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SINGAPORE: Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong on Wednesday said the tripartite partners are working together to help the 2,000 workers laid-off by hard-disk maker Seagate find re-employment when it shuts down its Ang Mo Kio plant next year.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a National Day Observance ceremony, Mr Gan said his ministry, the union and Seagate will help workers explore opportunities for redeployment within the company.
Training opportunities will be provided for those who cannot be redeployed. The minister said this will equip them with new skills so that they can be re-employed in other sectors.
Mr Gan said: "This Seagate announcement is also a stark reminder to all of us that the economic challenges are still there. We must not be prematurely optimistic."
However, he added that there is no need for the affected workers to be disheartened as there are still 25,000 jobs available in the market. He encouraged workers to be proactive in seeking re-employment.
The minister said he will not speculate on a possible second wave of retrenchments in Singapore.
Instead, he stressed it is now more important for his ministry and the tripartite partners to reach out to workers, helping them tap on to initiatives such as the Jobs Credit scheme and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR).
"We will not be able to avoid retrenchment altogether," said Mr Gan. "We will not be able to avoid companies restructuring altogether. But we want to minimise the number of people affected, keep as many jobs as possible in Singapore by keeping the companies competitive, and helping companies cut costs, save jobs."
In a statement released on Tuesday, Seagate said it will relocate its hard disk manufacturing operations from the Ang Mo Kio plant to other existing sites.
The company has other hard disk manufacturing facilities in neighbouring countries, including Malaysia and Thailand.
It added that this consolidation is necessary for Seagate to further increase efficiency and reduce costs by leveraging investments across fewer manufacturing sites.
- 938 LIVE/yb
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