Don’t count on a surge in jobs growth next year, says manpower minister

It will be slower than last year’s 3%.

Singapore’s workforce is undergoing a major overhaul, and it’s bound to go through some rough patches.

At a speech at the Retail Sectoral Manpower Plan (SMP) Launch, minister of manpower Lim Swee Say said that labour force growth is on a downhill skid, slowing down from 2.7% p.a (2006 – 2010) to 1.7% p.a (2010 – 2015).

Swee Say adds that at the same time, jobs growth was about 3-4%, and the number isn’t going to go up next year.

“Our job here is to maximize the jobs match and minimize jobs mismatch. For example, if the industry is unable to attract sufficient suitable workers, they will experience slower growth and eventually our economy will be less competitive and unemployment will go up,” Swee Say says.

Meanwhile, Swee Say cites this as the reason for the launch of the sectoral manpower plan.

“We also recognise that this transformation can only take place effectively if the tripartite partners work together. It must involve the unions, workers, businesses, government agencies. This is the reason why the Retail Sectoral tripartite Committee is formed for this Retail SMP together with employers, unions, industry associations, SPRING and WDA,” he adds.