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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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Excerpted From |
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MAY DAY RALLY SPEECH BY PRIME
MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG ON 1 MAY 2005, 5.30PM, NTUC CENTRE |
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Responding To Challenges |
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.....In my May Day Message, I mentioned three long
term challenges |
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a. Staying head in a New Asia |
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b. Managing an ageing population |
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c. Tackling structural unemployment |
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Today, I will like to outline our strategies to
deal with these challenges |
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Restructure to Grow the Economy and Create Jobs |
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China, India, and our Southeast Asian neighbours
will continue to grow and compete with us. |
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a. We cannot stand still; we have to
restructure, upgrade, and adapt to the new landscape |
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This strategy is working |
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a. e.g. PSA has successfully restructured
and is doing well. It overtook Hong Kong as number one port in the world in
first quarter of 2005 |
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b. CAAS and SIA too are making good progress |
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c. Many investments coming in for both
manufacturing and services. The IRs will be another big plus for our economy |
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d. As a result |
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i. Unemployment has
fallen below 4% |
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ii. Retrenchment in
2004 was 10,000, the lowest since the Asian Financial Crisis |
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iii. Overall, we have net
creation of 71,000 jobs in 2004, of which 70% went to locals |
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Hence in May Day message I said that overall the
outlook is positive |
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a. Straits Times headline: “Don't worry, the
outlook is good, says PM Lee” |
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b. But we must always worry! |
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c. Better headline would have been: “Outlook
good, but be careful and work hard, says PM Lee” |
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I know that workers are still worried about job
security |
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a. They know how strong the competition is |
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b. They see that despite growth, there will
continue to be retrenchments – e.g. Maxtor |
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It is tough to go through retrenchment, and have
to re-skill and get re-employed. But it is unavoidable. To grow our economy
and create more jobs, we have to become leaner, more efficient and
competitive, i.e. we have to allow restructuring to take place. |
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This means turnover and sometimes retrenchment. If
we try to delay the restructuring in order to protect existing jobs, the
result will be worse..... |
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Helping the Troubled Segments |
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Restructuring has to continue. It is better for us
to endure some short term pain, so that in the long term, we stay competitive,
and can continue to create more jobs. |
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But we must pay special attention to workers who
have the biggest problem adjusting. There are three groups |
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Older workers |
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a. More difficult to adapt to changes in
economy |
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b. More concerned about old age expenses,
and medical expenses, especially given that Singaporeans are living longer |
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c. Best solution is for Singaporeans to work
longer, and retire later. |
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d. Then they can continue to support their
families, and save more for their old age |
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e. But this is not easy to do. We have to
tackle the problem on many fronts |
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i. Make sure that our labour
market is flexible |
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(1) Particularly,
seniority wage system is not sustainable and has to be changed |
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(2) For many workers,
prime of career is in the 40’s or early 50’s. Therefore, wages and
benefits systems will need to be adjusted so that it is still attractive
to hire older workers. |
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ii. Employers have to
restructure or redesign operations to prepare themselves for more older
workers |
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(1) Reallocate
responsibilities so that older workers can do something less physically
demanding, and which they are good at. For example, older workers are
more reliable, more punctual, more patient, and friendlier. Companies
should make full use of this |
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iii. We also need to change
the negative mindsets against older workers |
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(1) Workers to
continue to believe in themselves, that they can learn and pick up new
skills |
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(2) Customers be more
understanding, and do not always expect everything to done in the
quickest time |
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(3) Employers to keep
their doors open to older workers – do not reject a job applicant just
because he is above 40 |
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f. The current situation will become
increasingly untenable. Older workers still have much to contribute. We need
to get companies to be more ready to employ older workers without undermining
their commercial viability |
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g. A Tripartite Committee is currently
studying these issues in depth, and will submit its recommendations to the
Government in the coming months. |
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Lower-skilled workers |
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a. Face considerable difficulties. They
cannot keep up with the rapid changes, and risk being left behind as the
economy progresses. |
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b. Continue to emphasise life long learning,
training and upgrading, to provide Singaporeans with new and relevant skills. |
