust to new jobs constantly and do well in their new career.”
“The tripartite partners, therefore, decided to introduce what will be known as Tripartite Standards to complement the existing employment laws, tripartite guidelines and advisories. Each standard will specify a set of progressive practices that are verifiable and can also be sector-specific. For example, we can have a tripartite standard on FWAs or we can have one that specifies working arrangements in a specific sector like the media sector. Employers can then make public their adoption of the standards through the Jobs Bank and TAFEP website. Jobseekers would be able to identify these companies as employers of choice. The first series of tripartite standards will be launched by the end of the year. More details will be available then. Taken together, laws, guidelines and standard advisories will form a comprehensive map to help employers build fair and progressive workplaces. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked about discrimination against NSmen. This is against the Ministry of Defence Enlistment Act. If Members know of any specific cases, they may refer them to TAFEP for investigation. Madam, before I conclude, please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech. ] Many workers are worried. Those currently employed worry about losing their jobs, while the unemployed worry about when they can find a job. I can totally relate to how they feel. This is because economic growth has been lower than previous years, while retrenchment figures have been higher than before, and the unemployment rate has gone up. Therefore, when we talk about the new direction for future economic development, it is inevitable that people would have questions in their minds.”
“So, we will follow up with the suggestions made by Mr Patrick Tay and to engage NTUC and SNEF together to find a way forward. Today, on one hand, we mandate basic workplace practices through laws and supplement them with tripartite guidelines. Failure to comply can result in action by MOM. One example is the Retirement and Re-employment Act, and the Tripartite Guidelines on Re-employment of Older Employees. Employers must comply when making Employment Assistance Payment (EAP). Failing to do so can result in MOM taking actions against the employer. On the other hand, we promote and encourage progressive work practices through tripartite advisories, for example, The Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment. It recommends companies to develop a harassment prevention policy on a voluntary basis. Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked to mandate retrenchment benefits. Mr Patrick Tay also asked whether we can make it more certain for employees to be entitled to retrenchment benefits. Madam, as Mr Lim Biow Chuan said, I have explained the tripartite position in my reply to the Parliamentary Question by Ms Thanaletchimi just last month. The current approach, we believe, is a balanced one. Of course, we will keep updating it but, right now, we think it is a balanced one. One limitation of our current approach is that there is a gap between the two: law and guidelines for compliance; and advisories for voluntary adoption. Workers do not know exactly which employers are committed to adopt which progressive workplace practices. Likewise, progressive employers are not able to differentiate themselves and be known as fair and progressive employers to better attract talent.”
“We are encouraged that 80% of the cases were resolved successfully. We will build on this early success and progressively broaden the scope of services at TADM, again, a point made by Mr Patrick Tay. TADM will also work with Law Society of Singapore to provide access to legal clinics. Where skills upgrading or new employment is needed, TADM will partner WSG and e2i to help. For those who require help with financial or socio-emotional issues, TADM will link them up with Social Service Offices and Family Service Centres respectively. They can also find out more about services provided by the unions at TADM. Last but not least, TADM will also operate a short-term relief fund to provide quick relief to local low-wage workers who are owed salary by employers in financial difficulties or business failure. Madam, the setting up of ECT and TADM are major steps forward in strengthening our employment protection framework. And yet at the same time, more need to be done In our future economy, we will see higher proportion of PMETs; at the same time, rank-and-file workers will also become more skilful and professional. So, the line between PMETs and rank-and-file will become less distinct in the future economy. As the employment profile of our workforce continues to evolve, our current framework of employment protection and workplace practices will need to evolve, too. Not just the EA, the Industrial Relations Act and Trade Unions Act, which we will continue to review, but also tripartite mechanisms. Mr Patrick Tay has made several suggestions to review our employment legislation. These are important to the unions. At the same time, employers may have their concerns and reservations, too. We need to find the right balance and this is best done through tripartite consultations.”
“"Fast Lane" for HCP who are progressive employers with the mindset of "2/3 + 1/3>1"; "Normal Lane" for the majority who are fair employers with the mindset of "2/3 and 1/3"; and the "Slow Lane" for FCF Watchlist companies. They are employers who engage in unfair HR practices with the mindset of "2/3 versus 1/3". This will send a clear message to all employers that foreign manpower is and will always be an integral part of our Singapore workforce. However, we do expect and require all employers to give fair consideration to the recruitment and development of our local manpower. This is not only the right thing to do for our people, but also the right thing to do for businesses for both to grow better in the future economy. Madam, last but not least, the fourth key we need to have for a better future is the key of Fair and Progressive Workplaces for all workers. Over the years, we have made major changes to our labour laws to cover more workers. Last year, Parliament passed the Employment Claims Act in August to resolve salary-related disputes, both statutory and contractual. This is especially helpful for PMEs who are not covered by the EA and have no access to the Labour Court, a point made by Mr Patrick Tay. 1.30 pm Last year, we also announced the setting up of the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) to mediate the ECT claims, so that only the unsuccessful cases need to be heard at the ECT. I am happy to confirm that ECT and TADM will start operations as scheduled, on 1 April this year. I am also happy to share with the House that we have started a pilot since September last year to offer voluntary mediation for disputes that are outside the scope of ECT. We have tried out 50 cases so far involving disputes over termination, training bonds and so on.”
