http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_333412.html
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Feb 2, 2009
700 garment workers laid off
By Goh Chin Lian
GARMENT manufacturers in Singapore have laid off about 700 workers in the past two months, as orders from the United States and Europe slow to a trickle.
With more government help on the way for businesses, officials of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union (Siseu) have approached and urged several of them to tap on this help and put off shedding more workers.
Two other sectors - aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as printing and publishing - are also on their radar screen.
These sectors are seeing a drop in business too, but employers so far are keen to invest in training or find other ways to keep their staff, said labour MP Josephine Teo, an advisor to Siseu.
She was speaking to reporters yesterday after meeting a group of workers retrenched by Chin Heng Garments Factory in Kallang Bahru.
They were attending a workshop at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Bukit Merah, to prepare them mentally for training and finding a new job. The 45 workers were among some 600 employees laid off by the factory on Jan 22.
Ms Teo said until this downturn, garment factories had thrived on orders for small batches of clothing that clients needed to be made quickly.
Many companies have also, since the 1990s, moved production to countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia where labour is cheaper, but kept an office here to handle buyers from the US and Europe.
With this downturn, garment factories with production lines here are forced to reassess their viability, said Ms Teo.
Four garment makers have shed workers so far. The bulk came from Chin Heng, which shut its production line.
For the full story, read Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Feb 2, 2009
700 garment workers laid off
By Goh Chin Lian
GARMENT manufacturers in Singapore have laid off about 700 workers in the past two months, as orders from the United States and Europe slow to a trickle.
With more government help on the way for businesses, officials of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union (Siseu) have approached and urged several of them to tap on this help and put off shedding more workers.
Two other sectors - aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as printing and publishing - are also on their radar screen.
These sectors are seeing a drop in business too, but employers so far are keen to invest in training or find other ways to keep their staff, said labour MP Josephine Teo, an advisor to Siseu.
She was speaking to reporters yesterday after meeting a group of workers retrenched by Chin Heng Garments Factory in Kallang Bahru.
They were attending a workshop at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Bukit Merah, to prepare them mentally for training and finding a new job. The 45 workers were among some 600 employees laid off by the factory on Jan 22.
Ms Teo said until this downturn, garment factories had thrived on orders for small batches of clothing that clients needed to be made quickly.
Many companies have also, since the 1990s, moved production to countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia where labour is cheaper, but kept an office here to handle buyers from the US and Europe.
With this downturn, garment factories with production lines here are forced to reassess their viability, said Ms Teo.
Four garment makers have shed workers so far. The bulk came from Chin Heng, which shut its production line.
For the full story, read Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
