Slowdown in construction projects a factor for manpower dip
In the first three months of this year, the number of people employed in the construction sector fell by 12,500, the highest since 1991. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Hampered by a slowdown in projects, the construction sector, made up mostly of transient foreign workers, saw a record quarterly fall in employment, the latest labour-market report by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) showed.
In the first three months of this year, the number of people employed in the sector fell by 12,500 — the highest since 1991, which is as far back as such publicly available statistics go.
Speaking to TODAY, construction firms and experts cited a variety of factors for the drop in manpower, from the slowdown in private residential projects to the Government’s push for greater innovation and productivity in the industry that cuts the reliance on labour.
Unison Construction managing director Tan Soon Kian said that it has seen the number of private projects it handled fall 30 to 40 per cent compared with 2015. Since last year, it has trimmed its foreign construction workforce by 10 to 15 per cent.
Mr Tan said that the drive towards higher productivity has also contributed to the dip, with some products prefabricated before they reach the worksite, which cuts down manpower on the ground.
Still, the firm will try to maintain its workforce at its present strength of more than 80 as it prepares itself to capitalise on a pick-up in demand, which Mr Tan hopes will happen from the second half of next year.
At Nan Guan Construction, which also focuses on private projects, business has also been “slightly down”, its managing director Akbar Kader said. The firm has a “lean” workforce of no more than 10 workers and it has not had to let go of workers in the first three months of this year.
Mr Akbar said the company subcontracts some of the work when it takes on more jobs. Keeping the team “small and nimble” allows it to “find a balance” until there is a pick-up in the market that would allow it to hire more workers.
In contrast, KTC Group, which focuses on public infrastructure projects, has not “felt any significant change” and has not had to reduce its workforce, its chief executive Rajan Krishnan said. There were “still sufficient jobs” and he expects this momentum to be sustained for the next four or five years, with infrastructural projects including the Cross Island MRT line and the North-South Corridor in the works.
In the Budget earlier this year, the Government announced that it would be bringing forward S$700 million worth of public infrastructure projects to start in the fiscal years 2017 and 2018, such as upgrading community clubs and sports facilities.
United Overseas Bank economist Francis Tan told TODAY that such “small projects” are meant to keep smaller construction firms afloat in terms of their “cash flow”, and do not have much effect on employment.
International Property Advisor’s chief executive Ku Swee Yong is of the view that a shrinking workforce in the construction industry “should not be a big concern”. If anything, it reflected “an over-capacity” of hardware, such as buildings, in the country.
“We’ve already over-constructed (and) have sufficient facilities of most kinds, except for healthcare. We’ve got too many schools now, (for example),” he added.