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i. Fit them into industries
which still require workers, e.g. |
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(1) In services –
healthcare, education, security, public transport, childcare, retail and
hotels |
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(2) In manufacturing –
shipbuilding, construction, electronics and textiles. |
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ii. But they must make an
effort to adjust and not shun these jobs, which will otherwise go to
foreigners |
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iii. Mindset is changing |
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(1) Singaporeans used
to shun jobs such as healthcare assistants in hospitals. Now they queue
up for the jobs, and retention rate is high |
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(2) Singaporeans used
to shy about becoming waiters. They asked ‘What if I have to serve a
relative or a friend that comes into the restaurant?’ But they are
gradually accepting the idea. |
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c. At the same time, will ‘recreate’ some
existing jobs to make them more suitable and attractive for local workers |
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i. In sectors such as
cleaning, construction, landscaping, electronics, precision engineering
and shipbuilding, factors such as low pay and challenging working
environment may have deterred Singaporeans from taking up these jobs. |
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ii. We can redesign these
jobs, raise productivity, increase pay, and make working conditions more
pleasant |
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iii. Targeting for 10,000
vulnerable workers to take up meaningful employment over the next 12 to
18 months through the Job Recreation Programme |
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d. Mr Lim Swee Say is personally overseeing
this |
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PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives,
Technicians) |
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a. Because of outsourcing and company
restructuring, organisation structures are flattening |
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b. Many middle level jobs which they used to
do no longer exist |
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c. They are not qualified to get the new
jobs that remain at the top, and do not want to take up the jobs at the bottom
(sometimes the employers do not want over qualified workers either) |
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d. Have to find ways to help them |
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i. Many of them have the
skills which companies can make use of, especially the SMEs who need
professional expertise. We can match them to these jobs. |
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ii. Retrain them and fit
them into new industries and activities that can use their expertise –
in healthcare as technical operators and nurses, in schools as teacher
and library assistants, in the security industry as specialists and
supervisors, in the hospitality industries, or even financial services. |
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businesses to provide personalised services, such as tour guides,
personal chefs, butlers that help people get their lives organised |
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Conclusion |
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We will do our utmost to help workers cope with
restructuring. But one solution we must avoid is welfarism |
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a. Government welfare is not the answer to
our problems. Many countries have tried welfare |
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i. Unemployment benefits
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ii. Grants and subsidies
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resort |
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b. Ultimately, these do not work |
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i. Experience in France,
Germany, Scandinavia, UK, US |
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ii. In the end someone i.e.
the people themselves, has to pay for benefits through higher taxes |
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iii. Worse, in the long term
welfarism will kill the drive to work and achieve, chase away talent and
investments, and do us great harm |
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iv. Burden ultimately goes
back to the people, except now its many times heavier |
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We should not flinch from our approach, because we
are on the right track |
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a. Tackling problems squarely |
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b. Adapting rather than resisting inevitable
changes |
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c. At the same time, will help people in a
way that does not discourage them to work |
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i. For those who need extra
help – ComCare Fund, pay as you use electric meters, |
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ii. For general public –
ERS, U-Save Scheme, CPF and Medisave top-ups |
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Our approach is working |
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a. Economy is growing |
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b. We are equipping Singaporeans with
relevant skills |
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i. BERI has again rated
Singaporean workers No 1 in the world |
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c. We are creating opportunities for more jobs. |
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i. Creating new jobs,
re-creating old jobs |
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ii. Nurturing new industry
clusters, upgrading old clusters |
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iii. Pursuing new service
standards |
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This is the Government’s responsibility. But
workers too must do your part. |
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a. We will give you the best chance to be
employed and to improve their lives. |
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b. But Singaporeans must adapt and seize the
opportunities we create. |
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Our tripartite relationship is Uniquely Singapore
– built up over many years, not easy for others to copy, a tremendous plus for
us in dealing with this challenge. |
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So let’s continue to strengthen it, tackle our
challenges together, and make Singapore a small but special country for many
more years. |
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Full Text of Speech |
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Source:
Singapore Government Media Release 1 May 2005 |
Singaporeans must adapt and seize opportunities created: PM
Lee
