<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>No let-up in Govt help for workers
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Swee Say urges bosses to take advantage of schemes to improve their service standards </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Tessa Wong
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->DESPITE the job situation improving in the second quarter, the Government remains cautious and will not ease up on its efforts to help workers.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>CONSTANT EFFORTS
'The moment we stop helping the job-seekers - the workers who've been affected by retrenchment - the moment we stop helping them to go for re-skilling, for re-employment, unemployment will go up.'
Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Speaking on the sidelines of a hospitality event yesterday, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say noted a 'significant' drop in retrenchment in the current quarter.
'I think we can get some reassurance out of it, but at the same time, we should not assume that the third quarter will be better than the second, and the fourth quarter will be better than the third.'
The Government will operate on the assumption that 'anything can happen in the second half of this year', because despite signs of recovery in some business sectors, the consensus is that global consumption by year end is not going to be strong, added Mr Lim, who is also the secretary-general of the NTUC.
This means that the global manufacturing sector will take some time to make a full recovery.
'So, for the second half of the year, we should not rule out the possibility of a second wave of retrenchments,' he said.
This is why the Government would continue to help workers, he said.
'The moment we stop helping the jobseekers - the workers who've been affected by retrenchment - the moment we stop helping them to go for re-skilling, for re-employment, unemployment will go up.'
He urged employers to take full advantage of Government incentives such as the Jobs Credit scheme and the Spur training programme.
Employers should also brush up their service standards to remain competitive, to keep Singapore 'half a step' ahead of the world, he added.
To this end, enterprise agency Spring Singapore has been running its Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI). The four- year-old programme has reached out to the retail, transport, F&B and health-care industries by encouraging employers in these sectors to use best practices in employee training programmes.
CCI's latest target is the hospitality industry. Mr Lim was guest of honour at yesterday's launch of the programme for this sector.
So far, 30 hotels and 21 serviced apartments, representing 37 per cent of the industry, have signed up for it. Most are four- and five-star facilities and include brand names such as Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, Fairmont Singapore and the Ascott International group of serviced apartments.
Spring aims to have half the industry signed up by the end of next year, including tour and travel services as well as business-event organisers and venues.
Hotels and serviced apartments taking part in the CCI first identify the areas in which they can give better service.
Mystery auditors from an independent agency will visit these premises to gauge their customer service. They are given a few months to improve on the listed weak areas and then put through another audit. The whole process, which starts this month, will take 18 months.
Participants can apply for up to 70 per cent funding for programmes to improve their service standards.
Mr Lim encouraged industry players to 'take this opportunity to strive for a quantum leap in service quality'.
Mr Albert Teo, the second vice-president of the Singapore Hotel Association, said: 'We are not a very service-oriented country, but we are really trying our best to inculcate into our people service from the heart.'
[email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Swee Say urges bosses to take advantage of schemes to improve their service standards </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Tessa Wong
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->DESPITE the job situation improving in the second quarter, the Government remains cautious and will not ease up on its efforts to help workers.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>CONSTANT EFFORTS
'The moment we stop helping the job-seekers - the workers who've been affected by retrenchment - the moment we stop helping them to go for re-skilling, for re-employment, unemployment will go up.'
Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Speaking on the sidelines of a hospitality event yesterday, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say noted a 'significant' drop in retrenchment in the current quarter.
'I think we can get some reassurance out of it, but at the same time, we should not assume that the third quarter will be better than the second, and the fourth quarter will be better than the third.'
The Government will operate on the assumption that 'anything can happen in the second half of this year', because despite signs of recovery in some business sectors, the consensus is that global consumption by year end is not going to be strong, added Mr Lim, who is also the secretary-general of the NTUC.
This means that the global manufacturing sector will take some time to make a full recovery.
'So, for the second half of the year, we should not rule out the possibility of a second wave of retrenchments,' he said.
This is why the Government would continue to help workers, he said.
'The moment we stop helping the jobseekers - the workers who've been affected by retrenchment - the moment we stop helping them to go for re-skilling, for re-employment, unemployment will go up.'
He urged employers to take full advantage of Government incentives such as the Jobs Credit scheme and the Spur training programme.
Employers should also brush up their service standards to remain competitive, to keep Singapore 'half a step' ahead of the world, he added.
To this end, enterprise agency Spring Singapore has been running its Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI). The four- year-old programme has reached out to the retail, transport, F&B and health-care industries by encouraging employers in these sectors to use best practices in employee training programmes.
CCI's latest target is the hospitality industry. Mr Lim was guest of honour at yesterday's launch of the programme for this sector.
So far, 30 hotels and 21 serviced apartments, representing 37 per cent of the industry, have signed up for it. Most are four- and five-star facilities and include brand names such as Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, Fairmont Singapore and the Ascott International group of serviced apartments.
Spring aims to have half the industry signed up by the end of next year, including tour and travel services as well as business-event organisers and venues.
Hotels and serviced apartments taking part in the CCI first identify the areas in which they can give better service.
Mystery auditors from an independent agency will visit these premises to gauge their customer service. They are given a few months to improve on the listed weak areas and then put through another audit. The whole process, which starts this month, will take 18 months.
Participants can apply for up to 70 per cent funding for programmes to improve their service standards.
Mr Lim encouraged industry players to 'take this opportunity to strive for a quantum leap in service quality'.
Mr Albert Teo, the second vice-president of the Singapore Hotel Association, said: 'We are not a very service-oriented country, but we are really trying our best to inculcate into our people service from the heart.'
[email protected]
