The Labour Movement’s efforts towards improving the lives of workers through initiatives such as promoting a flexible work culture and encouraging unionised companies to voluntarily re-employ workers beyond age 65 seem to be working.
According to the latest Labour Force in Singapore 2014 report, the number of people in Singapore’s labour force has gone up for the third successive year, driven by a continued increase in women and older persons joining the workforce.
More residents were working or actively seeking employment in June 2014, as the labour force participation rate went up to a new high of 67% for the year.
1. More Women In The Workforce
Women participation in the workforce rose significantly from 51.3% in 2004 to 58.6% in 2014, with a rise in employment opportunities in the services sector.
“The increased prevalence of flexible work arrangements which support work-life integration could have also attracted more women to participate in the labour market,” stated the report.
2. More Older Workers In The Workforce
With on-going tripartite efforts to enhance the employability of older workers and their improving educational profile, the participation of older residents in the workforce aged 55 to 64 rose from 49.5% to 68.4%.
Also on an upward trend was the employment of residents aged 65 to 69 from 18.9% in 2004 to 41.2% in 2014, possibly boosted by spillover effects from the implementation of re-employment legislation.
3. More Workers Going For Training
On the training front, more workers took part in some form of job-related structured training during the 12-month period ending June 2014.
The training participation rate for the resident labour force aged 15 to 64 rose for the third successive year to a new high of 36% in 2014, amid continued outreach efforts and focus on promoting lifelong learning.
Participants also spent more time on training, averaging 13 days per trainee in 2014, compared to 12 days per trainee in 2013.
4. More PMETS Going For Training
The training culture has also caught on with the professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETS).
Nearly 45% of PMETs had undergone training, compared with almost 28% of clerical, sales and service workers and 23% of cleaners, labourers, and production and transport operators, cleaners, and labourers in 2014.
5. Sustained Income Growth
There was a sustained rise in median income over the last five years, even though economic growth moderated in 2014 from a year ago.
The median income from work of full-time employed residents (including employer CPF contributions) increased by 29% over the period of 2009 to 2014.
Boosted by on-going initiatives to raise the incomes of low-wage workers, real income growth at the 20th percentile kept pace with the median income growth in the recent five years.
6. Unemployment Rate Declines
According to the Manpower Ministry’s Employment Situation 2014 report, unemployment for residents and citizens fell in December 2014, even as redundancy rose slightly amidst business restructuring. The labour market continues to remain tight.
7. Local Employment Growth
Local employment grew faster, while foreign worker growth continued to moderate. In December 2014, locals made up 66.7% of persons employed in Singapore.
8. Unemployment Numbers
Preliminary estimates showed that the overall seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate declined from 2% in September 2014 to 1.9% in December 2014. For the whole of 2014, unemployment stayed low, averaging 2.0% overall.
9. Employment Numbers
According to the Employment Situation 2014 report, total employment is estimated to have increased by 129,000 for the whole of 2014, lower than the 136,200 in 2013.
10. Retrenchment Numbers
Turning to retrenchments, some 3,800 workers were made redundant in the fourth quarter of 2014, up slightly from 3,500 in the preceding quarter. For the whole of 2014, redundancies rose to 12,800, up from 11,560 in 2013.
Source: NTUC This Week
