LABOUR SHORTAGE (Survey of situation in Singapore)

Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Labour (a) whether there is a shortage of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour in Singapore recently due to the Government's policy of rapid industrialisation; (b) what steps have been taken or are being taken to remedy the situation; and (c) if he will consider an overall survey to ascertain the actual situation.

Mr Sia Kah Hui (for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Labour): Mr Speaker, Sir, according to the categories and numbers of persons currently registered for employment in the Employment Exchange, there appears to be a shortage of skilled labour and to a lesser extent semiskilled labour in Singapore. However, there is no shortage of unskilled labour. Out of a total of 52,115 persons registered for employment at the Employment Exchange as on 30th November, 1969, 1,475 were registered as skilled workers, 3,259 as semi-skilled workers and 28,854 as unskilled workers. The remaining persons were registered as commercial and domestic workers.

The steps taken by the Government to meet the immediate shortage of skilled workers include (i) encouragement to industrial concerns to undertake their own training programmes to meet their demands for skilled workers; (ii) permission for industrial concerns to bring in skilled labour from outside Singapore; (iii) provision of special courses to upgrade and retrain workers in the Vocational Institutes and the Industrial Training Centres by way of day-release and evening classes. To meet the requirements of industries for skilled personnel on a long-term basis, Government has taken measures to restructure the educational system so that there will be an increasing number of school-leavers in the coming years with vocational and technical training.

From time to time, various organisations, including the Ministry of Labour, the National Productivity Centre, the Technical Education Department of the Ministry of Education, and the Economic Research Centre of the University of Singapore, have carried out their own surveys to ascertain the manpower requirements in certain specific areas or industries. At the moment, the question of an overall survey is not an urgent one. If at some future date the situation demands it, Government will consider making an overall survey to ascertain the skilled manpower requirements of Singapore.