Workers should not reject technology, but instead, think about how they can use technology to progress.
This was urged by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo at a recent dialogue session with union leaders at NTUC Centre.
“It is, of course, easier said than done because winners can’t just be companies and countries that sit around and do nothing. It takes hard work,” she added.
She cited the example of Amazon who despite adding 55,000 robots to its fleet last year, managed to create more jobs for workers.
“They nearly doubled their workforce. What it tells us is that technology doesn’t cause people to lose jobs. In Amazon’s case, it helped create jobs. Of course, you may argue that Amazon might have taken the market share of another company, causing loss of jobs.
“But if you are the worker, you may have been displaced from one company. But if you can join this other company [Amazon] that can make more money, you’d likely be better off,” said Mrs Teo.
One factor that is important so that a worker can be better off would be his skill sets, according to Mrs Teo.
She added that if a worker does not upgrade himself when moving companies, he might end up worse off.
Mrs Teo also assured that the Government will continue to strengthen programmes to help workers improve their skills so that workers can continue to have “better jobs, better careers and better industries.”
“We have in Singapore a unique arrangement. The Government isn’t sleeping, the union isn’t sleeping, and we are working hard to create opportunities for all our workers,” she said.
Mrs Teo also said that when paired together, technology and a robust tripartite partnership between Government, unions and employers can help Singapore continue to be successful.
“On the other hand, if we fail to work together, if we don’t try to support each other, and if we don’t anticipate the future, only then technological disruption will potentially be damaging for all of us. But that is not the outcome we want
So how we work together to win with technology in an era of disruption is key to our future prosperity, and it is key to how workers can do better,” she said.
