<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Jobs outlook remains gloomy <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Don't expect turnaround in the next one or two quarters, says minister </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian, Senior Political Correspondent
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Mr Gan said it was premature to think about green shoots - the term used to suggest that the global slump was bottoming out. -- PHOTO: SOUTH WEST CDC
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SINGAPORE can expect unemployment to remain at current levels or to rise further, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Friday.
In remarks suggesting a turnaround is not imminent, he said that with the economic outlook still uncertain, the labour market 'will remain soft for next one to two quarters at least'.
'A lot will depend on whether orders are coming in for the third as well as the fourth quarter. Visibility is not clear beyond July or August,' he said at a press conference to give an update on the impact of the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur).
The government-sponsored scheme, launched last December, pays part of workers' wages while they are on training as well as subsidises their training fees.
While measures like Spur reduced the cost of retaining staff and kept unemployment in check, the jobless rate from January to March this year still rose to 3.3 per cent, the highest since 2005.
Data for the April to June quarter will be released by the end of this month, but Mr Gan said anecdotal feedback from unions and bosses suggests there will be no let-up in the jobless rate. This is even though fewer workers may be let go compared to the record 10,900 in the first quarter.
Mr Gan also said in response to a question that it was difficult to say when there would be a second wave of retrenchments - something the labour movement has told workers to brace themselves for.
Like his colleagues at the briefing - Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi - he said the focus of efforts by bosses and workers should be on training with an eye to improve skills for an eventual upturn.
Noting that the United States announced on Thursday that its jobless rate rose to 9.5 per cent, he said it was important 'to focus our efforts on helping companies and the unemployed'.
The sentiment at last month's International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva which he attended was also that the global slowdown will persist. Therefore, Mr Gan said, it was premature to think about green shoots - the term analysts and others use to suggest that the global slump was bottoming out.
Please read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Don't expect turnaround in the next one or two quarters, says minister </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Gan said it was premature to think about green shoots - the term used to suggest that the global slump was bottoming out. -- PHOTO: SOUTH WEST CDC
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SINGAPORE can expect unemployment to remain at current levels or to rise further, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Friday.
In remarks suggesting a turnaround is not imminent, he said that with the economic outlook still uncertain, the labour market 'will remain soft for next one to two quarters at least'.
'A lot will depend on whether orders are coming in for the third as well as the fourth quarter. Visibility is not clear beyond July or August,' he said at a press conference to give an update on the impact of the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur).
The government-sponsored scheme, launched last December, pays part of workers' wages while they are on training as well as subsidises their training fees.
While measures like Spur reduced the cost of retaining staff and kept unemployment in check, the jobless rate from January to March this year still rose to 3.3 per cent, the highest since 2005.
Data for the April to June quarter will be released by the end of this month, but Mr Gan said anecdotal feedback from unions and bosses suggests there will be no let-up in the jobless rate. This is even though fewer workers may be let go compared to the record 10,900 in the first quarter.
Mr Gan also said in response to a question that it was difficult to say when there would be a second wave of retrenchments - something the labour movement has told workers to brace themselves for.
Like his colleagues at the briefing - Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi - he said the focus of efforts by bosses and workers should be on training with an eye to improve skills for an eventual upturn.
Noting that the United States announced on Thursday that its jobless rate rose to 9.5 per cent, he said it was important 'to focus our efforts on helping companies and the unemployed'.
The sentiment at last month's International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva which he attended was also that the global slowdown will persist. Therefore, Mr Gan said, it was premature to think about green shoots - the term analysts and others use to suggest that the global slump was bottoming out.
Please read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
