Lim Swee Say: 19,000 jobs awaiting

[metalslug]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_371130.html

19,000 jobs awaiting
By Derrick Ho

Mr Lim Swee Say said there are some 19,000 jobs still available, out of which 8,000 pay above $2,000 a month. --PHOTO: ST

LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say has this advice for the 30,000 job seekers in Singapore: There are still jobs out there.
Speaking at a May Day Rally on Friday, Mr Lim said there are some 19,000 jobs still available, out of which 8,000 pay above $2,000 a month, in the e2i job gallery.

Opened in 2007, the e2i is part of a national masterplan to equip workers with skills to stay employable amid changing economic conditions. It was set up by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in partnership with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), and others.

Mr Lim, who is the NTUC secretary-general, said while there are close to 10,000 job seekers registered with the institute, it has not been able to match them yet.

The reason: Many are either not equipped with the right skills yet, while others have high expectations.

'Our challenge then is to narrow the skills gap, the expectation gap and the mindset gap,' said Mr Lim.

But he also noted that there are others who have shown the willingness to learn and adapt, and many jobless have been re-employed again. About 70 per cent of those retrenched last year have found jobs again.

'Some are job ready and they just need encouragement,' he said.

Latest figures figures showed that overall unemployment here rose from 2.5 per cent last December to 3.2 per cent last month, with 95,600 people out of work.

'Even though retrenchment has gone up in the first quarter of 2009, it could have been worse,' if not for efforts by the government and tripartite collaborations, Mr Lim told the gathering.

'Our tripartite efforts in cutting costs to save jobs have made a real difference in containing the first wave of retrenchment. There was no runaway, massive retrenchment,' he added.

But the second wave will come, he said, striking a cautious note. 'The road is still long and winding. So let's be prepared and continue to cut costs and save jobs.'

 

[commoner]

yes,,, loan sharks runners,,, na bei

probably those jobs above $2,000 would require the experience of a minister, culinary skills of the perm Sec, acting skills of WKS, bad hair cut by Shitty Say and longevity of the Old Fart

 

[angie II]

"Let me complete my sentence... 19,000 jobs waiting but FTs will get 1st priority"





​

 

[angie II]

​

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

"Jobless or retrenched? Go for skills and upgrading courses and training programmes loh. Don't come find me ok, I won't help you pay one hor. Hei hei hei.. "

 

[popdod]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_371130.html

19,000 jobs awaiting
By Derrick Ho

"Time to squeeze more Sinkies!!!!"


:o :( :o

 

[Lee Hsien Tau]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_371130.html

19,000 jobs awaiting
By Derrick Ho

Mr Lim Swee Say said there are some 19,000 jobs still available, out of which 8,000 pay above $2,000 a month. --PHOTO: ST

LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say has this advice for the 30,000 job seekers in Singapore: There are still jobs out there.
Speaking at a May Day Rally on Friday, Mr Lim said there are some 19,000 jobs still available, out of which 8,000 pay above $2,000 a month, in the e2i job gallery.

Opened in 2007, the e2i is part of a national masterplan to equip workers with skills to stay employable amid changing economic conditions. It was set up by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in partnership with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), and others.

Mr Lim, who is the NTUC secretary-general, said while there are close to 10,000 job seekers registered with the institute, it has not been able to match them yet.

The reason: Many are either not equipped with the right skills yet, while others have high expectations.

'Our challenge then is to narrow the skills gap, the expectation gap and the mindset gap,' said Mr Lim.

But he also noted that there are others who have shown the willingness to learn and adapt, and many jobless have been re-employed again. About 70 per cent of those retrenched last year have found jobs again.

'Some are job ready and they just need encouragement,' he said.

Latest figures figures showed that overall unemployment here rose from 2.5 per cent last December to 3.2 per cent last month, with 95,600 people out of work.

'Even though retrenchment has gone up in the first quarter of 2009, it could have been worse,' if not for efforts by the government and tripartite collaborations, Mr Lim told the gathering.

'Our tripartite efforts in cutting costs to save jobs have made a real difference in containing the first wave of retrenchment. There was no runaway, massive retrenchment,' he added.

But the second wave will come, he said, striking a cautious note. 'The road is still long and winding. So let's be prepared and continue to cut costs and save jobs.'

Got different figure here:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
12,668 jobs openings at E2i says NTUC Chief

About forty per cent of jobs available at Singapore’s Employment and Employability Institute (E2i) are offering salaries of more than S$2,000.

The National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC’s) secretary general, Lim Swee Say, added that these job openings form almost half of the 12,668 jobs openings which some employers posted at the institute.

Mr Lim was speaking Tuesday at an organisational learning conference on the challenges NTUC is facing to help workers.

The NTUC chief said the government’s decision to introduce the S$4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme is a strategic move. Firstly, the scheme would help companies implement their flexible wage systems as far as possible. And secondly, the scheme would also help to strengthen the tripartite partnership between the government, employers and unions.

Mr Lim said under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), more job seekers were coming forward to upgrade themselves. In fact, 7500 had done so at E2i.

