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Singapore worker profile: older and better qualified, higher earners, more in unions
Singapore’s workforce has grown substantially over the past two decades, from 2.2 million in 1999 to 3.7 million last year.
This includes people who are employed, also known as part of the workforce, as well as those who are unemployed, that is, who do not have a job, but who want and can work.
It can also be divided into local residents, which refer to Singaporeans and permanent residents, and foreigners.
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Strengths Wanted for the Singapore Worker: Soft Skills, Creativity, Risk Taking
The Singapore worker. Highly educated, cosmopolitan, bilingual and hardworking.
For the moment, they maintain this competitive advantage in the global economy, say recruiters, employers and members of business chambers. But with the global economy reaching a tipping point, this advantage could also quickly erode.
That is, if the Singaporean worker is still unwilling to gain more international exposure, to develop more creative and unorthodox ways of doing things, and to learn to take more risks, they warn.
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Singapore Worker Concerns: Singapore’s Growing Local-Foreign Divide
For some, Changi Business Park has been dubbed “Chennai Business Park” due to the number of Indian expats who work there.
In recent weeks, social media posts have targeted some companies, including those in the business park, because of hiring practices, which they say seem to favor some nationalities over Singaporeans.
The matter prompted Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat to acknowledge last month that some may feel there are too many foreigners living here, citing residents’ concerns about the large number of expats in the Changi Business Park. He explained that the Republic was still gaining experience in certain sectors.
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Singapore Worker Challenges: Higher Wages, But Better?
In a world of pressure for low wages, Singaporean workers have been fortunate that their wages continue to rise. Just look at the numbers.
Over the past two decades, the nominal median wages of Singaporean residents – citizens and permanent residents (PRs) – have outweighed general cost-of-living pressures.
Overall, the median real monthly gross income of full-time employed Singapore residents, including employer contributions to the Central Provident Fund, has increased by 32.5% between 2009 and last year.
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Obstacles looming to increase worker productivity
Labor productivity remains one of the main challenges for the Singapore economy, despite the steady growth in this area over the past 10 years.
A decade ago, the Economic Strategies Committee set a productivity growth target of 2 to 3 percent per year for the economy.
And annual growth actually went up, apart from a slump last year when real value added per worker fell 0.8 percent.
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Singaporean gained useful skills after stumbling across the fintech sector
As Ms. Angel Sou puts it, she “stumbled upon” the fintech industry without any prior experience.
And now, almost three years later, the 27-year-old has acquired skills that are in demand elsewhere, even in tough times.
The COO of Finaxar, a Singapore-based fintech startup, had to start from scratch, undergoing three months of on-the-job training to understand the ins and outs of the booming industry.
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Career change helped 56-year-old manager move forward after downsizing
For more than 27 years, Mr. Tim Tan worked for a multinational oil and gas corporation, rising to the position of planning and production manager. Just over a year ago, the 56-year-old businessman was fired after the company’s restructuring.
His concern about getting another job at his age increased when job applications he submitted, one after another, were rejected.
“Naturally, I was concerned because I have friends in similar circumstances who faced a lot of difficulty getting another job after being laid off,” says Tan, who had led more than a dozen production and planning executives.
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