“The first is the commitment to strengthen the Singaporean Core by nurturing the "2/3"; second, strengthen the complementarity between local and foreign employees by forging a workplace culture of "2/3" and "1/3", not "2/3" versus "1/3"; and thirdly, strengthening know-how transfer adopting the mindset of "2/3 + 1/3>1" to groom our promising local executives into regional and global executives, or what I call, the Glocal talent, for short. This can be supported under the SkillsFuture Leadership Development initiative, a point made by Mr Low Thia Khiang. One example of PCP is Applied Materials. Yvonne Lee joined the company eight years ago. She and our local pioneer team learned from four foreign experts. They were also sent overseas for training exposure. Today, in what is a traditionally male-dominated environment, Yvonne is now a Senior Manufacturing Director, leading a team of more than 300. They are based in Singapore and Austin, Texas. So, the development of local talents has made the Singapore facility the global facility for a major series of equipment in Applied Materials. Madam, to facilitate the growth of progressive employers in Singapore, we will provide our Human Capital Partnership (HCP) programme partners with "Fast Lane" access to our development schemes and services ranging from Transform and Grow to Adapt and Grow and SkillsFuture and from Earn and Learn, all the way to Leadership Development. They also have hotline access to MOM. With the FCF Watchlist and HCP now in place, henceforth, we will adopt a differentiated approach in our engagement of companies.”
“Mr Saktiandi Supaat suggested that TAFEP be given more teeth. Indeed, we are working towards that. At the recommendation of TAFEP, more than 500 EP applications from these 50 employers have been rejected by MOM or withdrawn by the companies. We will continue to curtail their work pass privileges until they improve. Madam, the FCF watchlist is a negative measure taken against "unfair" employers who are just a small minority of firms in Singapore. I want to emphasise that the vast majority of the employers are treating our locals fairly. We hope our action against these unfair employers will help reshape the local-foreign mindset for the better, from one of "2/3 versus 1/3" towards one of "2/3 and 1/3". As we move into the future economy, we need to go another step further, not just "2/3 versus 1/3" to "2/3 and 1/3", but towards a new mindset of "2/3 plus 1/3" can be bigger than one. This will take time. We are starting small with a select group of employers and their employees. Last month, we launched the Human Capital Partnership programme with 74 employers employing about 100,000 Singaporeans. They come from different industries, from manufacturing to services, export-oriented and domestic bound, hi-tech and hi-touch. They also belong to different types of enterprises − local enterprises and MNCs, Government-linked companies (GLCs) and SMEs, business enterprises and social enterprises. They are very different enterprises, but they all share three same commitments. Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked what are the criteria. The criteria are that they must share three same commitments as everybody else.”
“Therefore, together, they make us more globally competitive. On the whole, most of the foreigners working in Singapore do complement our local workforce rather than substitute our locals. Why then this persistent view that foreigners are here to take away our jobs? I believe one reason is "pockets of concentration". Because in some companies, some segments of industries, some locations, the employers have not given fair consideration to the recruitment and development of our local manpower. What they have done is wrong, so we are taking actions against them, subject them to closer scrutiny. Last year, I announced the implementation of a Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) Watchlist. Mr Patrick Tay, Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Assoc Prof Faishal Ibrahim asked for an update on the FCF watchlist. Madam, it started with 100 companies, the list has grown to 250 as at the end of last month. They come from various industries − ICT, professional services, financial and insurance activities, amongst others. Once placed on the FCF Watchlist, TAFEP guides them to improve their employment practices over a period of six months. Some have responded positively. They stepped up local recruitment with the help of WSG and NTUC-e2i. They collaborate with IHLs on the recruitment of new graduates. They put in place inhouse programmes to groom our local talents and they facilitate know-how transfer to our locals. Collectively, these firms hired 800 more Singaporean PMEs since being placed on our watchlist. If they continue to improve and adopt fair and progressive practices, they can progressively be removed from the watchlist. However, about 50 of them have not been receptive or cooperative. We have not seen enough improvement after six months of engagement with them.”
