<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top> Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Another Painful experience of a SG PMET</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt89 <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Apr-23 10:02 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt89 <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(2 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>48522.2 in reply to 48522.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_2 class=msgtxt>
<CITE class=fn>Iceman</CITE> says:
April 20, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Hi,
I can emphatize with the experience of this writer. I used to serve in the SAF, and after completing my bond in 1999, I left the organization for the private sector.
After about 10 years in the IT industry, I am jobless since I got retrenched in early 2009. Since then, I have not been working. I chose to take a break and concentrated on my postgrad study in NUS.
In the 2 years, I applied for countless number of jobs that are probably closer to my core skill sets. Honestly, there are job offers (although few), but I chose not to take them due to the pay (which sets me back by at least 6 years).
It is true that cheaper foreigners (not necessary talents) are here to take over many of the IT jobs in Singapore. These foreigners are happy to accept lower pay, primarily because their home country does not provide them the opportunities and pay.
Our government stance have been that job displacement of local Singaporeans is an inevitable part of globalization, and we Singaporeans are better off getting lowly paid jobs, compared to no jobs when the MNCs chose other places if our pay are high. The irony is that, despite having arguably the best education system in the region, we are still being paid the same pay as the foreigners coming from never-heard-of universities. Why then do we drive our children so hard in school?
Is the threat of MNCs moving out real if our wages are higher relative to other developing countries? It is real if the TOTAL cost of operation in Singapore is higher compared to other countries. For any MNCs, labour cost is not the only factor to consider when deciding whether to set up operations in a foreign country. There are other more important considerations like proximity to markets, stability of government, taxes, rental, skilled and productive labour etc. MNCs who chose to move out just because we are more expensive in labour will move out anyway, because their businesses only require low cost labour.
The saddest part about our government is that rather than upselling our country in other competitive advantages, they chose the easy way out by selling us as cheap labour. We might have created many jobs in the process, but the ones who benefited the most are foreigners.
To the writer of this blog, I urge you to stay positive. Don¡¯t let this episode affect your many years of hardwork and training. This too shall past and you will look back one day to pat yourself in the shoulder to congratulate yourself that you made it through.
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April 20, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Hi,
I can emphatize with the experience of this writer. I used to serve in the SAF, and after completing my bond in 1999, I left the organization for the private sector.
After about 10 years in the IT industry, I am jobless since I got retrenched in early 2009. Since then, I have not been working. I chose to take a break and concentrated on my postgrad study in NUS.
In the 2 years, I applied for countless number of jobs that are probably closer to my core skill sets. Honestly, there are job offers (although few), but I chose not to take them due to the pay (which sets me back by at least 6 years).
It is true that cheaper foreigners (not necessary talents) are here to take over many of the IT jobs in Singapore. These foreigners are happy to accept lower pay, primarily because their home country does not provide them the opportunities and pay.
Our government stance have been that job displacement of local Singaporeans is an inevitable part of globalization, and we Singaporeans are better off getting lowly paid jobs, compared to no jobs when the MNCs chose other places if our pay are high. The irony is that, despite having arguably the best education system in the region, we are still being paid the same pay as the foreigners coming from never-heard-of universities. Why then do we drive our children so hard in school?
Is the threat of MNCs moving out real if our wages are higher relative to other developing countries? It is real if the TOTAL cost of operation in Singapore is higher compared to other countries. For any MNCs, labour cost is not the only factor to consider when deciding whether to set up operations in a foreign country. There are other more important considerations like proximity to markets, stability of government, taxes, rental, skilled and productive labour etc. MNCs who chose to move out just because we are more expensive in labour will move out anyway, because their businesses only require low cost labour.
The saddest part about our government is that rather than upselling our country in other competitive advantages, they chose the easy way out by selling us as cheap labour. We might have created many jobs in the process, but the ones who benefited the most are foreigners.
To the writer of this blog, I urge you to stay positive. Don¡¯t let this episode affect your many years of hardwork and training. This too shall past and you will look back one day to pat yourself in the shoulder to congratulate yourself that you made it through.
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