Mr Speaker, Sir, just as with my fellow members before me, it is with great pleasure that I rise to speak in support of the Motion of Thanks to the President.
In his Address in Parliament, the President spoke on the theme of “A Home We Share, A Future We Build Together”. He spoke on the challenges of growth amidst the current flux in the global economy but pointed also to and I quote that we have “a well-diversified, financially sound and competitive economy. We have a well-educated, hardworking workforce – the best in the world – and a strong tripartite partnership.” End quote.
The President also in his concluding remarks emphasised that as a nation we have achieved something unique in the world, that of a multi-racial city living in harmony.
On this note, Sir, if I may, allow me to divide my speech into two areas, the first focusing on the economy and its impact on young Professionals, Managers and Executives or PMEs in short. I will speak separately in Mandarin on the challenges of ensuring a continued focus on our cultural heritage while maintaining a strong cohesive multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society.
Mr Speaker, Sir, the current global economy is a proverbial yo-yo, one minute up- the next minute down. Even amidst the strong fundamentals that we have built in Singapore, we have just narrowly avoided a technical recession in the third quarter of this year. Yet compared to the rest of the key economies in the world, our growth rate is still stellar.
Recent job creation statistics in the United States have improved for the first time in many months and should have been a source of celebration. It has shown that the US economy, still the single largest in the world, is performing better than expected. In September 2011 alone, almost 103,000 jobs were created, an almost two-fold improvement from Labour Department statistics in August 2011.
Yet, Sir, the reality since Lehman Brothers has been that unemployment in the US has stayed stuck at 9.1% with about 14 million jobless. The 100,000 jobs in September in perspective is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. Fighting a forest fire with a garden hose. A further important note in the quagmire of statistics is that of the 103,000 reported jobs added back onto payrolls, close to 50,000 were due to workers returning from strike action. In essence, a recovery that became a non-event. Far more troubling is the Summer 2011 report by the Labour Department that youth unemployment has increased by 745,000 between April and July of this year, far outstripping the numbers from 2010 and bringing the total to 4.1million.
Mr Speaker, Sir, the euro-zone debt crisis also continues to loom large over global financial stability. Despite the obvious gloom, most economists have shied away from being a biblical Jeremiah by predicting a full-blown recession. Coming on the back of the 2008 crisis, the second dip has seemed to have come too soon. Unemployment in the euro-zone has continued to climb and it is particularly sobering that a staggering 46.2% of youths in Spain alone are now unemployed. For much of the EU, cash flow is now deemed to mean the movement that money makes as it disappears down the toilet.
On the home front, the situation is much rosier. The unemployment situation in Singapore has remained stable at about 2%. Our fundamentals remain strong, and amongst younger Singaporeans, our Labour Force Participation rates remain stable at 89.4% for those aged 25-29 and 89% for those aged 30-34. Higher education amongst young Singaporean workers have kept them mobile and compared to their seniors a far larger proportion are now employed as PMEs.
However, Sir, I have had the opportunity to hear from many young workers both from the trade unions as well as from my residents in the constituency over the past few months. A common refrain has been concerns over the future of the economy as well as the stability of the job market. Although a significant proportion of our graduating students from polytechnics as well as universities continue to be able to find suitable employment, perhaps a growing number are feeling the strain of both global competition as well as job security. A recent survey of 200 young respondents showed that 70% did not think that the world economy had recovered since 2009. A further 50% were “Least Optimistic” when asked to project the economic performance of the world economy.
During a recent focus group, a large portion of time was spent discussing the challenges faced by young contract workers. Dismiss the current notion of contract work as that of older workers or low-wage workers alone, contract hire has been the norm in many Western economies for PMEs as well. In Singapore, this preference for contractors has only recently seen a rise in demand amongst employers.
Mr Speaker, Sir, in a Business Times article on 11 October 2011, the title read and I quote “Contract workers become more attractive to MNCs.” End quote. Following the Lehman crisis that led to downsizing by many companies including MNCs in Singapore, a new trend has been to move towards the hiring of short-term contractors to shift headcount costs to become a variable rather than a fixed cost.
This arrangement works for some young PMEs who gain greater exposure and are able to explore more horizons. Flexibility is also an added bonus. However, the reality hits home for some when rolling contracts mean that career progression and employment benefits are curtailed. While there are many enlightened employers, many younger PMEs on contract find themselves losing out to their peers on permanent employment in terms of job security as well as benefits.
Working contracts is not an evil in itself. Many younger workers thrive on it. The problem frankly becomes finding the next job and putting yourself ‘out there’ on the market. The other issue however is the fairness of contracts as well as whether younger workers are aware of their contractual obligations as well as the type of contracts they have entered into.
In our enthusiasm to start work, I believe many of us, Sir, have plunged into our first job with the eagerness of children in a sweet shop only to find that we have inadvertently ended up in a sweat shop instead. While some employers have provided their contractors with leave and even medical benefits comparable with permanent staff, these appear to be few and far between. Many young contractors sacrifice employment benefits in looking for contract work and this may lead to long term issues.
One young lady I spoke to was troubled by how she would be treated by her employer should she settle down and start a family. She was genuinely worried that her contract would not be renewed and despite TAFEP guidelines her employer may still legitimately decide not to renew her employment.
A young IT professional was worried about finding the next project with the industry becoming crowded out. Another felt that after 2 renewals of his contract he seemed to have lagged behind his peers in career progression and feared that he would become less marketable with new graduates entering the job market should he remain a contractor for a significant amount of time.
Mr Speaker, Sir, this is just some of the many feedback that young workers have provided recently, and represent a microcosm of the bigger issues faced by them.
Sir, I am heartened that come January, PMEs will be able to receive limited representation. This change recognises the changing demography of our work force with PMEs soon to become the rank and file of today. In fact, based on the Labour Force Survey by the Ministry of Manpower, the share of young PMETs in the age band of 25-29 has increased significantly from 55% in 1999 to 69% in 2009.
Sir, it is in this vein that I sincerely urge the Ministry of Manpower to continue to look into the issue of contract work especially the challenges it poses for young PMEs. I further urge the Ministry to consider set of guidelines to ensure that young workers in particular are not taken advantaged of should they be in contract hires and expand the information base contained within MOM’s Career Compass initiative.
Unlike in many other countries, youth employment in Singapore is decidedly optimistic. Although some may point to a shirking youth presence in the workforce at only about 36%, this is because youths have delayed rather than having been denied entry into the labour market due to more furthering their education.
At the same time, maintaining flexibility in the economy and job market is important especially with a volatile global financial situation, but this must never be at the expense of the basic rights of workers, young or old. We must continue to work together to ensure a dynamic future-ready workforce.
