Publication Type

News Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

5-2015

Abstract

The report in The Straits Times on April 30, "S'pore cannot count on global demand to drive economy" makes for sober reading.Quoting Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the report notes that inflows of foreign workers slowed from 80,000 in 2011 to 20,000 last year. Meanwhile, resident labour force growth is tapering off severely. Hence the conclusion of Mr Tharman that restructuring the domestic sector to achieve higher productivity would be essential. Upgrading skills and allowing more market forces to work in weeding out the less innovative and efficient firms would be the keys to achieving this objective.Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his May Day message highlighted the need to improve productivity as the means to enjoy higher wages, and urged workers and employers to take the new SkillsFuture strategy seriously.

Discipline

Asian Studies | Leadership Studies

Research Areas

International Economics

Publication

Straits Times

First Page

A21

Last Page

A21

ISSN

1692-9344

Publisher

Singapore Press holdings

Additional URL

https://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/default/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2015/may/may5/ST_20150505_1.pdf

Share

COinS