Valuing Every Worker, Transforming for a better Future
Building a Better Singapore for Singaporeans through Quality Growth and an Inclusive Society. This is the goal of this Budget.
The Labour Movement stands with the Government on this as it is the whole purpose of nation-building. From the Labour Movement’s perspective, the coming 3 years will be critical to Transforming the economy and to Valuing Every Worker.
The transition began earlier. In the area of the ageing workforce, for example, the Tripartite partners worked hard to enable older workers to continue contributing and earning, and for companies to hold on to this precious manpower. In short, you have to Value Every Mature Worker to make this work. The result has been positive, with the employment rate of workers aged 55 – 64 increasing from 56.2% in 2007 to 64% in 2012. The Re-employment law that took effect from Jan 2012 further boosted this effort.
My fellow Labour MPs will speak on other segments of the workforce - low wage workers, PMEs, new job entrants, women workers and the self-employed.
Yes, progress has been made. However, much more needs to be done to tackle the serious challenges we face. We must increase the momentum.
The nub of the problem lies in low or even negative that has been plaguing us for a while now. The correlation between productivity, competitiveness and long-term standards of living of a population is well documented. Chronic low productivity drains our lead and gnaws away at our future.
We cannot tackle increasingly difficult times by doing more of the same and hoping there will be a free flow of cheaper foreign manpower to tide us through endlessly.
If we do that, the pay of our low wage workers will never go up, and our middle-income PMEs will also face unfair competition from a too-easy influx of foreign manpower.
That was why I called for serious Government attention to flagging productivity in 2009 and was glad to see stronger and more focussed Government action since to spur productivity across different industries.
That was also why the Labour Movement pushed hard for the Progressive Wage Model for both Rank and File and PME workers. We must never let up on the skills, productivity and career progression of Singaporean workers, and help create the proper conditions for a sustained improvement in real wages across the board. This is basic to inclusiveness and social cohesion.
This year’s Budget contains important components to strengthen the momentum to transform, so that Singaporeans will benefit at the end. I see 3 in particular:
Tightening on inflow of foreign manpower and increasing the price of foreign manpower will put pressure on companies to rethink their operating models and methods, and to try even harder and more creatively to tap Singaporean manpower sources.
I know that many businesses have deep concerns about the manpower cost impact. Hence, I welcome the WCS, which lightens the manpower cost pressure on employers as they undergo serious restructuring in the coming 3 years.
I urge companies not to hanker after the past, and instead focus on this new reality, and transform to emerge even stronger. The Labour Movement will work with you and support you in this.
With regard to building the momentum to Value Every Older Worker, I have 3 proposals to make.
3 Proposals for Older Workers
First, I once again urge the Government to initiate tripartite discussions as soon as possible to take stock of the progress of the re-employment law since it came into effect on 1 Jan 2012, and in particular to consider how soon and how best to further extend the Re-employment age band from the current (62 to 65) to (62 to 67). I made this call because of the tight labour market, the need to slow down the net inflow of foreign manpower, the need for companies to preserve experience and expertise, the improving health profiles of succeeding cohorts of older workers and the requests from older workers to further facilitate their continued employment if they so wish and are able to. I call upon the Government to indicate a time frame to start this tripartite review.
Second, I urge the Government to direct its policy and funding support toward workplace Healthcare cost-sharing and insurance arrangements so as to render them more affordable and equitable to both workers and employers. Recently, Government has reiterated its commitment to the older generation of Singaporeans that it will ensure that healthcare costs for them would be affordable. Older workers are part of this generation of Singaporeans whose efforts and contributions have helped Singapore succeed and stay resilient. The State should do more to encourage and help our older workers stay healthy. This can be done, for example, through appropriate Workplace Wellness initiatives, a review of the differential premium pricing and use of Eldershield payout, and grants and tax credits for qualifying corporate health insurance arrangements. Each of these areas has much potential for improvement.
There is also a need to address their worries (and their employers’ worries) on increasing healthcare costs, both outpatient and inpatient, associated with age. These worries show up consistently in surveys and research both locally and overseas, and have a direct, adverse effect on the employment and re-employment prospects for older workers. Also, many companies and organisations terminate prior co-payment arrangements with their re-employed workers and re-start them on different arrangements that are generally more onerous on these workers, i.e. with the re-employed worker having to shoulder more of the cost burden. The explanation commonly given is that the change of type of co-payment arrangement arose from re-employment being a fresh episode of employment. This has led to calls from the re-employed to extend the statutory retirement age instead. Re-employment is more flexible than extending the statutory retirement age. The simpler solution is to allow re-employed workers to continue under their prior co-payment arrangements. Our unions are keen to work with government and companies to further lower this hurdle to employability and achieve a good outcome for all sides. Addressing this healthcare cost piece well will be a big step toward activating this resource fully for individual, industry and national good. The public sector could also set an example.
Third, I draw attention to the ADVANTAGE! Scheme. Whether it is big companies or SMEs, finding effective ways to tap every viable local manpower resource will be crucial for them. Older workers are a valuable, tried and tested resource.
This is especially pertinent now as foreign manpower inflow is going to be more tightly managed. Making work and the workplace more age-friendly is no longer just a good-to-have icing on the cake, but will from now on have to fulfil a much more core purpose for companies.
The current ADVANTAGE! Scheme, has gone through numerous tweaks over the years to encourage the employment, retention and re-employment of older workers. It currently funds efforts through its Capability Development Grant for SMEs and the Employability Enhancement Grant.
According to Government figures released in Feb 2013, the Advantage! Scheme has provided $57 million to help some 3,500 firms recruit and retain employees aged 40 and above since its launch in 2005. More than 25,000 workers have benefited from the scheme.
Some $24 million out of the $57 million (42%) went towards redesigning jobs to keep older workers employed and more productive. On average, each company was given $16,000.
The outcome from the Scheme so far is not significant enough, relative to the number of companies out there with older workers, and the number of older workers who can benefit.
As this is the Primary Scheme to spur such older worker-centric initiatives, we must make sure that it can do the job of helping significant numbers of companies restructure and re-equip to employ and make good use of the growing pool of older workers as our population matures.
I believe that ADVANTAGE! Scheme needs a significant boost in how it incentivise Job Redesign for Age Friendliness, and on helping companies employ and retain older Singaporean workers. The Labour Movement stands ready to actively review the scheme with the Government and to actively promote the use of such funding by unionised companies to make work and continued employment for older workers easier.
Valuing every worker is what gives every worker a stake in the economic and social progress of this country. It is the litmus test of our resolve and commitment. In this Transformation, we must make sure of that.
I support the Budget.
