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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM,
MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE 46TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER AND DANCE OF THE
SINGAPORE MANUAL & MERCANTILE WORKERS¡¯ UNION |
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An Excerpt |
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"In fact, this year will mark the strongest
job creation since the boom year of 2000. Amidst these favourable
developments, let me touch on three significant trends that are taking
place in the labour market. |
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"These are trends that will be with us for
several years to come. They are long term trends, not just a short term
happening. |
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"First is the shift towards more services
sector jobs, which is also where the SMMWU draws most of its members. |
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"While manufacturing employment has remained
flat since 1990, that in services has increased by almost 70% and has
been the key driver of employment creation for the economy. |
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"Today, services make up seven out of every
ten jobs, compared to six out of ten jobs in 1990. In particular,
employment within the financial and business services sector has more
than doubled since 1990. |
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"The increased reliance on services jobs is
not unique to Singapore. Other advanced economies are also experiencing
this trend. It is not a mark of a declining economy when this happens... |
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"Another reason why the shift to services is
not fundamentally worrying for our future growth is that there are big
opportunities for productivity improvements in services... |
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"A second major shift in our labour market
is the shift towards more complex and higher-skilled jobs in the labour
market. While lower-skilled workers have also benefited from the recent
strength in the job market, we are seeing the biggest increase in demand
for people with higher skills and ability to do more complex tasks. |
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"The shift towards higher skills is not
simply about demand for higher qualifications. It is a shift in demand
towards people who can do more complex and challenging tasks on the job,
across the whole spectrum of work ¨C on the production line, in retail,
in finance and auditing, in IT and engineering jobs, in marketing, and
in management - and across the range of qualifications that people have. |
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"It is a shift in demand that affects all of
us. There is greater demand for people who have the skills, judgement
and experience to deal with new situations where there are no rule books
to follow. For example, dealing with new customer demands, new
technologies, new ways of organising the supply chain... |
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"These two trends ¨C towards
services-oriented jobs, and towards more complex work - are going to be
with us for many years. |
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"But there is also a third, important trend,
and that is that people will have to change jobs more often in their
lifetimes. |
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"While higher-skilled workers are in greater
demand, they will not be spared the effects of the accelerated pace of
restructuring in a more competitive global environment. |
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"This is in fact partly professionals,
managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) comprising more than three
out of every ten workers retrenched in the first half of this year,
compared to just one in ten about 15 years ago, or two per ten
retrenched workers in the late 90s... |
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"Our aim therefore can never be to preserve
jobs but to grow jobs. Our aim should be to provide lifetime employment
opportunities - not giving everyone the same job for life, but giving
everyone the opportunity to find a good job at any point in their
working lives..." |
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Full Text of Speech |
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Source:
www.gov.sg Press Release 2 Dec 2005 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 3 Dec 2005
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