Singapore making changes to a labour-lean economy

In an earlier statement by the new Manpower Minister, Mr Lim Swee Say, Singapore will not relax foreign worker policies in the future. The direction to a labour-lean workforce lies in the need for current manpower to increase productivity and enhance skill sets in each worker. He wants businesses to look beyond the current tight labour market and work with the government and Unions to upgrade the current pool of workers.

The result would be a more competitive economy that’s good for business looking for higher profits and good for Singaporeans seeking a fruitful career path, Mr Lim said in a media interview on Tuesday.

The former chief of the labour movement, who came into his new job on May 4, said he has got many of the business leaders he met in the past month “aligned” in seeing the challenges ahead – and his ministry is already looking into changes to support the move to a manpower-lean economy, to strengthen the Singapore core and to up skill the foreign workers.

This will further strengthen the need for automation and better utilisation of manpower. In relevancy to the waste industry, you will now see the importance of future planning for your business.