Singapore's labour movement has launched a S$40 million initiative aimed at driving productivity and improving the skills and pay of low-wage workers.
The Inclusive Growth Programme replaces the five-year old Job Re-Creation Programme and is the first scheme to tap into the S$2 billion National Productivity Fund announced by the government earlier this year.
S$1 billion was injected into this fund for 2010.
Local retail chain Home-Fix is one of the first few companies to come on board the Inclusive Growth Programme.
The view of Singapore skyline
Coming from the service industry, the company cannot rely on machinery to raise productivity.
Instead, they've been given S$60,000 to improve productivity through staff training.
From September, retail assistants here will be called Project Advisers. That's because they'll be armed with more than just product knowledge.
Low Cheong Kee, managing director, Home-Fix DIY, said: “It's not just the attributes of a product. For example, a painting package instead of just selling a can of paint the kind of service that we provide. We will cover the door, the under-coating, and we will recommend the painting brushes and all the equipment that come with it.
“And on a higher level, we can even provide painting packages for the customer. So it's about cross-selling and up-selling solutions for our customers."
The idea is that better service will be accompanied by higher sales and therefore improved productivity.
For a start, 40 staff from Home Fix will be trained and deployed to five stores.
Eventually, all 190 trained staff can look forward to pay increments of about eight per cent.
Unlike the Job-Recreation scheme, the new Inclusive Growth Programme is more comprehensive and covers sectors that are lagging behind the productivity drive.
These include, retail, hospitality and manufacturing.
In fact, about 60 per cent of the S$40 million fund under the Inclusive Growth Programme will go to these sectors.
The scheme is targeted at those earning a monthly pay of S$1,400 and below which make up the bottom 20 per cent of the workforce.
It will be administered by the Employment and Employability Institute or e2i.
Ong Ye Kung ,e2i chairman and assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress said: "Most of the traction under the Job Re-Creation Programme was for the admin and support sectors. These cover workers from the security and cleaning industries."
This will not just be another funding scheme - it's all about measurable productivity.
So companies will be tracked on how they've enhanced productivity, how they measure it and how they share their gains with workers.
Lim Swee Say, Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said: “Under this programme, we are working very closely with the companies and in some cases with the entire sector. Firstly, by looking at the skills upgrading, we try and redefine what will be the skills content for the job sector,
“Secondly we try and recreate the job - for example, through mechanisation, automation or through labour saving devices. And thirdly we try and enhance the whole process within the organisation.
“So what we believe is that by upgrading the skill and productivity, we will be able to open up more room for the workers to earn higher salaries.
“One of the key for this Inclusive Growth Programme is we are working with the companies in terms of how are they going to redefine their skills content, how are they going to recreate the jobs and how are they going to restructure the wage system.”
“So in this way what we're aiming for is a win-win-win outcome. Win for the workers in terms of higher skills, higher productivity, higher wages, win for the companies in terms of enhancing their competitiveness and capability, and lastly win for the entire industry because we believe that some of the jobs sectors today is still very much doing the jobs in a third world way in a first world Singapore.
“So the end outcome is to have a better job, better pay for the low wage workers of today and yet at the same time, better growth, better profitability, for the companies and industries."
e2i hopes to reach out to 25,000 low wage workers over the next two years and 100,000 over the next five years.
It's already in the process of rolling out about 30 projects.
Out of the S$40 million budget for the programme, S$30 million will be funded through the National Productivity Fund to redesign jobs, intensify use of equipment and technology, as well as to promote Best Sourcing Initiatives.
S$10 million will be funded by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), to incentivise company-specific training programmes for workers to become more efficient, competent and adaptable.
For companies who embark on such projects, they can receive up to 50 per cent funding for deployment of technology and equipment and up to 90 per cent funding for training directly relevant to productivity improvement.
Each company stands to receive up to S$150,000 for a project.
CNA/vm