“Forty-five percent, about half a million, of them do jobs that locals want to do, too. But we do not have enough locals to do all these jobs. For example, PMETs − nurses, engineers, technicians; rank and file − cleaners, drivers, service staff. For example, integrated circuit (IC) design is a highly specialised profession. It requires minimally a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and half of them have postgraduate qualifications in IC design and microelectronics. We have such local engineers in Singapore. But we do not have enough of them. Given the global shortage for such talent, having foreign IC Design Engineers here is a plus for us. They help us to support the growth of our industry and thereby create more such good jobs for Singaporeans. Of course, we will continue to strengthen our Singaporean Core through MOE's Singapore Industry Scholarship and EDB's Industrial Postgraduate Programme. Of the remaining 15%, those in global headquarters help bring jobs to Singapore. Global companies can locate their global headquarters anywhere in the world. Having them here is good for our Singaporeans because for every three foreigners in our headquarters workforce, headquarters operations, there are about seven locals. So, three versus seven. They also give Singaporeans more opportunities to be exposed to new job functions, international working environment and global best practices. Those in info-communications help to bring technical skills to Singapore. There are about more than 100 skills clusters that can be found in the info-communications industry in Singapore. Foreigners are stronger in some of these skills clusters than our locals, and likewise our locals are stronger in some of these skills clusters compared to the foreigners.”
“I salute our career coaches at WSG, e2i and our Career Centres for their passion, professionalism and their perseverance in serving our jobseekers one to one, one by one, day after day, with their heads and hearts. I urge them to press on because our work is never done. Madam, with the slowdown in our workforce growth from 2%, 3% of the past to just 1% in future, we have to value every worker even more, young and old, PMETs and rank-and-file, local and foreign. We need to strengthen the inclusiveness of our local workforce to strengthen our social cohesion. At the same time, we also need to enhance the complementarity of our local and foreign workforce to enhance our economic competitiveness, a point made by Mr Lee Yi Shyan. Therefore, the third key we need to have is the key of inclusiveness and complementarity. My colleague Minister of State Sam Tan will address our support for mature workers, low-wage workers and workers who have caregiving responsibilities at home. I will share my thoughts on how we can manage better the inter-relationship between the local and foreign workforce in Singapore. One third of our Singapore workforce today is foreign manpower. This is a permanent feature because we can never be self-sufficient in having enough local workers, both in number and diversity of expertise. Excluding foreign domestic workers (FDWs), we now have about 1.2 million foreign workers. Are they here to complement us, or to compete against us? Forty percent, or about 450,000, of them take on labour-intensive jobs − construction, marine, process sectors – demanding jobs few locals want to do. For example, in the construction sector, they build our HDB flats, roads, Mass Rapid Transit networks and other amenities to make Singapore more liveable.”
“With the support of CSP, he secured a job as a production manager without having to suffer any wage cut. We are happy for him. Madam, when a jobseeker succeeds in securing a job with the help of our career coach, we do not claim full credit. It is the result of good teamwork between the jobseeker and career coach. Likewise, when the outcomes are negative, please do not put all the blame on our career coaches. Please remember this is a joint responsibility, and we can only help those who want to help themselves. Every time I talk to our career coaches at WSG and e2i − we have about 120 of them − I am struck by their competence, passion and dedication. They are certified career development facilitators, with skills in group facilitation, basic counselling, emotional support, use of psychometric and career-matching tools. They also have to keep themselves abreast of industry, jobs and career trends. Most of all, their hearts are in the right place. Senior Career Coach Cheng Hing Nan can feel the pain and anxiety of jobseekers because he himself was retrenched before. One client, Mr Wong, was an LTU whose previous salary was more than $10,000. Career Coach Hing Nan knew Mr Wong was under immense stress and had low morale. So, he focused on the emotional well-being of Mr Wong. He stayed in constant touch with him, checked on his family, helped him with industry research and also prepared him for interviews. After six months of teamwork, Mr Wong found a job as a project manager with a local research facility. Madam, serving people who have lost their jobs and careers is never easy. It requires us to be sensitive and responsive. As Mr Patrick Tay mentioned, we have to adopt a case approach, a very personal approach.”
“We helped her with transport cost so that she can attend the course. She missed a few modules when she fell ill, but she persevered to complete the course. Because of her determination and willingness to learn and improve herself, today, she is working as a Clinic Assistant. We have mixed outcomes with PMET jobseekers, too. Ms C is highly-qualified, with 10 years of experience in banking and finance. She told her career coach what she wanted. It must be senior management position in investment banking, minimum pay of $10,000. But she was unreceptive to advice to enhance her resume and improve on her interview skills. When rejected by potential employers, she demanded that the employers must share with her the resumes of the successful candidates to verify that they were actually more qualified than her. She even verbally abused our staff on several occasions. For the current status of such a case, it is "no successful outcome". 1.15 pm On a positive note, Mr D, 47, is a successful PMET case. He worked for more than 20 years as a plant manager. He spent the last 10 years based in China. He lost his job when the factory closed down. And the last time he looked for a job, it was more than 10 years ago. He did not know how best to search for jobs, so he sent out his resume blindly to 70 companies. Five companies responded but all unsuccessful. After eight months, he approached WSG career centre. Our career coach helped him discover his strengths and teach him how to market his strengths to the potential employers. We helped him to improve his resume to better reflect his capabilities and experience. He attended career fairs and walk-in interviews whenever there were opportunities.”
“She left her previous job as a property consultant and approached our career centre after 10 months of unsuccessful job search. She needs to work near her home and end work at 5.00 pm every day due to family responsibilities. She wanted to join the healthcare sector. So, with advice from her career coach, she took up the WSQ Higher Certificate in Healthcare Support. She had financial problems. Tough.”
