SINGAPORE: About 30,000 job seekers received help last year through the Adapt and Grow initiative, which was designed to help Singaporeans affected by the economic slowdown and restructuring, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (Jan 11).
This was an increase from the 25,000 in 2017 – an “encouraging” number that indicates growing momentum in the Government’s effort to help Singaporeans adapt to changing job demands and grow their skills, he told reporters after a visit to the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar.
AdvertisementDuring his near three-hour-long visit on Friday, Mr Lee spoke to job seekers at the career centre as well as those that have successfully found new jobs. He later toured an exhibition by the Workforce Singapore (WSG) on how it is working with employers to train workers and enable technology adoption.
Noting that he had been planning to visit the Lifelong Learning Institute, Mr Lee said: “I want to find out first-hand how are we helping people go from old jobs to new jobs, how are we helping people to train for new jobs and … meet people who were affected and who have made the journey.”
Amid an ongoing economic restructuring and disruptive forces that have displaced workers and changed job requirements, he acknowledged that the journey “is not that easy” and “many people are anxious”.
However, the country cannot “avoid the changes that are happening”, and help is available for Singaporeans to navigate the changes, Mr Lee said.
AdvertisementAdvertisement“The way forward is to go with the change and therefore, become more productive, do better jobs and earn better pay.”
He stressed that this is the “right signal” to send given that while the economy has seen relatively healthy growth numbers over the past two years, there are uneven patterns underneath.
The country saw growth figures that went above 3 per cent for 2017 and 2018, as well as productivity numbers that were relatively robust, the prime minister said.
“These are high numbers but I’m not sure if we can sustain them,” he added. “But if you drill down further, the patterns are not even across the board.”
For instance, the domestic services sector have lagged behind the export-oriented industries.
Hence, economic restructuring efforts to push up productivity and create better jobs for Singaporeans will remain an ongoing “long journey”.
“Our economy has grown, our productivity has gone up, our workers’ wages have gone up,” Mr Lee said. “We have kept (unemployment) down and our employment rates have gone up for the old people and women. I think we have made a lot of progress.”
He added: “We are not done. I don’t think we will ever be done … But 10 years from now, if we do our work right, we will be in a stronger position than we are today.”
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...