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100,000 new jobs: PM
May 1, 2010
MAY DAY RALLY
100,000 new jobs: PM
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Mr Lee said unions will play a key role helping workers to understand and cope with the rapid changes. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
MORE than 100,000 new jobs will be created if the Singapore economy grows by 7 to 9 per cent this year, and many of these will be filled by Singaporeans, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at a May Day Rally on Saturday. But a higher inflow of foreign workers is inevitable to meet the demands of a stronger economy and 'some proportion' of the new jobs will go to foreigners on employment passes or work passes.
Addressing some 1,400 union leaders, employers and workers at the Downtown East resort in Pasir Ris, PM Lee urged companies and workers to step up their productivity to reduce the need for 'too much' foreign manpower. 'I hope Singaporeans will understand this: If we want the buoyancy and bonuses which go with high growth, then we must accept a temporary inflow of foreign workers,' he said.
On the continuing need for foreign workers, he said they help Singapore to grow rapidly during an upturn, and cushion the impact on Singaporeans in a downturn, as happened last year. But in the longer term, Singapore will need to restructure the economy and reduce its reliance on more and more foreign workers, added Mr Lee. 'In future productivity will bear the main burden, because we cannot grow the workforce - whether local or foreign - as fast as before.��We have to switch gears, go for qualitative growth, and thereby transcend our manpower constraints,' he said.
Moving towards this, he said unions will play a key role helping workers to understand and cope with the rapid changes, and training them to be more productive, through various skills upgrading, best sourcing and improvement programmes. PM Lee, who was in the United States recently, said he saw at first-hand how Singapore's cooperative approach has benefitted the economy, unlike in the US, where the unions there take a narrower approach, and demand protection and protectionism. Unions in Singapore take a national perspective and work together with the government and employers to enlarge the pie and share in the gains.
US executives are impressed when I told them about our tripartism," Mr Lee told the May Day gathering. 'One American asked me to send our unions to talk to theirs!' He said unions are well represented at all levels in the the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC), which met for the first time on Friday. It will be tailoring plans for each sector and industry, and encourage SMEs to improve productivity across sectors, as well as support the NTUC's efforts to raise the productivity levels of low wage workers.
May 1, 2010
MAY DAY RALLY
100,000 new jobs: PM
Mr Lee said unions will play a key role helping workers to understand and cope with the rapid changes. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
MORE than 100,000 new jobs will be created if the Singapore economy grows by 7 to 9 per cent this year, and many of these will be filled by Singaporeans, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at a May Day Rally on Saturday. But a higher inflow of foreign workers is inevitable to meet the demands of a stronger economy and 'some proportion' of the new jobs will go to foreigners on employment passes or work passes.
Addressing some 1,400 union leaders, employers and workers at the Downtown East resort in Pasir Ris, PM Lee urged companies and workers to step up their productivity to reduce the need for 'too much' foreign manpower. 'I hope Singaporeans will understand this: If we want the buoyancy and bonuses which go with high growth, then we must accept a temporary inflow of foreign workers,' he said.
On the continuing need for foreign workers, he said they help Singapore to grow rapidly during an upturn, and cushion the impact on Singaporeans in a downturn, as happened last year. But in the longer term, Singapore will need to restructure the economy and reduce its reliance on more and more foreign workers, added Mr Lee. 'In future productivity will bear the main burden, because we cannot grow the workforce - whether local or foreign - as fast as before.��We have to switch gears, go for qualitative growth, and thereby transcend our manpower constraints,' he said.
Moving towards this, he said unions will play a key role helping workers to understand and cope with the rapid changes, and training them to be more productive, through various skills upgrading, best sourcing and improvement programmes. PM Lee, who was in the United States recently, said he saw at first-hand how Singapore's cooperative approach has benefitted the economy, unlike in the US, where the unions there take a narrower approach, and demand protection and protectionism. Unions in Singapore take a national perspective and work together with the government and employers to enlarge the pie and share in the gains.
US executives are impressed when I told them about our tripartism," Mr Lee told the May Day gathering. 'One American asked me to send our unions to talk to theirs!' He said unions are well represented at all levels in the the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC), which met for the first time on Friday. It will be tailoring plans for each sector and industry, and encourage SMEs to improve productivity across sectors, as well as support the NTUC's efforts to raise the productivity levels of low wage workers.
