UNEMPLOYMENT AND RETRENCHMENT

Mr Goh Chee Wee asked the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour if the Ministry of Labour is monitoring closely the situation of unemployment and the problems of retrenchment in Singapore; what steps the Ministry will take to help retrenched workers to find alternative employment and to acquire new skills; what measures will be introduced to encourage companies to employ retrenched workers; and what is the projection of the unemployment rate in Singapore for the next two years.

The Minister of State for Labour (Dr Wong Kwei Cheong) (for the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour): Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has been monitoring closely the unemployment and retrenchment situation. A system for monitoring retrenchment and placement of retrenched workers in alternative employment has been in existence since 1974.

Our monitoring shows that retrenchment is not a problem. For the period January to November 1981, 109 companies reported a retrenchment of about 7,900 workers. The Member for Boon Lay may wish to know that workers at Rollei accounted for about 40% of this number. In a tight labour market most of the retrenched workers found alternative employment without difficulty. Retrenched workers who need training can apply for training courses offered by joint Government-industry training centres and the VITB.

The measures for monitoring, placement and training of retrenched workers are adequate to deal with the present situation. Should the need arise in the future, new measures will be considered.

In June 1981, the unemployment rate was 2.9% as compared with 3.0% in June 1980. Based on this trend, we do not anticipate any significant change in the unemployment situation over the next two years.