<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Training funds to help workers cope
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Firms may get funds to send workers for training during downturn </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
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STAR SERVICE BOOSTS S'PORE'S RANKING: Her attention to detail won assistant F&B manager Michelle Ee Soo Meng, of Sheraton Towers' Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant, one of 10 top service excellence awards given out yesterday. After a decade of effort, Singapore has made it back to the list of the world's top 10 countries known for customer service. It was ranked 15th last year. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->UNIONS, employers and the Government are gearing up to help workers cope with the economic downturn, and one key area being looked at is providing companies with funds so that they can send staff for training.
The strategy for coping is two- pronged: Reduce the cost of doing business to save jobs and companies, while finding ways to 'step up the investment in new capabilities', labour chief Lim Swee Say said yesterday.
The aim: Keep job losses below the 29,000 level experienced in 1998, when the country was reeling from the effects of the Asian financial crisis.
It will not be easy, though, conceded Mr Lim, the secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), yesterday. The effects of the 1998 downturn were felt mainly in Asia, while the current crisis is global in nature, and could last longer - 'one year, two years, three years or even longer', he said.
Still, he said, Singapore is well-placed to weather the storm this time, because of lessons learnt well from past downturns.
Training systems and institutions are in place and he is 'cautiously confident there will not be runaway unemployment'.
However, Mr Lim, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, emphasised the need to upgrade at a time when business is slow.
'If all we do is to focus on cost-cutting alone, then at some point in time, massive retrenchment will have to take place due to the long duration of this downturn,' he warned.
One key area unions are focusing on, he said, is making it acceptable for companies to keep employees on their payroll while they attend courses to upgrade their skills.
Speaking after presenting SuperStar Awards to top-notch service staff at Suntec Singapore yesterday, Mr Lim said: 'During good times, companies are busy. So they have the money but not the time to train busy workers.
'But today, as we go through this downturn, companies will have excess manpower. So they have time, but unfortunately, they won't have the money.'
This, he said, is an 'absentee payroll' problem which unions and the Government can help with.
He cited the $5 million fund set aside for skills redevelopment in 1998, and said a similar scheme might be needed this time.
The fund was used to subsidise training for workers when the downturn bit. Instead of retrenching, employers reduced their wage bill by sending workers for training and getting back some of their wages through the grants. Workers kept their jobs while learning new skills to give them a headstart when the economy improved.
Mr Lim said the labour movement has been giving feedback on the subject to the Government, whom he urged to make a decision and announcement soon.
The slowdown was already taking a toll, especially in the manufacturing sector, he warned, and companies needed to know what help was available to factor into decisions.
'Companies are already approaching our unions...overtime is already dropping. In some cases, we are now working a shorter work week, in some cases they're even talking about temporary layoff.'
He also tackled a question that arises whenever a downturn looms: Should foreign workers be retrenched ahead of Singaporeans?
He said past records showed that more than half of retrenched workers were foreigners.
He also noted a trend among employers of making local workers the core of their workforce - something that bodes well for Singaporeans.
At the end of the day, Mr Lim said, the labour movement cannot stop retrenchments, but he held out this promise: 'For every worker who is affected, there is a programme to help him.'
[email protected] SINGAPORE
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Firms may get funds to send workers for training during downturn </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
STAR SERVICE BOOSTS S'PORE'S RANKING: Her attention to detail won assistant F&B manager Michelle Ee Soo Meng, of Sheraton Towers' Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant, one of 10 top service excellence awards given out yesterday. After a decade of effort, Singapore has made it back to the list of the world's top 10 countries known for customer service. It was ranked 15th last year. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->UNIONS, employers and the Government are gearing up to help workers cope with the economic downturn, and one key area being looked at is providing companies with funds so that they can send staff for training.
The strategy for coping is two- pronged: Reduce the cost of doing business to save jobs and companies, while finding ways to 'step up the investment in new capabilities', labour chief Lim Swee Say said yesterday.
The aim: Keep job losses below the 29,000 level experienced in 1998, when the country was reeling from the effects of the Asian financial crisis.
It will not be easy, though, conceded Mr Lim, the secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), yesterday. The effects of the 1998 downturn were felt mainly in Asia, while the current crisis is global in nature, and could last longer - 'one year, two years, three years or even longer', he said.
Still, he said, Singapore is well-placed to weather the storm this time, because of lessons learnt well from past downturns.
Training systems and institutions are in place and he is 'cautiously confident there will not be runaway unemployment'.
However, Mr Lim, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, emphasised the need to upgrade at a time when business is slow.
'If all we do is to focus on cost-cutting alone, then at some point in time, massive retrenchment will have to take place due to the long duration of this downturn,' he warned.
One key area unions are focusing on, he said, is making it acceptable for companies to keep employees on their payroll while they attend courses to upgrade their skills.
Speaking after presenting SuperStar Awards to top-notch service staff at Suntec Singapore yesterday, Mr Lim said: 'During good times, companies are busy. So they have the money but not the time to train busy workers.
'But today, as we go through this downturn, companies will have excess manpower. So they have time, but unfortunately, they won't have the money.'
This, he said, is an 'absentee payroll' problem which unions and the Government can help with.
He cited the $5 million fund set aside for skills redevelopment in 1998, and said a similar scheme might be needed this time.
The fund was used to subsidise training for workers when the downturn bit. Instead of retrenching, employers reduced their wage bill by sending workers for training and getting back some of their wages through the grants. Workers kept their jobs while learning new skills to give them a headstart when the economy improved.
Mr Lim said the labour movement has been giving feedback on the subject to the Government, whom he urged to make a decision and announcement soon.
The slowdown was already taking a toll, especially in the manufacturing sector, he warned, and companies needed to know what help was available to factor into decisions.
'Companies are already approaching our unions...overtime is already dropping. In some cases, we are now working a shorter work week, in some cases they're even talking about temporary layoff.'
He also tackled a question that arises whenever a downturn looms: Should foreign workers be retrenched ahead of Singaporeans?
He said past records showed that more than half of retrenched workers were foreigners.
He also noted a trend among employers of making local workers the core of their workforce - something that bodes well for Singaporeans.
At the end of the day, Mr Lim said, the labour movement cannot stop retrenchments, but he held out this promise: 'For every worker who is affected, there is a programme to help him.'
[email protected] SINGAPORE
