Keeping a close watch on the new economy and its discontents

THE May Day spring holiday has come and gone, but workers of the world have little reason to celebrate. If anything, winter is getting harsher. In the current climate, everybody - from the worker whose job is on the line to the chief executive officer who is supposed to take care of his staff - has a role to play. Companies have to stay competitive, but job security and benefits should not be compromised too much.

First, globalisation means that jobs will be lost to cheaper, lower-cost countries. Once upon a time, the world bemoaned the loss of manufacturing jobs to China. Today, Chinese jobs are being lost to even lower-cost countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Singapore, a variety of manufacturers in the electronics and chemicals industries are moving out to cheaper places. Even the financial-services industry, for which Singapore is supposed to be a hub, has not been spared; global banks located here have been basing some of their back-end operations in countries such as Poland, where costs are significantly lower.