Singapore employers expect slower job growth
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 April 2008 1310 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Employers in Singapore are bracing for a slower job market growth this year, according to the Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF).

Its president, Stephen Lee, said that job growth this year will moderate to about 3 to 4 percent, compared to the 7.7 percent registered in 2007.

Speaking to Channel NewsAsia ahead of Labour Day, Mr Lee also expects demand for higher wages to grow because of inflation.

Nearly 235,000 new jobs were created last year, a record high. Singapore's job market continues to remain tight, with at least 1.4 jobs for every job seeker.

Projects that will need to employ large numbers of workers include the integrated resorts (IRs) and those that are related to the Youth Olympic Games.

Mr Lee said: "... we need to step up our training for services staff in order to cater for these needs. Both the IRs have huge requirements. If they can bring in more tourists, it will help the growth of the supporting industries."

Employers and unions are working on several fronts to tackle the challenge. They are encouraging more housewives to rejoin the labour force through the NTUC's back-to-work programme.

In addition, more companies are now hiring older workers, well ahead of the proposed re-employment legislation in Singapore that will come into effect by 2012.

However, some small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those employing between 25 and 50 workers, have some concerns about the proposed re-employment legislation.

Mr Lee said: "Their worry is that when legislation comes, will they be forced to re-employ, and whether or not they have the openings. Many of them are worried about the fairly rapid expansion or contraction of their business.

"We are working with them again. The best is for the employee to be re-employed by the original company. Another way is to look at whether we can set up a facilitator... where a retiree from company A could be retrained and then posted to company B to continue his employment.

"One of the key things highlighted was - what can we do about the HR practices and how to collectively improve the HR practices of the SMEs. Perhaps, if we can group some of the smaller companies together, then we can help a group of 10 to 12 companies at one time."

Mr Lee said that although the indication is that help is needed, the SMEs find it difficult to have a senior person dedicated just to do HR for each company.

For now, companies are concerned about the tight labour market and high inflation - as this is raising the demand for higher wages.

Mr Lee said: "The first-quarter productivity growth has not been that good, it was actually a minus. So whether or not negative productivity, coupled with a high wage increase, may affect our competitiveness, these are issues we are grappling with."

The National Wages Council will look into these issues before it makes its wage recommendations later this year. - CNA/ir