CNA PAINTS SINGAPORE JOB MARKET AS ROSY, REALLY?

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I refer to the CNA article painting a rosy picture of the job market:

“It seems Singapore’s tight labour market is proving to be lucrative for job seekers here — HR firms Channel NewsAsia spoke with said those with relevant skills are in demand, especially for sectors such as finance, business development, customer support and sales.”

- CNA News, 17 Aug[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I had previously written about unemployment and minimum wage, and I estimated that the proportion of Singaporeans deemed economically inactive is about 20 percent or over 400,000 Singaporeans, aged 25-64.

I stand corrected but I am not convinced that the economy has sprinted ahead to create a large number of jobs, surely not in the range of 100,000 jobs in the last twelve months.

Even if the 35,000 job listings on JOBSDB are genuine and hire all Singaporeans eventually, we still have a significant number of Singaporeans unemployed. So is the job market conditions lucrative or ludicrous?

Without sufficient data about unemployment, and a clear and acceptable definition of unemployment, argument over the unemployment situation gets nowhere. It would also be difficult for MPs to give any constructive suggestions to the government.

If the merits for minimum wage and new labor laws protecting Singaporeans need to be fact based and drawn on hard data, do we need to look further other than the recent GE2011, PE2012, and the two BEs? From the polls, is there nothing that can be deduced about the disposition of the people towards the government? Is it necessary to conduct national conversations to determine what people need? Is the election result based on over 2 million voters not a clear signal to the government on what changes are necessary? Or does the government choose to believe that this is nation of ingrates?

I find it hard to reconcile that one one hand government has been reporting ultra low unemployment numbers but yet on the other hand the public support towards the government seems to be dipping? If we assume and believe that 90 percent of Singaporeans aged above 21 are gainfully employed or happily retired, then the public support towards the government should be overwhelming?

Coming back to unemployment, is there a simple way to clear the air what exactly is our unemployment status?

Can I appeal to the government to consider on a trial basis for a limited period of time, subject to a maximum quantum that will not bankrupt this nation, to introduce a safety net – unemployment payout for anyone who has been trying to look for a job, but still remain unemployed after three months? Priority should be given to those supporting young children and elderly.

If the government firmly believes that unemployment numbers are insignificant, then it should not worried about introducing unemployment benefits? I am sure the civil service will be able to come up with a good formula that protects the unemployed without encouraging resignations.

In case I get labelled as a keyboard warrior, I am willing to pledge 50% on what the government is willing to pay towards an unemployed Singaporeans. So if the government decides to pay $1000 per month to someone who has been unemployed for longer than three months, I am prepare to contribute $500, provided I am employed.

I hope readers will join me to rally behind the Singaporeans out there who are struggling in life.



Chin Wei
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