But the bigger challenge, he added, is to continue educating workers and employers so that more workers will become CPF members and benefit from WIS.

The WIS is one of the most important policy initiatives that Singapore has introduced for workers in recent years because it gives an opportunity for low-wage workers to come onboard the CPF social safety net and benefit from it.
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He said adjusting wages upwards to meet rising prices would only result in a “price-wage spiral” and Singaporeans should look at the bigger picture.

“What is more important is for us to have a realistic expectation of wages that reflect the underlying economic strength of our industries and also of our productivity. That will allow us to ensure that our economy will be able to sustain its growth momentum,” said Mr Gan.
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Its president, Stephen Lee, said that job growth this year will moderate to about 3 to 4 percent, compared to the 7.7 percent registered in 2007.

Speaking to Channel NewsAsia ahead of Labour Day, Mr Lee also expects demand for higher wages to grow because of inflation.
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This event is held in conjunction with the training arm of ST Electronics and Vector Scorecard. I will be touching on the following areas:-
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So companies are turning more and more to foreigners. Hence the proportion of new jobs going to Singaporeans has been falling over the years.

A Manpower Ministry study noted that in the three years between 2004 and 2006, although increasingly more jobs were created each year, those going to Singapore citizens fell from 45 percent to 40 then 37 percent in 2006.

Latest MOM numbers showed 360,700 jobs were created between 2004 and 2006. Foreigners took the largest share, clinching 156,500 jobs, with 141,700 going to Singaporeans and 62,500 to permanent residents.
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ECA International is the world’s largest membership organisation for human resources, serving a network of over 4,000 HR professionals in 71 countries.

Its survey contains information collected from multinational companies about actual salary increases for last year and predicted increases for this year.

The results have indicated that Singapore workers could expect salary increases of 5 percent.
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Economists had expected growth of 7.0-8.5 per cent for the last three months of the year.

The estimate for real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, compared with the same period a year earlier, meant a moderation from the revised growth figure of 9.0 per cent seen in the third quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

“Growth of the Singapore economy moderated in the fourth quarter of 2007,” it said.
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The best way to meet this challenge is for Singapore to focus on economic development, and according to Mr Lim, this is the most sustainable strategy.

“Because the day we lose our economic competitiveness, then the problem is no longer about inflation. The problem is much worse than that because there will be no jobs. There will be a softening of the labour market and there will be lower pay,” said the NTUC Secretary-General. He was speaking to reporters after opening the new office for the Union of Security Employees.

Mr Lim continued: “If you look at Asia today, for example, a few countries are going through elections. Some have just finished their elections. And what do they talk about? They are talking about refocusing on economic development.
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In an interview with Channel NewsAsia, Minister of State for Manpower, Gan Kim Yong says it will take time for a mindset change of the concept of re-employment of older workers.

There have been significant improvements in the re-employment rates of older workers in the past year.

Thanks to the buoyant economy and measures which the tripartite partners have put in place to encourage companies to do so.

One such scheme is called ADVANTAGE, which provides funds for companies to redesign jobs and retrain older workers.
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And he remains cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the new year.

Mr Lee also spelt out significant policy decisions in the areas of healthcare, land transport and education Singaporeans would have to face in 2008.

Singapore has enjoyed another year of robust expansion, although the fourth quarter saw slower growth.

The high growth has benefited all Singaporeans - a record 172,000 jobs have been created between January and September and unemployment is down to 1.7 percent, the lowest in almost a decade.
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