Mr Lim added that through the various employability camps, confidence levels of workers to adapt to new jobs improved tremendously.

He said: “While on one hand, we are seeing an increase in retrenchment, but yet at the same time, we are very determined to ensure that retrenchment does not necessarily means unemployment.

“So our determination is to keep helping these job seekers, retrenched workers to go back for retraining under SPUR, and at the same time through the job matching services provided at E2i, the community development councils and various organisations, to go back to jobs as soon as possible.”

The bigger challenge now is to redesign jobs so as to minimise the mismatch of not just skills but also expectations.

Mr Lim said: What we hope is that as we go through this downturn, we can actually upturn the employment mobility of Singapore’s workers because job openings are there. What we have to overcome is the mismatch between the jobs and job seekers.

“Our biggest challenge today is to overcome and minimise structural unemployment. There are jobs and there are job seekers. How we can bring the two together by minimising the job gap, skills gap and more importantly the mindset and expectations gaps.”

The latest sector to address the retraining needs of workers is the logistics sector, which said the collapse in world trade had severely affected transport and storage.

NTUC’s assistant secretary-general, Josephine Teo, said: “The logistics sector is an important contributor to the Singapore economy. It not only supports the global transshipment of goods, which is the basis of our port activities, it strengthens Singapore’s position as a manufacturing and distribution hub. The sector employs 180,000 workers and contributes about nine per cent to the GDP. The recent global financial crisis had dampened business confidence and consumer spending. As a result, international trade had fallen.

“In Singapore, non-oil domestic exports fell sharply by 34.8 per cent in January this year compared to last year. While the news is sobering, we would all be better off if we stay positive, keep our spirits high, and focus our minds on weathering the downturn.

“The government’s Resilience Package worth S$20.5 billion had been welcomed by businesses and workers alike. In particular, the Jobs Credit scheme would provide relief to companies which had been hit by lower volumes or revenues, and faced intense pressures to cut cost.”

The Singapore Logistics Association is working with NTUC’s Learning Hub to come up with programmes to address the training needs of its excess manpower.

 

[Lee Hsien Tau]

Got different figure here:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
12,668 jobs openings at E2i says NTUC Chief

About forty per cent of jobs available at Singapore’s Employment and Employability Institute (E2i) are offering salaries of more than S$2,000.

The National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC’s) secretary general, Lim Swee Say, added that these job openings form almost half of the 12,668 jobs openings which some employers posted at the institute.

Mr Lim was speaking Tuesday at an organisational learning conference on the challenges NTUC is facing to help workers.

The NTUC chief said the government’s decision to introduce the S$4.5 billion Jobs Credit scheme is a strategic move. Firstly, the scheme would help companies implement their flexible wage systems as far as possible. And secondly, the scheme would also help to strengthen the tripartite partnership between the government, employers and unions.

Mr Lim said under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), more job seekers were coming forward to upgrade themselves. In fact, 7500 had done so at E2i.

Mr Lim added that through the various employability camps, confidence levels of workers to adapt to new jobs improved tremendously.

He said: “While on one hand, we are seeing an increase in retrenchment, but yet at the same time, we are very determined to ensure that retrenchment does not necessarily means unemployment.

“So our determination is to keep helping these job seekers, retrenched workers to go back for retraining under SPUR, and at the same time through the job matching services provided at E2i, the community development councils and various organisations, to go back to jobs as soon as possible.”

The bigger challenge now is to redesign jobs so as to minimise the mismatch of not just skills but also expectations.

Mr Lim said: What we hope is that as we go through this downturn, we can actually upturn the employment mobility of Singapore’s workers because job openings are there. What we have to overcome is the mismatch between the jobs and job seekers.

“Our biggest challenge today is to overcome and minimise structural unemployment. There are jobs and there are job seekers. How we can bring the two together by minimising the job gap, skills gap and more importantly the mindset and expectations gaps.”

The latest sector to address the retraining needs of workers is the logistics sector, which said the collapse in world trade had severely affected transport and storage.

NTUC’s assistant secretary-general, Josephine Teo, said: “The logistics sector is an important contributor to the Singapore economy. It not only supports the global transshipment of goods, which is the basis of our port activities, it strengthens Singapore’s position as a manufacturing and distribution hub. The sector employs 180,000 workers and contributes about nine per cent to the GDP. The recent global financial crisis had dampened business confidence and consumer spending. As a result, international trade had fallen.

“In Singapore, non-oil domestic exports fell sharply by 34.8 per cent in January this year compared to last year. While the news is sobering, we would all be better off if we stay positive, keep our spirits high, and focus our minds on weathering the downturn.

“The government’s Resilience Package worth S$20.5 billion had been welcomed by businesses and workers alike. In particular, the Jobs Credit scheme would provide relief to companies which had been hit by lower volumes or revenues, and faced intense pressures to cut cost.”

The Singapore Logistics Association is working with NTUC’s Learning Hub to come up with programmes to address the training needs of its excess manpower.

12668 668 so exact suddenly increase to 900?