“We will partner NTUC to tap on the various support schemes under Adapt and Grow to support this Returnship Programme. Madam, I wish to emphasise that the key factor determining the success of Adapt and Grow is not how much money we put in to help our jobseekers and employers but rather it depends a lot on how much our jobseekers are prepared to adapt and grow, and how much our employers are prepared to be fair and inclusive. Members shared during the Budget Debate some unhappy cases where jobseekers did not succeed in finding jobs. They asked, what went wrong? Madam, no matter how hard we try, how much passion and commitment we put in, still we are unable to succeed in helping every jobseeker to find a job. For the rank-and-file workers, our success rate currently is about 70%. For PMETs, it is about 60%. One of our unsuccessful rank-and-file cases is Mr A. He left his job as a logistics assistant due to differences with his boss. He had specific expectations in his job search − it must be within four bus stops from where he lives; work only from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. He demanded that the career coach must arrange at least two job interviews every week for him until he found a suitable job. And he refused our help to improve his resume and interview skills. With his unrealistic expectations, uncooperative and demanding attitude, we have not been able to help him to secure any job. We have not given up on him, even though he has been uncontactable for six months. In contrast, Ms B, 50 years old, is a successful rank-and-file case. She is a single-income parent supporting two children and an elderly mother. She has a brain tumour, but under control.”
“Under the Work Trial programme, they tried out five jobseekers for two weeks, and three of them decided to continue with the job. One of them is Heidi. She stopped work for 11 years to raise her children and she was not sure whether she can do the job. After the two weeks of work trial, it turned out to be a good fit. In fact, the company, SDB Solutions, is so happy that it is now offering three more Work Trial places under the programme. Dr Intan Mokhtar will be happy to note that to help more LTU rank-and-file workers to return to work, especially the lower-skilled and lower-wage workers, we have decided to extend the current 80 hours, or two weeks, of work trial to as long as three months, with an allowance of up to $1,200 per month. During or at the end of the work trial, if the employers offer employment to these rank-and-file workers who have been unemployed for more than one year, we will provide wage support of 30%, capped at $600, for the first six months of employment. In other words, those who are LTU workers for one year or more, we put them on a work trial, we support them up to three months, and during or at the end of the attachment, if the employer offers him or her the employment, we will subsidise the wages of 30%, up to $600 for the first six months. The whole purpose is to help as many of our LTU workers to go back to work and, hopefully, stay on the job. These workers will also get an additional incentive payment of $1,000 for staying in the job for at least six months. To support inclusiveness at our workplaces, this enhanced Work Trial also supports Persons-with-Disabilities (PwDs). Madam, we will also support the Returnship Programme proposed by NTUC and Mr Desmond Choo.”
“Third, we will extend CSP to all PMETs who are unemployed for six months or more, regardless of their age, regardless of whether they were made redundant. In other words, younger PMETs who are in their 20s or 30s can now receive 20% of wage support for the first six months; 10% of wage support for the second six months; a total wage support of up to $12,600, even if they have not been made redundant. As long as they are LTU, they will qualify for CSP. We will also enhance CSP to help match more PMETs to SMEs, a concern expressed by Miss Cheng Li Hui. The qualifying salary for CSP is currently set at $4,000. As mentioned by Mr Desmond Choo, the feedback from SMEs is that some may not be able to meet this qualifying salary, especially during this period of weaker growth. We, therefore, will lower salary threshold for SMEs, from $4,000 to $3,600. I want to emphasise that this is not to depress wages for the PMETs but to increase job opportunities, especially for the younger PMETs who are LTU. We will also allow the hiring of PMETs for overseas job assignments, as long as the employees meet the criteria of CSP. Madam, we are also enhancing support for the rank-and-file workers facing job expectations mismatch. For those having greater difficulty finding jobs, we believe it is useful for them to try out the jobs and employers before taking up the jobs. Likewise, employers want to try out the jobseekers, too, before they are ready to make the offer for employment. SDB Solutions is a company that specialises in digitising and archiving hardcopy documents. The work requires patience, precision and attention to details, and they find it challenging to find workers of the right fit.”
“It is something different but, with the support of CSP, both sides were prepared to have a go and, so far, things have worked out well. In fact, the new employer is so supportive of her that her employer would grant her a half-day time-off every week for her to complete her final ACCA module. Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked for the progress of CSP. Madam, so far, more than 300 have benefited from the programme. To help more PMETs affected by redundancy, especially those who are long-term unemployed (LTU), a point raised by Dr Intan Mokhtar and Mr Patrick Tay, this year, we will enhance our support for three groups of PMETs. First, the mature PMETs who are unemployed and have been actively looking for jobs for more than one year. They are not just LTU; they are longer-term unemployed. Their employers will receive higher wage support and for a longer duration, up from 12 months to 18 months of 50% of wage support for the first six months; 30% for the second six months; and 20% for the last six months. In total, the wage support can be as high as $42,000 over 18 months for the employers. Second, PMETs aged 40-49, who are made redundant or unemployed for six months, will now get the same level of support as those PMETs aged 50 and above. Currently, those aged 40-49 receive a lower level of support compared to those who are aged 50 and above. We have decided to combine the two groups. Now, those aged 40-49 will receive the same level of support as those who are more than 50 years old. What this means is that we will double our wage support for this group aged 40-49. For the first six months, we will increase it from 20% today to 40%; for the next six months, from 10% today to 20%. In total, we support up to $25,200 of wage support over one year for the employers.”
