Are you ready for 7 million people on tiny Singapore?
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As our children become better educated, they will be able to compete globally in good jobs overseas.
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pirate:
It's not just single companies or single industries. The economy is an ecosystem, if you take out enough key components, the whole thing can just collapse on itself.
That particular one is a bit strange. If businesses go under, jobs will no doubt be lost. But there are fewer people around to be doing those jobs in the first place. Those particular businesses go under because they are unable to get people to fill those jobs, remember?3Boys:
Anyway, here is the view from the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) on the issue. I know pro-business opinions gains no traction in this forum, so FWIW.
5.\tMr. Ho Meng Kit, CEO of SBF said: \"The reduction in workforce growth has very serious consequences for businesses. Some Singaporeans do not realise its impact but are seized with the prospect of an over-crowded island with 6.9 million people. We must explain to Singaporeans that many businesses will be in jeopardy if they cannot adjust to this demographic tsunami that will hit us. If businesses go under, jobs will be lost, Singaporeans will be affected. If businesses cannot raise productivity and sustain profits, they cannot afford to pay Singaporeans higher salaries. The population projections in the Population White Paper are already tough for companies. It is unthinkable if Singaporeans choose to further limit immigration and the number of foreign workers. This will damage our competitiveness and Singapore will lose its shine. We do not want to see our children working overseas because there are no more good opportunities here.\"
The part in bold is what concerns me. I hope we don't become the new exporters of maids and manual labourers.
So, it does not follow that there will be \"no more good opportunities here\". That depends on what businesses go under and what kinds of jobs are lost as a result.
I gave the example previously on another thread about Rolls Royce aerospace, the companies that support it, and that it gives business to, and then the other companies that rely on those satellite companies.
If F&B goes out the window, then how do we deal with tourism? If tourism goes out the window, then how about Changi Airport and SIA? If SIA goes out the window, then what do we do about businesses set up here? You think all your high-end high-value jobs will survive in an unbalanced economy?
The vibrancy of the economy is an interplay of a whole lot of industries, relying on and supporting each other. -
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3Boys:
I agree. The wealth and foreigner bashing in some websites is actually, personally, quite worrisome.[
Frankly, this class war thingy is getting tiresome. Do we not push our kids to excel, and to excel does it not mean to be able to do things better?I just don't understand the hang ups
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3Boys:
No, I never ask to crimp jobs here. My response is in relation to the point that they may have to work overseas in manual jobs.Coolkidsrock2:
As our children become better educated, they will be able to compete globally in good jobs overseas.
So that's the plan? Crimp jobs here and send our kids overseas to work?
It may not necessarily be so because our kids are better educated and they can work in professional jobs.
Moreover, the world is dynamic and we really do not know how it will be like in 10 years time. -
I'd like to highlight another paragraph.
\"6.\tProviding an SME perspective, Mr. Lawrence Leow, Chairman of the SBF-led SME Committee said: \"The population paper has painted the harsh realities of Singapore's population statistics and their implications. Unfortunately it is the SMEs that will be hardest hit. SMEs currently employ some 70% of the local workforce. They are more than economic contributors as their sustained presence has impact on the lives of Singaporeans. Many SMEs operate as subcontractors or across labour-dependent service sectors. The shift towards 2/3 of local workforce to PMET jobs and only 1/3 to non-PMET jobs is unimaginable for many SMEs' business model. A lot of SMEs whose operations cannot be moved offshore will be rendered out of business. This in turn has an even wider implication as many multinational corporations (MNCs) here rely on SMEs for services and as part of their supply chain. The net effect is that many more jobs could be lost. We urge Government to delay further tightening of foreign workers restrictions until there are clear evidence of small businesses succeeding in business restructuring and productivity increment.\" -
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Take what they wrote with large pinch of salt - they have been exploiting foreign labour by paying cheap, provide not too humane housing & making them work long hours for just too long. SMRT case is a good example. need we say more?
3Boys:
I'd like to highlight another paragraph.
\"6.\tProviding an SME perspective, Mr. Lawrence Leow, Chairman of the SBF-led SME Committee said: \"The population paper has painted the harsh realities of Singapore's population statistics and their implications. Unfortunately it is the SMEs that will be hardest hit. SMEs currently employ some 70% of the local workforce. They are more than economic contributors as their sustained presence has impact on the lives of Singaporeans. Many SMEs operate as subcontractors or across labour-dependent service sectors. The shift towards 2/3 of local workforce to PMET jobs and only 1/3 to non-PMET jobs is unimaginable for many SMEs' business model. A lot of SMEs whose operations cannot be moved offshore will be rendered out of business. This in turn has an even wider implication as many multinational corporations (MNCs) here rely on SMEs for services and as part of their supply chain. The net effect is that many more jobs could be lost. We urge Government to delay further tightening of foreign workers restrictions until there are clear evidence of small businesses succeeding in business restructuring and productivity increment.\" -
Let’s bring on the recession! To remind us how vulnerable our economy can be…how high unemployment rate can be…and how tough life can be when there are no jobs in our hands…
By then, car prices and property prices will be rock bottom…but then do you have a job to pay for them?? -
3Boys:
Yah. That still comes back to the question what kind of companies become not viable and what kinds of jobs are lost.It's not just single companies or single industries. The economy is an ecosystem, if you take out enough key components, the whole thing can just collapse on itself.
I gave the example previously on another thread about Rolls Royce aerospace, the companies that support it, and that it gives business to, and then the other companies that rely on those satellite companies.
If F&B goes out the window, then how do we deal with tourism? If tourism goes out the window, then how about Changi Airport and SIA? If SIA goes out the window, then what do we do about businesses set up here? You think all your high-end high-value jobs will survive in an unbalanced economy?
The vibrancy of the economy is an interplay of a whole lot of industries, relying on and supporting each other.
Personally, I think this concentration of attention towards high-end high-value jobs is a bit unbalanced. What about the Singaporeans who are not able to do these high-end high-value jobs? Should the government just give them ever larger workfare supplements while at the same time bring in more low-skilled foreigners? Can we allow all the low-skilled but nevertheless critical jobs to be taken over by low skilled foreign workers?
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