RESPONSIBILITY for the increase in the number of retrenchments last year has been placed on ongoing economic restructuring in Singapore ("More workers laid off amid economic restructuring"; yesterday).
Since economic restructuring refers to the phenomenon of urban areas shifting from a manufacturing to a service-sector economic base, which directly affects employment, why is the likelihood of redundancy among professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) higher than among blue-collar construction, production and related workers?
PMETs accounted for 51 per cent of the layoffs last year.
Even among those made redundant, the rate of re-entry into employment is far slower for white-collar workers.
Among those who found new jobs, a large proportion resumed work in a different industry, suggesting that their previous employment was in a sunset industry, or that a huge number of these PMETs end up underemployed as insurance or property agents, private tutors, security guards or taxi drivers, thereby competing with a huge pool of non-graduates for employment.
The group of mostly university-educated Singaporeans continue to lose their livelihood at an alarming rate.
In spite of tighter restrictions introduced last year to control the influx of foreign PMETs, the retrenchment rate of white-collar citizens remains high, as many companies still prefer hiring foreigners, owing to savings in cost.
The long-term consequence of structural unemployment, especially with tens of thousands of older local PMETs losing their skills and employability, is the eventual weakening of our economy.
Older Singaporean employees have discovered that existing guidelines and incentives to companies are far too inadequate and ineffective. Retrenched workers with the required experience, impressive track record and credentials can send out hundreds of job applications, attend numerous interviews, and still draw a blank, owing to nothing except their age.
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices may have set out principles of fair employment practices for adoption by employers.
However, in the absence of legislation, such an approach falls short of getting firms to keep or re-employ their older workers.
Edmund Khoo Kim Hock