“Other potential industries for the Attach and Train include infocomm. We are looking at IT system administrator − apparently there is a shortage of them. We are also looking at healthcare, in consultation with the Ministry of Health (MOH), and also biologics, which is a new growth sector in manufacturing. We will also partner NTUC to help more workers to migrate into future growth sectors, something that the Secretary-General of NTUC is most passionate about. Third, wage mismatch. To encourage employers to hire mid-career PMETs, we provide wage support through CSP. Assoc Prof Randolph Tan asked why the need to subsidise wages. Madam, these mature PMETs may have the expertise and experience, but the match may not be 100%. By reducing wage cut for the affected PMETs and reducing wage costs for the employers, during this transitional period for up to one year, we hope to bring more of them together for both sides to know each other better, so that they can continue employment without our wage support after the transitional period. Ms Sim Lay Koon was previously a finance manager. She left her job in mid-2015 due to job misfit. The job search took longer than expected, so she took the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certification while looking for a job. Finally, she came to NTUC-e2i. With the help of CSP, her new employer was prepared to give her a chance and to try her out in a role which is slightly bigger and different from what she used to do in her previous job. She is now a senior accounts associate doing accounting for the SME clients. Ms Sim used to be doing accounts for her own company but now, in her new job, she is doing accounts for the SME clients.”
“The criteria are the outlook for sector growth must be promising; industry leaders must be committed to help select and place trainees and rally the support of the industry members; they must also be committed to jointly spearhead industry transformation and manpower development for their respective sectors. Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Ms Jessica Tan asked which sectors will pilot the Attach and Train programme. We are looking at the logistics sector because it is one of the key growth sectors identified by CFE. At the same time, the sector has in place a professional conversion facility known as SCALA, and the interest from PMETs is high. In fact, when SCALA conducted their first PCP course, they had 80 training places, but they received 250 applications. But at that time, there were only 43 jobs from 14 companies and, as a result, 37 of the PCP places were wasted. With the introduction of Attach and Train, we will be able to take in more PMETs for future courses, train them, attach them to potential employers, help them to be more job-ready when companies are ready to hire them. 1.00 pm Ms Jessica Tan asked about the progress of various Sectoral Manpower Plans (SMPs) and support for the respective ITMs. Madam, to meet the manpower needs of the industry and employment needs of our workers, we translate the individual ITMs into skills framework − defining the jobs, career paths and skills requirements − and we follow up with our industry partners with programmes, such as the PCP, CSP, Career Fair as well as the Attach and Train programme, with the logistics industry. More will be done as and when more ITMs are launched. Miss Cheng Li Hui asked about support for the SMEs and the various sectors, such as construction. Yes, likewise, we will do the same.”
“To overcome this, we will introduce Attach and Train to convert PMETs ahead of job placement. I just want to clarify one point made by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan, which is that Attach and Train is not targeted at companies. The Attach and Train is targeted at industries. In other words, we do not choose companies to support, but we choose industries to train these PMETs ahead of job placement for the industry. Ms Thanaletchimi asked about payment for trainees on the Attach and Train programme. We will provide them with training allowances, which are about 50% to 70% of prevailing salaries for the jobs they are being trained for. This will be capped at $4,000 per month, in lieu of salary grants that we pay to the employers. Since there is no employer, so we do not pay wage support to the employers but, instead, we pay these training allowances to the PCP trainees. To lower the risk of non-placement, trainees are attached to companies as an integral part of the conversion process. In other words, they do not just attend classroom training. In fact, they have to be attached to companies, equivalent to working in a real-life environment, to learn the conversion in a real-life environment. This is to familiarise them with their new jobs and new workplace, so that they will be more job-ready when companies are ready to hire them. To minimise potential abuse by employers, we will select a few sectors to start with and manage the programmes closely with our industry partners. So, it is not a programme for all sectors but only for selected sectors. How do we go about selecting these sectors?”
