“Technology and innovation should not be allowed to divide the workforce, but should be used to create better jobs and working conditions for people. Telecommuting can help people achieve work-life balance and robots can make jobs easier and safer,” Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said on Thursday, at the Group of 20 (G-20) Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Bad Neuenahr, Germany.
But such positive outcomes will not happen by themselves, which is why the Government, unions and employers are working together to transform all the major sectors to sustain growth and create jobs. Workers must be prepared to adapt and pick up new skills – the SkillsFuture movement aims to build such a culture of lifelong learning and reskilling.
At the meeting from 18 to 19 May 2017, Mr Lim and fellow labour ministers discussed how efforts in areas such as promoting innovation can create job opportunities and boost employment, and contribute to achieving the G-20’s common goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth, Singapore’s Manpower Ministry said in a statement.
The meeting’s theme was Towards An Inclusive Future – Shaping The World Of Work.
Singapore is not a member of the G-20, which comprises the world’s 20 largest developed and developing economies, but was invited to attend its meetings by Germany, which holds the rotating presidency this year.
Mr Lim made two speeches at the meeting.
Firstly, he said that faster and more pervasive adoption of technology should be welcomed as it will create better jobs and careers for workers. However, there will be a growing mismatch of jobs and skills. This makes it vital for governments to help workers reskill to stay employable, either in the same profession or a different one.
Next, he spoke about support for working women. Singapore has made progress and seen employment rate of women aged 25 to 64 rise from 63% to 72% over the last decade. The median wage of women in Singapore has also risen at the same pace as that for men, but there was still a gender wage gap of 10.3% in 2016. To better support women, Singapore aims to raise the adoption rate of flexible work arrangements – such as part-time work and job sharing – by both employers and employees. It also aims to help women, who took a break from work, return to working life through initiatives such as “returnships”.
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Source: The Straits Times, 20 May 2017