Singapore needs to create good jobs and change them to keep pace with industry needs: Josephine Teo

While the labor market will be challenging in the coming months and years, but the Singaporeans will be able to make progress in their careers as long as the country can do two things consistently well, as per Labor Minister Josephine Teo. These include creating good jobs and change them to keep pace with industry needs and workers' needs, she said in a speech that briefly described the country's approach to managing the fourth generation (4G).

In the short term, the response to a general downturn in Singapore will depend on whether the causes are cyclical, structural or both. Though Singapore's economy today is well-diversified more than a decade ago, and while some sectors, such as electronics, have weakened, others like the information and communications industry are doing well.

"We should monitor the situation for the time being. At the same time, we should continue to improve our competitiveness and grow where we can," she said.

Ms Josephine was speaking at an event to pay tribute to career trainers and jobseekers who have found employment through government-led adaptation and growth programs. 

Notably, her comments come after preliminary data this month showed that Singaporean unemployment rose in the second quarter of this year and employment growth slowed down, although cuts were down. Employers are more cautious when hiring.

However, efforts to find a job placement are bearing fruit. Ms. Teo said that in the first half of this year, some 8,000 jobseekers have secured jobs through the Adapt and Grow programs and Career Matching Services of Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the National Trades Union Congress Employment and Employability Institute. This is about nine percent more than those who helped in the first half of last year. More than six out of ten employees in the first half of this year were previously unemployed.

Still, an interesting aspect to note is that the resident and citizen unemployment continues to rise from 3 to 3.1 percent and from 3.2 percent to 3.3 percent, respectively, according to the Labour Market Advance Release Q2 2019. 

In the medium term, demographic and technological trends have posed a threat to employment and employment given that in five of the ten ASEAN Member States, including Singapore, the overall fertility rate has fallen below replacement levels. In addition, in terms of technology, there are concerns around the world that automation and artificial intelligence will replace human resources, though Ms Teo believes that for Singapore, "there are actually many more advantages than disadvantages."  This is because the economy, with a total workforce of 3.5 million and a local workforce of only 2.3 million, creates much more jobs than the number of people.

Ms Teo added that tomorrow's workers are not looking for jobs for sustaining themselves, they want careers that bring their imagination and energy to them and make sense of them. Hence employers need to continually redesign jobs so that workers can make a more meaningful contribution.