Monday, May 11, 2009
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has warned workers to brace themselves for a possible second wave of retrenchments.
He was speaking to reporters at a job fair on Monday.
"I think the first quarter was very bad for the manufacturing sector. The second quarter, we saw some positive signs. The question is, whether these positive signs can last through the third quarter and beyond. We are holding our breaths in looking at what's happening in the second quarter. But our greater concerns are the third and fourth quarters," he said.
Some 9,000 workers in the manufacturing sector lost their jobs in the first quarter, mainly from the electronics industry with the unemployment rate rising to 3.2 per cent.
Mr Lim stressed that the local labour movement does not believe the recession is ending soon, despite some experts saying that the economy may have gone through its worst patch.
"We continue to see job losses in USA. We continue to see unemployment rates going up in USA. While the world may be starting to gamble with their money in the stock market, here in Singapore, we cannot afford to gamble the job of workers. What we have to do is to continue to stay on course. We continue to commit to this policy of retrenchments as a last resort," he said.
He added that these gloomy times also present the best opportunity for businesses to expand.
Not only is it now more cost effective to do so, Mr Lim said, the recession has also made it easier for companies look out for suitable candidates to join their payroll.
- 983LIVE.
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has warned workers to brace themselves for a possible second wave of retrenchments.
He was speaking to reporters at a job fair on Monday.
"I think the first quarter was very bad for the manufacturing sector. The second quarter, we saw some positive signs. The question is, whether these positive signs can last through the third quarter and beyond. We are holding our breaths in looking at what's happening in the second quarter. But our greater concerns are the third and fourth quarters," he said.
Some 9,000 workers in the manufacturing sector lost their jobs in the first quarter, mainly from the electronics industry with the unemployment rate rising to 3.2 per cent.
Mr Lim stressed that the local labour movement does not believe the recession is ending soon, despite some experts saying that the economy may have gone through its worst patch.
"We continue to see job losses in USA. We continue to see unemployment rates going up in USA. While the world may be starting to gamble with their money in the stock market, here in Singapore, we cannot afford to gamble the job of workers. What we have to do is to continue to stay on course. We continue to commit to this policy of retrenchments as a last resort," he said.
He added that these gloomy times also present the best opportunity for businesses to expand.
Not only is it now more cost effective to do so, Mr Lim said, the recession has also made it easier for companies look out for suitable candidates to join their payroll.
- 983LIVE.
