DEPENDENCE ON LOW-WAGE WORKERS

DEPENDENCE ON LOW-WAGE WORKERS: 12.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what initiatives has the Ministry introduced to reduce employers' dependence on low-paying work; and (b) how active are employers in redesigning low-level work or amenities so as to reduce dependence on foreign workers.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Lee Yi Shyan) (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, the proportion of low-paying, low-skilled work in a company depends on its nature of business. For example, a manual cleaning company would have more low-paying jobs than one that is automated and uses more mechanisation. However, all companies can improve over time, if they innovate and automate. In fact, raising productivity is our key strategy to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.

The National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC) was established to drive our national effort in productivity improvement over this decade. The Government has set aside $2 billion to support the various productivity initiatives. One such initiative is the $40 million Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP), spearheaded by the NTUC. IGP aims to support companies in their efforts to redesign jobs, encourage automation and promote best-sourcing initiatives. Five months into its implementation, a total of 166 productivity improvement projects has been commissioned, benefiting

Column: 2532

15,000 low-wage workers. More than 80% of these workers are expected to experience wage gains of over 10%.

One example under the IGP initiative is the HotSOS system implemented in Novotel Singapore at Clarke Quay. Under the project, front office staff, bellmen, technicians, housekeepers and operators on duty will carry an iTouch (it is a PDA device) to monitor service requests. With many-to-many instant communication channels, Novotel's employees can now respond to customers' requests speedily and satisfactorily. As a result, the hotel will realise 10% savings in service recoveries and the savings will be shared amongst employees in the form of higher wages.

Last year, the Government also introduced the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC). Companies that invest in the qualifying activities such as training, automation and process redesign can deduct 250% of their first $300,000 spending on each activity from their taxable income. Companies can make full use of the PIC incentive to raise their productivity.

Beyond the company level, we also provide opportunities for our workers to continually upgrade their skills, so that they will become more productive and take on better-paying jobs. Under the CET Masterplan, we continue to add breadth and depth to the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) infrastructure. As at last year, there are 26 WSQ frameworks, comprising about 12,500 courses, to meet the skill upgrading needs of our workforce.

To further encourage more low-wage workers to attend training, we introduced the Workfare Training Support (WTS) scheme in July last year. Under WTS, employers receive generous subsidies on course fees and absentee payroll support

Column: 2533

in sending their low-wage workers for training. The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) also subsidises company-specific training programmes that are directly relevant to productivity improvement.

To complement all these productivity measures, my Ministry announced last year that we will progressively increase foreign worker levies in phases. We have already implemented two phases of the foreign levy increases. This will help to provide an additional push for our companies to invest in productivity and training, and reduce their reliance on low-skilled foreign workers.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have one supplementary question for the Minister of State. We used to have productivity campaigns. Would the Minister of State consider reviving this campaign for different areas, such as food preparation, busing table and retail sales?

Mr Lee Yi Shyan: Sir, the NPCEC is driving the national effort in terms of productivity and 12 sectors have been identified to develop sector-specific productivity improvement plans. We need to do so because each of the sectors has its own requirements in terms of technology adoption and workforce skills upgrading. By doing so, we hope to evolve various specific solutions that are optimised for each of the sectors. In terms of general buzz, education and awareness building, the NPCEC, through its Secretariat, is also considering various options.