“What this means is that, under PCP, since we support 70% of the wages, at $4,000, we will be able to support PCP jobs with a salary of up to $5,700. Employers pay $1,700, we pay $4,000. Together, we can fund mid-level jobs of up to $5,700. Mature PMETs, who are more than 40 years old, or the long-term unemployed for more than six months, they will continue to receive higher support, an increase from today's $4,000 to $6,000. For them, the wage support is 90%. So, at $6,000, we will be able to support PCP jobs of a salary of up to $6,700. With these enhancements, for a PCP of six months conversion period, we are able to support up to $24,000 worth of salary. For mature PMETs or those who are long-term unemployed, salary support can be up to $36,000. This is on top of the training subsidies of an average of $9,000 for a six-month PCP. Madam, the second mismatch is skills mismatch. To equip PMETs with the new skills needed for the future and ensure that they are able to put the new skills to good use, we have all along been adopting Place and Train, that is, place first and train later approach for PCP, and this has worked well up to now. But we now face a new bottleneck because during this period of economic transition, the pace of hiring is slower, as I mentioned earlier. Even though there is a demand for manpower to meet future needs but, in some sectors, companies are holding back hiring due to business uncertainty in the immediate term. This poses a problem for both the jobseekers and the employers because training for conversion takes time. So, precious time is wasted if we have to wait until the employers are ready to hire before we start skills conversion, a point echoed by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan.”
“Instead of retrenchment, WSG, the company and a training provider, worked together to retrain these redundant workers who are mostly more than 40 years old. Building on their domain expertise, they are now leading projects using their new skills in data analytics. In other words, with professional conversion, these PMETs have moved into an emerging area with potential for career growth. In fact, they can look forward to becoming data scientists and programme managers one day. Madam, currently, a majority of the jobs offered by employers for PCPs are entry-level positions. This is a point that several Members have raised. Mr Chong Kee Hiong may be pleased to know that the PCP participants, not all of them, wait till they are unemployed before they join PCP. In fact, about half, or maybe even more than half of them, are still in employment. I believe they are what the Secretary-General of the NTUC called "the future retrenched". These PCP participants, they are actually in employment today, but still they have decided to take up PCP to convert into their new professions. Why? Because when they look at where they are today, either they feel that they could be at risk of being retrenched in the future, made redundant in the future, or maybe the new career can offer them better growth prospects. So, I want to assure this House that for PCP, we are targeting at both the redundant workers of today, as well as the redundant workers of tomorrow, to help them take on careers of the future. These are the concerns raised by Mr Patrick Tay, Dr Intan Mokhtar, Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. To encourage employers to offer more PCP jobs at the mid-level, we will raise the entry support caps from $2,000 currently to $4,000.”
“Last year, at the COS, we introduced the Adapt and Grow initiative to help PMETs who need the extra help in overcoming these missed matches. This year, we are enhancing the Adapt and Grow initiative again. Let me explain why. As we support businesses to transform and grow faster, more old jobs will be destroyed, more new jobs will be created, and more existing jobs will be recreated. This has implications for our workers. In the past, we strived for lifelong employment for our workers. One career, one employer for life. Today, with keener and stronger competition, instead of lifelong employment, one career, one employer for life, we now have lifelong career. One career but with many different employers throughout our working life. In the future, lifelong career will go, too, giving way to what I call lifelong re-employability, meaning not just many employers, but also many careers in our lifetime. Each time, when we move from one career to another career, we will have to learn new skills, adapt to new environment, to regain our employability time and time again. That is why we call it re-employability. Therefore, we can expect to see more PMET jobseekers facing three growing mismatches in future: job mismatch, skill mismatch and wage mismatch. First, job mismatch. Last year, we launched 36 new PCPs to help more than 1,000 PMETs to switch careers and to take on job openings in those sectors that are still growing and hiring. One of the new PCPs is for data analytics. One company, as they moved on into smart manufacturing, they created new roles, such as data analytics. But at the same time, some of the existing jobs and staff were at risk of being let go.”
“We will keep enhancing the online marketplace facilities, including the useful suggestions by Mr Patrick Tay. Besides using technology to widen our outreach to more jobs and more jobseekers, we will also expand the channels of job-matching services through closer collaboration with private sector employment agencies. Having explored with leading employment agencies, both locally and overseas, we are now ready to partner two leading employment agencies which have been working with the government agencies in the UK and Australia. They were selected because of their business focus on active jobseekers, meaning these are the workers who are actively looking for jobs, rather than passive jobseekers where the jobs are looking for the workers. We will partner them to help place PMETs who are made redundant and those unemployed for three months or more, and will launch this new partnership in the second quarter of this year. Madam, as we gear up to serve more of these missed match cases, we will also do more to reduce mismatches in our job market. Last year, the number of missed match cases has increased from 14,500 to about 16,000, an increase of about 10%. However, the number of mismatch cases has increased even faster, from 3,000 to almost 5,000, an increase of more than 60%. Even though the current split between missed matches and mismatches is about 75:25, we expect to see a continued shift towards more mismatches in the future. Madam, I share the concerns of Mr Patrick Tay, Ms Jessica Tan, Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Mr Desmond Choo and Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. Structural unemployment is sticky and harder to solve. So, it is better that we act faster and act more proactively.”
