Chan Chun Sing: Covid-19 pandemic will intensify competition for administrative jobs

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Singapore: With the Covid-19 pandemic showing that more work can be done online, the competition for white-collar jobs is expected to become more intense, according to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing.

Mr. Chan said this on Thursday (September 17), the fourth and last day of this year. Singapore Summit, which was a virtual meeting due to the pandemic.

Speaking on a variety of topics including the future of work, he said: “In the past, people thought that manual workers are the ones at risk and that is because their jobs can be replaced by robots and automation. To some extent, that is true.

“But more and more, I think the world is realizing that the competition is even tougher for administrative jobs that can be done over the Internet. The jobs that can be done through the Internet can be done anywhere in the world and, because of this, the administrative jobs will no longer have the geographic isolation that they used to have ”.

Trade-dependent Singapore has been hit particularly hard by lockdowns and global uncertainties due to the pandemic, he added, and its economy has contracted by a record 13.2 percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared to. with the same period in 2019.

He also mentioned the stimulus funds that the Government released of around S $ 100 billion, which is about 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, with a view to creating and preserving jobs in promising industries.

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Another panellist, Ms Fleur Pellerin, co-founder and managing partner of Korelya Capital, added: “I think from a public point of view, it is a very difficult subject to handle because we see that the new economy creates jobs, but probably not enough. jobs to replace all jobs that would become obsolete due to automation, artificial intelligence, etc. “

He added that it will be difficult for governments to anticipate changes in the labor market during the next 5-10 years derived from technological advances or changes in the global environment.

Chan responded that the Singaporean government will not wait for the end of the pandemic to expand its economic recovery efforts, even though the country’s recovery depends on the global economy, as it acknowledged that other parts of the world are still dealing with widespread infections. by Covid-19.

In a separate interview with CNBC “Squawk Box Asia” On Thursday (September 17), Chan spoke again about Singapore’s economic recovery, telling host Sri Jegarajah: “We hope to recover progressively over the last two quarters of this year, but whether we will be free for next year will be very important. it depends on world economic performance.

“We will continue to diversify our markets and turn towards new products and services. So we are not waiting for the pandemic to pass. “

And in a Facebook post, the minister thanked the Temasek Foundation for inviting him to speak at the summit.

He discussed the challenges governments face today, writing: “The real challenge we must address is not the pervasiveness of technology or the rise of digitization, but how each government can muster the political will to help its people do what is necessary. settings.

“However, beyond initial adjustments, governments must also remain committed to helping their people continuously improve and retrain to adapt to the changes that are taking place in an increasingly digital world where economic cycles they will be compressed even more ”. / ITGS

Also read: Quality, not quantity, key when it comes to global talent in Singapore – Chan Chun Sing

Quality, not quantity, is key when it comes to global talent in Singapore – Chan Chun Sing

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