The Economy and Your Job..

[fuzztremecho]

Will your job be there next year, next month, or even the next day? Judging by the reports of job cuts occurring across all sectors, this question must loom large in the minds of workers here.

The ailing manufacturing industry which accounts for close to 26 per cent of Singapore's GDP doesn't seem to be able to shake off its languor.

The oil sector is also undergoing a major paring down. Oil trading almost halved in September due to the financial crisis and slowing regional demand. The credit crisis has also hit the over-the-counter oil derivatives market that is the cornerstone of Asia's oil and commodities trading.

Of course, with the current financial crisis gripping global markets, hardest hit is the banking and finance sector. DBS Bank announced that it was cutting 900 jobs in its Singapore and Hong Kong operations.

It is clear that Singapore's economy is nose-diving and the economic rout has just begun. In its wake will be tens of thousands of workers left without a job in this country.

So what can workers do to better fend for themselves and make sure that they are protected in this time of uncertainty?

 

[index7]

There is little any worker can do about this predicament. The only things is to be prudent in spending. Equip youself with skills through training. Don't be picky about jobs - having a job sometimes is better than no job at all.

Most if not all the countries in the world will be affected - some to a larger extent due to the nature of the country's economy & also reliance on USA.

 

[fuzztremecho]

It is the workers who will be told to tighten their belts and make sacrifices for the nation yet again. They will have to retrain themselves - code for doing anything that will make one a few dollars regardless of one's qualifications and skills.

No workers' rights means no ability to ensure that retrenchment is done only as a last resort, no ability to collectively bargain for retrenchment entitlement, and no ability to affect worker-protection schemes.

 

[fgl]

we prepare for the worst and hope for the best

 

[Mobius]

Companies are generally more interested in the investor's interest rather than their worker's interest. Its always about slashing the workers during bad times to protect investor's interest.

 

[fuzztremecho]

Investors are foreign entities-yes?, MNCs and what have yous..

To protect the investor's interest at the expense of the very workers who vote 'em to power...it is a lil' ironic from my POV..

 

[maven]

this may not be all that relevant to this thread , but I'm currently doing work experience in a bank for the next 2 weeks ..

things have been quiet for the past 2 days since i first arrived ... apparently none of the banks are now doing any deals with each other anymore and most financial activity has come to a halt for most banks (according to the boss) ..

there were quite a few sackings last week apparently ..

hope the markets pick up soon though

 

[Mobius]

It is ironic fuzz. Its more ironic that companies complain that nowadays staff are not loyal to them when the companies themselves are so quick with the chopping board when times are bad.

 

[carnhartt]

Im jobless & poor now, so I go around the streets with my broken acoustic guitars and play in underpasses and overhead bridges for a daily rice bowl that costs 30 cents.

I get about $40 - $70 per day from a hard day's work of begging which is more than the average corporate assholes.

It's cool ya'all , begging's coolllllllll

 

[AgingYouth]

Investors are foreign entities-yes?, MNCs and what have yous..

To protect the investor's interest at the expense of the very workers who vote 'em to power...it is a lil' ironic from my POV..

Huh?

Do you know how investing works at all? When was voting even present?

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Im jobless & poor now, so I go around the streets with my broken acoustic guitars and play in underpasses and overhead bridges for a daily rice bowl that costs 30 cents.

I get about $40 - $70 per day from a hard day's work of begging which is more than the average corporate assholes.

It's cool ya'all , begging's coolllllllll

I don't think that's called begging. You're with skill playing the guitar and busking all day is just like another day's work.

Life is difficult now a days. By re-training doesn't mean you'll get a job but its just something one could expect. My cousin has been unemployed for 6 six years due to his age no company wants him even though with a Masters graduating from our local University. Tried all means but finally CDC gave him a job as a Security guard after re-training. He took it as it's better to have no job at all working 12 hrs a day, no off, no medical, no benefits, too many no's lah.

The moral of the story is no one is indespensible. It can happen to anyone.

 

[fuzztremecho]

bro AGY

yes I do know how investments work..you have to read in 'tween the line to whom the phrase " voting 'em to power " is directed at...have to be subtle Bro...

 

[Vaiyen]

Investors are shareholders. whom may or may not be foreigners.
and workers definitely do not "vote the companies into power".
In any case, it is not the PAP which sacked the workers.

 

[juju]

musicians are better off talking about *tada" yes, music...

well, since i dun have anything nice to say regarding the previous posts, i'll FO...
haha cheers

 

[fuzztremecho]

From a profit-driven business standpoint, job cuts make sense to help the company maintain its profitability and obligations to shareholders. In most organisations, employee payroll takes up the biggest chunk of expenses, so cost cutting cannot be complete without job cuts.

This is very much the pure capitalist, hire-and-fire approach, of which banks epitomize. One could argue that in good times, bankers can earn 12, 18 even 24-month bonuses, so why can’t they also suffer the downside of a slowing economy? Working in a bank could be seen as high returns but high risk.

But banks are not the only companies who operate in this fashion. Back in early 2003, PSA retrenched 800 staff in its bid to remain competitive after its loss of major shipping firms Maersk and Evergreen. This despite posting a S$559 million net profit in 2002.

I can understand if a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has to cut its workforce to remain in the black but is it ethical for large, profitable companies which have enjoyed years of profits and built up a war chest of reserves, to axe employees the moment dark clouds start to gather?

Shouldn’t layoffs be a tool of last resort? Have these staff been given the option of working with reduced salary in order to keep their job? Or are retrenchment exercises a way of shedding off more expensive older workers, and replacing them with younger — sometimes foreign — talent. Keep in mind we are dealing with people’s lives, not just digits on a spreadsheet.


The biggest trade union here is headed by a ???....
With the coming lay-offs in other sectors of the economy I believed nothing much will be done except to express disappointment at the retrenchment of workers but other than the obligatory expression, no one expects anything else to happen.

 

[Mobius]

Employess are all just part of a statistic to companies. Sad but true.