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Changing jobs may be the norm, says labour chief

SINGAPORE — Workers here have to be prepared to take up more than two jobs throughout their careers, and this means coping with multiple transitions, said labour chief Chan Chun Sing yesterday at the May Day rally held at Our Tampines Hub.

NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing delivering his speech during the May Day Rally at Our Tampines Hub. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing delivering his speech during the May Day Rally at Our Tampines Hub. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — Workers here have to be prepared to take up more than two jobs throughout their careers, and this means coping with multiple transitions, said labour chief Chan Chun Sing yesterday at the May Day rally held at Our Tampines Hub.

To that end, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will seek to support workers every step of the way, said Mr Chan, who described taking care of workers while they are between jobs as among the labour movement’s new challenges.

Mr Chan, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said: “What we are used to in the past, one or two jobs for our entire career, now may become a series of different jobs, where career transitions become part of the norm.”

In an economy where industries are constantly disrupted, Mr Chan said the NTUC has to help workers stay in their job and minimise the time in between transitions. It will also have to think about how it takes care of those who are out of work for three to six months.

In the longer term, the NTUC has to look at how it can help workers carry out financial planning for retirement, if they are changing jobs more frequently. Although these challenges are not unique to Singapore, Mr Chan said: “Whichever country can get this right will help its people the most. Those who cannot solve these challenges will have a lot of problems, from socio-economic to others ... The challenge is disrupt ourselves before others disrupt us.”

He noted the long-term structural forces caused by disruptive technology and business models, which would likely bring more and deeper fluctuations to the Singapore economy, even as short-term cyclical forces continue to affect industries unevenly.

In the meantime, the labour movement will continue its efforts to improve efficiency in the training of the workforce. “Typically it takes three to six months to figure out market demand ... another three to six months to curate the syllabus ... another few months for us to mobilise the workers to go for training,” said Mr Chan. “The entire cycle can take us more than one year. This is just not good enough for the new economy.”

Gamified and “bite-sized, just-in-time” modules could be developed to help workers learn amid their busy schedules. Such modules can be accessed via a mobile application, where a new module is launched every few days, he suggested.

In his speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong underlined the comprehensive efforts of Singapore’s “unusual labour movement”, a description coined by Mr Chan.

“NTUC takes care of those who have jobs — helps them keep their jobs. For those who have lost their jobs, NTUC helps them get replacement jobs. For those who are still in school, NTUC works with the Government and businesses to keep this economy going so they will have jobs when they come out from school,” Mr Lee said.

“Unions elsewhere don’t think about those who are jobless, and especially the young who have yet to enter the job market.”

In places such as South Korea and Taiwan — which have similar economies to Singapore’s — young people have either given up looking for jobs or taken on part-time work, Mr Lee said. In contrast, the youth unemployment rate in Singapore remains low. This “did not happen by accident”, he stressed. “It is because we make sure our schools prepare our young properly for the job market,” he said.

Urging workers to be “open-minded and flexible” in trying new things and acquiring new skills, Mr Lee also called on employers to play their part by giving a “second chance” to mature workers. “If the tripartite partners pull together, we will transform together, adapt together and grow together.”

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