“So, we help them to plan their careers, search for jobs, prepare their CVs for interviews, and more than 16,000 workers ─ what we call the missed match workers ─ found jobs successfully. To help more jobseekers and employers to find each other, we will make better use of technology. We have improved the user friendliness of the National Jobs Bank to provide better search functions. I recall there was feedback given by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan last year. Jobseekers are also better updated on their application status, a point raised by Mr Patrick Tay. As we have not mandated both the employers and jobseekers to inform us of successful job placements, I do not have the statistics that Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap asked for. In other words, the National Jobs Bank is a place for employers and workers to find each other. WSG and MOM are not in the loop, but we provide the platform for them to find each other. We have also piloted Virtual Career Fairs which are of a longer duration than the physical job fairs. It is also easier to access. Feedback has been positive. Our next big move is to transform the entire National Jobs Bank into a one-stop non-stop online marketplace. It will enable various groups of jobseekers to search for what types of jobs they are looking for. For example, First Jobs for young graduates, Next Jobs for those in mid-career, and Next Careers for those changing profession. We also linked up the online marketplace with the Individual Learning Portfolio portal to be launched by SSG so that we can provide seamless access between the two ─ from skills to jobs, from jobs to skills, as suggested by Mr Patrick Tay as well as Mr Desmond Choo during the Budget Debate. These major enhancements will be rolled out progressively this year.”
“One example is lift technicians. We need 1,000 more lift technicians over the next three years. We will support BCA and the industry to upgrade existing workers and attract and train more locals to strengthen our Singaporean Core. My colleague Minister of State Teo Ser Luck will speak more on the key thrusts of our Transform and Grow efforts. Madam, with the first key in hand, creating quality jobs can help us to prevent rising unemployment and under-employment. But we will still face the risk of the third kind, which is structural unemployment, a result of mismatches in the labour market. We, therefore, need a second key − the key of Workforce Adaptability. We must help our people to adapt to change, take on better jobs − both new and existing jobs − and build new careers we are creating for them in our future economy. 12.45 pm Last year, WSG, together with NTUC e2i, the Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF) and our tripartite partners, we helped more than 20,000 jobseekers to secure jobs. This is an increase of about 15%. The profile of jobseekers we assisted is inclusive – young and old. About 30% were above age 50. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh may be pleased to note that about 45% were in their 20s and 30s. Likewise, we helped workers who are employed, unemployed and long-term unemployed. Among the unemployed, 40% of them who found jobs last year, were long-term unemployed. Also, the split between PMETs and rank-and-file is about 50-50. So, it is a good mix. But a majority of jobseekers are what we call the missed match cases. They are ready for jobs. The jobs are suitable for them. It is just that they have yet to find each other.”
“Instead of worrying about technology taking away our jobs, we should focus more on how to partner technology to take away customers and jobs from our competitors before they do it to us. This is why over a year ago, MOM initiated LEDS to bring various agencies together, to provide a one-stop service, making it easier for the SMEs to develop business capability, manpower and markets. Where necessary, MOM is even prepared to allow short-term flexibility on foreign manpower quota to help make changes happen faster. Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Ms Jessica Tan asked about the progress. Madam, progress of LEDS is encouraging, supported by many agencies − SPRING, WSG, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), BCA, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), EDB and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). More than 2,000 companies, mostly SMEs across 18 sectors, have responded to LEDS. Among them were the three I cited earlier. This year, we will go three steps further. First, we will strengthen the scope of LEDS with new schemes introduced this year. Our agency partners will help more SMEs to go digital as well as to expand market overseas. Second, we will speed up the development and deployment of what we call "Cluster" solutions and promote their widespread adoption, not just by the individual companies but by clusters of companies, in a cheaper, better and faster way. Thirdly, we will work closely with sectors that are facing and will continue to face manpower shortages due to ageing of their existing workforce or growing demand for labour. We will partner them to redesign their workflow to be more manpower-lean, and to offer jobs and careers of better qualities to our locals, so that they can compete better for local manpower to support their growth.”
“Our next challenge is to make this bridge of innovation longer, stronger and wider, so that many more can get through as individual companies, as clusters of industry and as one future economy; not just the Pioneers, not just the early adopters, but the early majority and, eventually, the late majority as well. Some may wonder, the more we strengthen the bridge of innovation, would technology not take away even more jobs from us? Craftmark is a distributor and retailer of over 20 brands of footwear and leather goods and accessories. With the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID), it cuts down manhours for stocktaking by 90%. Workers were redeployed to serve customers better. As a result, they achieved not just better business for the owners but also better jobs for the workers. So, the key words for MOM are "Better Jobs". The Soup Spoon is a popular restaurant chain with more than 20 outlets. To expand overseas, the company decided to move from food retail to include food manufacturing as well. With automated packaging process, its operation is not only competitive, but also 25% more manpower-lean. So, the key words for MOM are "Manpower-lean". Tiong Seng is a market leader in construction. To maximise the impact of using a technology known as BIM, the company helps all its subcontractors to adopt the same technology. As a result, they improved productivity, not just within the company but across the entire value chain, by 35%. So, the key words for MOM are "Productivity Gain". Madam, these companies show us that the real threat we face in the competition for jobs is not technology but global competition.”
