AS THE Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) marked its 171st year of contribution to the Singapore business community yesterday, addressing the tightening labour market, especially in the hospitality and service sector, remains a top priority for the SICC.
Mr Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of the SICC, described the growing shortage of high quality service workers, both Singaporeans and foreigners, as 'one of the most pressing problems facing the industry'.
He said: 'Today, our members in this industry face significant difficulties recruiting new staff both from Singapore and overseas. This reduces service quality and capacity at a time when tourism has become a key growth sector for Singapore's economy. With both the Integrated Resorts (IRs) planning to begin hiring in about 18 months, this situation could cripple the industry right at the opening of these massive and fabulous facilities.'
To address this issue, the SICC launched a new hospitality committee, which both the IRs are active members of, in the latter half of 2007.
'With the strong support of our board members, the committee was able to engage key government agencies and policy makers to work through these issues. Following a series of in-depth discussions with the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the government has launched a set of programmes that aims to help the industry attract trained and committed employees,' said Mr Lee.
Unfortunately, the tight labour market extends beyond just the hospitality sector, therefore SICC has, together with the Asia Competitiveness Institute of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, launched a programme to explore the issues surrounding the growth and sustainability of a strong labour force in Singapore.
Mr Lee said: 'As we talked with our other industry groups, we discovered that the shortage of expert and accomplished personnel extends across many industries. For example, my own industry is finding it increasingly difficult to hire petrochemical engineers to work in our facilities on Jurong Island.'
This article was first published in The Business Times on May 27, 2008
