Addendum
to the President’s Address
Dr Ng Eng
Hen
Minister
for Manpower
1.
MOM’s mission is to
help Singaporeans have stable jobs and secure livelihoods. To achieve this, we must be able to compete
globally with a productive and effective workforce. Our workers must have the right skills to help
our businesses grow. We must create the
necessary conditions through flexible wage and labour market policies to help
our companies respond to the volatility in business cycles. We must uphold high standards of safety to
protect the well-being of our workers. We
must maintain our harmonious labour relations and tripartite trust.
Building a globally
competitive workforce
Our workforce, our competitive edge
2.
We will step up training to ensure that our workers have
adequate skills to support existing and new businesses. We will work closely with employers to
introduce a new National Continuing Education and Training framework which will
provide clear pathways to upgrade our workers with skills that are more
relevant and valued by employee and employer alike.
Responsive and Efficient Labour Market
3.
We must continue to help our companies grow and respond to
volatile economic conditions. We will
help companies implement flexible wage systems that motivate and reward workers
for performance. The Employment Act has
also been amended to allow for flexible work schedules to optimize the use of
manpower resources.
4.
We will help companies to be more competitive through greater
flexibility in manpower supply. Where
there are not enough Singaporeans to meet their needs, we will help them get
the relevant skilled foreign manpower that they need. Foreign workers provide a ready pool of skills
to enable companies to quickly start up or expand businesses while we train
Singaporeans for jobs in new industries.
5.
We must therefore continue to attract talented and skilled
foreign manpower to raise the overall quality of our workforce. To achieve this, we will enhance the
flexibility of our workpass system and streamline
processes so that companies will find it easier to get the right type of
manpower. This will create more jobs for
Singaporeans as our economy grows.
Help for vulnerable workers
6.
As our economy restructures towards higher value-added
industries, there will be some workers who are vulnerable to structural
unemployment due to their lack of skills.
The Government will work hard together with our social partners – NTUC
and employer organizations – to keep these workers within the workforce. Multi-pronged approaches are necessary to
provide holistic assistance to help such vulnerable workers acquire the right
skills and work ethic to remain employable. Job redesign to raise the productivity and pay
of some jobs will be a critical area of focus.
7.
With longer life expectancy and an aging population, we will
also focus more on our older workers. They
will need to work for a longer period during their lifetime to save for a
comfortable retirement, but at the same time they are at greater risk of being
unemployed. We will find ways to
safeguard their income security through enhancing their employability and
improving their competitiveness.
Getting the best from our
workers
8.
Employees must be treated well to enhance their performance
at work. To assist in these efforts, MOM
and WDA will develop programmes to strengthen the capabilities of line managers
and Human Resource professionals. We
will encourage companies to improve the quality of their workplaces so as to
create a competitive advantage to attract and retain talent. Key performance indicators must be clearly
laid out and understood by employees. Good performances must be rewarded
adequately and promptly.
9.
Employers must build quality workplaces that enable our
workers to achieve a better work-life harmony. This includes supporting environments for
marriage and procreation. The amendments
to the Employment Act last year to extend maternity leave and introduce
childcare leave were major steps forward.
Protecting the health and wellbeing of workers
10.
All workers, local and foreign, are protected under our
employment laws and deserve to be treated fairly and decently. We will strengthen detection and enforcement
to reduce the incidence of salary arrears and employment malpractices. Employers who exploit their foreign workers
and compromise their well-being will be taken to task.
11.
All workers must have the assurance that their workplaces are
safe. If they do get injured in the
course of their work they must be fairly and promptly
compensated. Recent accidents
have shown that we need to enhance the level of safety consciousness among
workers and employers. We will introduce
a new Workplace Safety and Health Act that will broaden the coverage of
occupational safety and health to workplaces such as hotels, restaurants and
hospitals. We will introduce external
safety auditors to help monitor safety breaches and augment enforcement
efforts.
Tri-partite Co-operation and
Industrial Harmony
12.
The close tripartite partnership between the government,
employers and trade unions has been integral to our economic success. We will
continue to build on this strong tripartite partnership. A strong partnership
will greatly enhance our capability to realize our vision of achieving a great
workforce and great workplaces for
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