“So, 25,000 to 40,000, this range should be achievable. But even so, we will still be faced with the challenge of rising under-employment. This will happen when the improvement in job quality − not just new jobs, but also existing jobs − is not able to keep pace with improvement in the education and skills profile of our local workforce. So far, the overall quality of our local employment has been improving. The proportion of PMET jobs has increased from 49% in 2007 to 55% last year. As we help every worker to upgrade to become a better worker, we need to make every job a better job, every career a better career. Will we succeed? I believe we can, but only if we look at technology not as our competitor for jobs, but as our partner in the creation of jobs, quality jobs. Madam, technology is the main driving force of future growth, globally. We can either use it to our advantage or allow our competitors to use it to our disadvantage. The choice is clear. To be on the winning side, we need to keep crossing the technology gate, better and faster than the competition, so that we will not end up in the black hole of global competition. However, with so many innovations out there, crossing the first gate of technology is essential but will not be enough. There is still the second gate to cross − the market gate − to compete successfully for customers and build market share. Those who fail again will end up in the black hole of global competition. To cross the two gates, we have been building our bridge of innovation.”
“The first key is the key of Quality Job Creation, to create enough jobs of good enough quality for everyone, young and old, PMETs and rank-and-file. Madam, the net growth in our total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, has slowed significantly from more than 200,000 a year before the Global Financial Crisis to more than 100,000 a year after the Global Financial Crisis, to less than 25,000 in 2015 and less than 10,000 last year. Why? There are two reasons for this. Externally, due to business uncertainty, companies are hiring less. The recruitment rate for companies with 25 or more employees has come down, from 2.8 new employees per 100 existing employees in 2012 to about 2.2 last year. But, more importantly, internally, our local workforce growth has slowed quite significantly. With ageing and low birth rate, coupled with an already high labour force participation rate, local workforce growth is heading for stagnation over the next 10 years. Slowdown in hiring is cyclical. It will pick up again when business sentiment improves. But slowdown in our local workforce growth is structural. Our local workforce growth will never go back to the high growth of 2%, 3%, 4% of the past. Hence, if we try to bring employment growth back to 100,000 a year, we will need to bring in many more foreign workers. If we take in 50,000 more a year, this will mean 500,000 over 10 years. Higher economic gains will come with even higher social costs. This is not what we want. We have little choice but to learn how to grow our economy with a workforce growth of about 1% from now on. This means about 33,000 net increase in total employment a year. There will be fluctuations from year to year. Some years less, maybe 25,000; some years more, maybe 40,000.”
“Thank you, Madam. Madam, I thank Members for their views and suggestions. NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How and several Members had shared that, on the ground, there is growing concern on job opportunities and job security. I can understand. Retrenchment has gone up to its highest since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009. Unemployment, though low, has gone up, too. The resident unemployment rate had held steady at about 2.8% for four years since 2012 but went up to 3% last year. As we transform to take our Singapore economy into the future, some may wonder what the future economy will bring us. Will more workers be displaced by technology? Will more workers be made redundant? Will more jobs go to foreigners? Will the rise of the digital and gig economy change the employment landscape, resulting in less employment and more freelancing? In short, will we have enough jobs, enough good jobs, or will more workers be hit by unemployment, under-employment and structural unemployment? Madam, this cannot be the kind of future we want for our workers, our people, our children. The purpose of us transforming towards our future economy is to improve our jobs, our careers, our lives, not to make them worse. Of course, there is no guarantee that all economic transformations will be successful, as seen in failures in some countries. But for Singapore, we have succeeded time and time again, so far. So, working together, whole-of-Singapore, we must make sure that we succeed again. This will not be easy because to open the door to a future of good jobs and better careers for all our people, we must have not one, not two, but actually four keys in our hand.”
“Mdm Chairman, with your permission, I have asked the Clerk to place an infographic, MOM's Committee of Supply in brief, on Members' seats. May I also seek your permission to display some slides on the LED screen during my speech, please?”
“Under the law, employers are to provide paid sick leave when an employee covered by the Employment Act is issued a medical certificate (MC) by a Government or company-approved doctor, and to bear the costs of the medical consultation. Notwithstanding this, many employers go beyond the statutory requirements by granting paid sick leave for MCs issued by any registered doctor. In the last three years, no cases of salary deductions related to unrecognised MCs have been filed in the Labour Court. There is no statutory or contractual breach in such cases. However, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has received a yearly average of about 15 queries of this nature. This number has not increased. Employers should ensure that their panel of approved doctors are accessible to their employees. Under extenuating circumstances, such as a medical emergency, employers are urged to exercise flexibility to provide paid sick leave when the employee seeks medical attention from a doctor who has not been approved by the company. Employees who require assistance can approach MOM, or the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management from April 2017.”
“As of June 2016, there were 237,100 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower does not provide a breakdown of the data by nationality.”