Singapore still has ‘archaic ideas’ about skills-based jobs, says President Halimah

Although there are greater efforts to recognise workers with technical skills, Singapore needs to move faster on this front, said President Halimah Yacob in her annual May Day message on Saturday (Apr 29).

Citing Switzerland and Germany as examples of countries where there are good skills-based jobs offered through apprenticeship schemes by industry partners, she added that the Republic continues to harbour “archaic” ideas about these jobs.

“It’s important for such jobs to be properly valued and rewarded, as no amount of exhortation will move the needle if they do not pay well, have poor career prospects or are considered inferior to jobs needing academic qualifications.”

With automation transforming the job landscape, she noted that workers now have to contend with more complex tasks, including troubleshooting, and that categorising jobs as requiring either academic qualifications or technical skills is wasteful.

Besides the need to place greater value on skills-based jobs, she also touched on two other points in her speech.

When discussing the role that labour unions play, she said they have continued to “represent workers strongly at the workplace to ensure fairness”.

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An example she brought up was the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which she said must include more sectors, especially because of the need to address the wage gap and rising income inequality.

Introduced in 2012, the PWM helps to lift the wages of workers in several industries.

They include the cleaning, security, landscape, lift and escalator, and retail sectors.

Since March 2023, those in the food service sector, or who work as administrators or drivers, have been included in the PWM. Those in the waste management sector will come on board in July.

Bearing in mind the economic challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, however, Singapore continues to enjoy harmonious labour-management relations, Halimah said.

These relations are the product of strong tripartism between unions, employers and the Government, she said, but cautioned that they are not a given.

“In some countries, strikes have escalated due to rising food and energy costs and stagnant wages.

“There is greater distrust when workers are expected to make sacrifices during bad times, when they did not benefit during good times,” she said.

With the emergence of a new labour market in the wake of the pandemic, the rise in protectionism and competition between the United States and China hotting up, the world of work is changing rapidly, she added.

But Singapore has its strengths, including the strong tripartite relationship, which provides a stable and secure environment to navigate future challenges, she said.

“May Day is a great reminder of how far we have come from the earlier days of sweatshops and serious industrial conflicts,” she said.

“The key ingredients are our unity and resolve.” THE STRAITS TIMES