Tripartite talks focus on protecting S'porean core
Government, business and labour leaders discuss the implications of this, and agree that now - when the economy is soft - is the time to train workers, invest in productivity tools
Singapore
PROTECTING the Singaporean core was the dominating concern of 50 government, business and labour leaders at a closed-door discussion on Tuesday evening, as they grappled with the prospect of a slow-growing workforce.
The key takeaway from what participants described as a "very candid" discussion was this: As long as companies keep their focus on hiring a Singaporean core, the government will allow a more flexible labour market for companies to grow their business.
A company can then import the critical skills it wants if it cannot find them in Singapore, said Robert Yap, the president of Singapore National Employers Federation and host of the "roundtable" discussion. However, he added that this was contingent on the skills being for businesses with spinoffs for Singapore, and on the company having a "clear plan" to train Singaporeans to take over …
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