Jobs: Great stories of 1 worker only?

I refer to the article “$13m fund to help workers upgrade their skills” (Straits Times, Nov 8).

Pay increase to $1,750 after 35 years?

It states that “For 35 years, Mr Ong Thian Sang drove technicians to inspect the 10,000 power substations dotted all over Singapore.

Now, the 61-year-old is qualified to conduct the checks himself after his employer, Singapore Power, sent him on a five-month course this year which made him a certified technician.

His monthly pay also rose from $1,500 to $1,750 – a 17 per cent hike.

To nudge more firms to help workers upgrade their skills to earn higher pay, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) yesterday launched a $13 million training fund for those in the oil, petrochemical, energy and chemical sectors.”

If this is the best example that can be found to show that helping workers to upgrade their skills has been successful in raising workers’ pay, I think we may have a problem. Why? Well, what is perhaps striking about this example is that he was only paid $1,500 after working for 35 years in the same job in the same company.

Age 61 reaching 62?

Now, at the age of 61, his pay is increased to $1,750. However, in less than a year’s time when he reaches age 62, the Re-employment Act will kick in, under which he may or may not be offered re-employment at any new terms and conditions.

Statistics not anecdotal stories?

What we need are the statistics as to how many low-wage workers have been able to increase their real pay by how much, after all these years of rhethoric about skills upgrading and new schemes and funds for this purpose.

Great stories based on anecdotal evidence of just one worker, may be quite meaningless.

Full-time convert to part- time?

Another example is the article on the same day “Professionals, managers, executives get part-time options too” (Straits Times, Nov 8), which said “When Ms Sylvia Tan’s son entered primary school in 2010, she wanted to be there for him. Yet, she also hoped to stay in her role as vice-president for channel distributions at CTC Travel.

A part-time arrangement made it possible. Ms Tan now works from 9am to 1pm, when her son is in school. She said with a laugh: “I actually work in accordance with the school term.”

Despite the common view that part-time work is only for those in service and administrative jobs, companies do offer part-time positions for professionals, managers and executives (PMEs), Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower Hawazi Daipi said yesterday.

For instance, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital allows its doctors and nurses to work part-time. “This has helped them to attract and retain highly skilled talent, which is a key competitive advantage for them in the manpower-scarce health-care sector,” said Mr Hawazi.”

Again, a great story based on anecdotal evidence of just one worker, may be quite meaningless.

What we need are the statistics as to how many workers have managed to get their employers to agree to convert them from full-time to part time in the same job.

If it is so easy and widespread particularly for service and administrative jobs as the report seems to imply, why is it that so many workers like cleaners, security guards, traffic wardens, dish- washers, etc, are typically working 12 hours a day 6 days a week, for only about $4 basic pay per hour?

Why can’t some of them be converted to part-time at say 6 hours a day? I believe the answer may be that without overtime pay, such part-timers may earn so little that they won’t be able to survive in the first place.

Pathetic state of Singaporean workers?

The above underscores the pathetic state of so many Singaporean workers, and reflects on how much, or rather how litlle the labour movement has done to make the lives of Singaprean workers better.

We should be working towards improving the state of affairs of workers, rather than increasingly, more stories recently of how great it is to work in Singapore – a $7,000 cabby, $3,000 dish-washers, a famous fish-head restaurant that had to close because Singaporeans don’t want (need) to work, and now a pay increase to just $1,750 after working in the same job for 35 years!

Everytime I read yet another report of our labour movement giving itself a pat on the back for the great work, initiatives, schemes, funds, etc, that they are doing or have achieved based on anecdotal evidence of just one worker, I can only lament …

Leong Sze Hian

 

About the Author

Leong
Leong Sze Hian has served as the president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), Hotel Mumbai (associate producer), invited to speak more than 200 times in about 40 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of 2 countries. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional  qualifications.