ADDENDA, MINISTRY OF MANPOWER

MINISTRY OF MANPOWER: MR GAN KIM YONG

Minister for Manpower

MOM will focus on developing a globally competitive workforce that is better skilled, more resilient and more productive. We will build workplaces with leading standards in workplace safety and health, and human capital management practices. We will strengthen further our unique brand of tripartism and make Singapore an even more attractive place for talent, businesses and investments. Through Workfare and the CPF system, our people will benefit from the fruits of economic growth and build up savings for a more secure retirement. Singapore will be a global city where our people can benefit from growth in Asia and in the world and build good careers.

Developing a globally competitive workforce

We will develop a highly productive workforce that is adaptable and flexible. The skills of our workforce will be a key competitive advantage. The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) aims to upgrade the skills of our workforce during this downturn and build capability for the long term.

To achieve this, we will continue to strengthen our CET system. We will expand our national CET infrastructure of CET Centres and National CET Institutes, and strengthen recognition of our CET qualifications by employers and workers. We will provide more CET opportunities at all levels, from certificate to degree and postgraduate qualifications. We will establish and deepen a core skills base of local workers in key industries as an important competitive advantage, and entrench the mindset of lifelong learning.

We must step up our efforts to raise productivity and encourage our enterprises to innovate. This will ensure sustainable economic growth in the long term.

Foreigners complement our local workforce, enabling us to grow beyond our constraints. However, we need to continuously calibrate the balance between foreign and local workforce to ensure it is sustainable in the long run. As we raise the skills and productivity of our local workforce, we must also improve the quality of our foreign workforce by ensuring that those who are coming here are better qualified and better skilled.

We will do more to position Singapore as a home for talent, both local and foreign, with a compelling proposition of fulfilling career opportunities and high quality of life.

Enhancing income security and lifelong employability

With our ageing population and increasing life expectancies, we will implement measures to enable Singaporeans to work longer and build up their savings for their retirement needs. We will enact re-employment legislation by 2012. We will implement CPF LIFE starting from 2009 to provide CPF members with an income for life.

Column: 59

To ensure that low-wage workers also benefit from the nation's progress, we will continue to help them through Workfare. We will encourage them to work and provide them with the opportunities and resources to upgrade their skills, so that they can progress to better jobs. To assist low-wage workers during the current economic downturn, we have implemented the one-off Workfare Special Payment this year. We will review the Workfare Income Supplement scheme in 2010.

We will step up enforcement and promotional efforts to ensure that basic employment rights, CPF contributions and workers' well-being are respected.

Building globally leading workplaces

The resilience and productivity of our workforce will also depend on the quality of our workplaces. Moving forward, we will further develop our workplaces to become an important competitive strength for Singapore. We aim to establish Singapore as a globally attractive business location with harmonious labour relations, good employment practices and human capital management, high standards of workplace safety and health as well as a well-managed foreign workforce. These attributes will attract and anchor more investments and talent in Singapore.

The character and profile of our workforce will continue to evolve over time, with increasingly diverse and better quality workers. We should harness the strengths of this diversity. MOM will work towards building a cohesive and integrated work community that brings out the best in all workers and facilitate their working together as one harmonious community.