Against the backdrop of structural changes in the economy and manpower landscapes, business transformation is essential, not an option. This was said by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on 9 November at the inaugural Texcare Forum held at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.
He was addressing more than 200 attendees from local and international laundry and hotel sectors, equipment manufacturers, research institutions and public agencies.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of companies you are in. [It is] not just for big MNCs [multi-national companies], but SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] too. Every one of us needs to transform our business together because the economy and the workforce of Singapore is going through a transition,” he added.
Projecting that the way Singapore conducts its business and nurture and deploy its manpower will be different in three to five years, he urged all stakeholders to be part of the transformation in order to not be left behind.
The Laundry Industry
Touching on the laundry industry, Minister Lim said that it is facing a tight labour market similar to other industries.
Currently, the laundry industry consists of 350 establishments that employ over 13,000 workers, with locals making up two-thirds of the number. On top of that, 70 per cent of workers in the sector are older than 50.
“The question to this sector would be how you are going to sustain growth even as the local workforce growth is slowing down? With this in mind, the Singapore Government together with the unions, NTUC and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and Singapore National Employers Federation are working together to transform the economy sector by sector.
“The tripartite partners are also working closely with the laundry industry to help them to be more innovative and productive and hopefully towards being more manpower-lean,” said Minister Lim.
He also commended e2i for their work in helping the laundry industry transform, calling the institution a tripartite champion.
In the last four years, e2i has funded 35 projects to redesign jobs through automation under the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) and WorkPro Job Redesign Grant to make jobs more suitable for older workers in the laundry industry.
For companies that want to help the industry transform, Minister Lim urged them to tap into the experience and expertise of mature workers in the industry.
Productivity Champions
One laundry company that has tapped on technology and the experience of its mature workers to address its challenges was Systematic Laundry and Healthcare Services (see next page for full story).
“At this moment, a majority of our workers are mature. Physically, they are weaker than younger workers. So we tried to overcome this problem by redesigning their jobs in order to help them stay employed given that manpower in the industry is limited, especially for local workers,” said the company’s CEO TP Chan at the event.
The company was also one of the four laundry companies that was awarded the e2i Productivity Champion award, which recognises contributions of companies that have contributed extensively in process job redesign and adopted manpower-lean strategies in their businesses.
The other winners were Zero Spot Laundry, Presto Drycleaners and SATS Aero Laundry.
e2i CEO Gilbert Tan said: “In today’s fast-changing business environment, innovation ideas to improve productivity is a key differentiator and catalyst to progress in a new manpower-lean landscape. SMEs are an integral part of our economy. As an enabler, e2i is committed to continuing to partner progressive SMEs to redesign jobs and tap on technologies to transform.”
