Globalisation Has Brought About Changes

Significant changes are taking place in Singapore, especially a vast improvement in technology. Technological disruptions resulted in a reduction in the need for human resources so as to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency. This leads to economic restructuring which results in several implications negative and positive. SMEs are small and medium enterprises. They make up 30% of the local shareholding. PMETs refer to professionals, managers, executives and technicians. These jobs include that of lawyers, doctors and clerks and many more.

Economic restructuring has its cons.

There is a possibility of layoffs in the process. For example, Singapore opened a cutting-edge terminal with a fully automated check-in system including facial scanning and computerised baggage drop points (phys.org, 2017). Terminal 4 built at $985 million is aimed at coping with an expected increase in passengers numbers. This seemingly simple job of helping passengers to ease baggage check-in is however gradually being overtaken by what we know commonly as technology. Technology has boosted many industries efficiency. With reference to document C, at the food court of Changi Airport Terminal Two, customers choose their food and drinks from a self-order kiosk, swipe their credit card then collect their food (Jobs and populations, 2017).

This speedy process allowed Singaporeans convenience. But at the same time, the need for cashiers definitely have reduced tremendously. The number of cashiers needed at the stalls has been slashed. Many of the PMETs who are working as cashiers face the challenge of remaining in the workforce. Take another example, over 30 editors in SPH holdings were retrenched due to automation and the reduction in a need for so many editors (ST, 2017).

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Many of them face the tragedy of being asked to leave, due to the redundancy for more workers.

Secondly, workers being removed from companies face trouble getting back into the workforce. They are the different age groups that constitute to PMETs in Singapore. According to document B, PMET includes younger PMETs (below 40 years), Middle-aged and matured (45 and above) senior PMETs and very Senior, Clevel Executives. Nearly two-thirds of PMETs layoffs happened in 2018 (business times, 2019). For youths, they may face the trouble of getting back into the workforce. Due to economic restructuring, better and more specific skills may be required by employers. However, for the younger ones, their exposure may not be as much compared to their older counterparts, and hence be placed at a disadvantage. For older people, re-emerging might be made even more difficult, due to their inability to continue learning and undergo constant upgradings to contribute to the company renders them useless.

Economic restructuring, too, has its pros. It brings about economic growth which in turn helps to increase wage growth for PMETs. Technological advancements and globalisation lead to economic restructuring. Companies can speed up work productivity to produce more within a shorter time. A precision engineering firm Feinmetall Singapore invested $6 million to build a new digital manufacturing facility that will double the companys revenues over the next 4 years (Jobs and Economy, 2018). It installed new equipment giving real-time information over the production process, resulting in a more efficient supply chain management. This is an example of a company which has harnessed technology to boost its productivity. Higher work productivity, allows more products to be produced. With a higher profit, PMETs are able to enjoy wage growth.

Secondly, job redesigning, a change in ideas and approach, resulted from technological disruptions. When there is a shift in the people working for the company, there is a change in management. This is important in todays competitive business scenario. Ideas that worked may become ineffective with time and a shift in management can help in coming up with new ideas. For this, PMETs who are employees in the company get exposed to new ideas. Companies with a performance-management system that is slow are not operating as efficiently as they could (Mckinsey and Company, 2018). Hence, economic restructuring allows better management who can boost the companys income. Hence, for PMETs, they are entitled to a better job opportunity.

On the other hand, though it may seem as though many people may be losing their jobs, according to document B, measures are also being taken to fill in the growing sectors like IT, logistics, precision engineering, education and healthcare. Due to economic restructuring, jobs can also be created with 25,000 to 40,000 created each year. The government will support job seekers to look for jobs in all industries. Hence, with economic restructuring, evolving jobs in certain sectors can help PMETs find jobs.

SMEs form the bulk of enterprises. SMEs make up 70% of Singapores employment rate. The government is helping SMEs adapt to digital technologies. SMEs are also restructured by the government to help adapt to service the older and lower waged workers. Giving SMEs lots of incentives encourages more Singaporeans to start up new companies. When the number of SMEs increases, job vacancies would increase for Singaporeans.

The annual survey, which is supported by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Enterprise Singapore, released on Wednesday (Dec 5) found that 70 per cent of the 2,557 local SMEs surveyed were looking to initiate digital transformation in their companies to increase their availability in number of jobs for Singaporeans (TODAYonline, 2018). This shows that SMEs are looking out to adapt to technological disruptions to open up more jobs, this will bring about benefits for PMETs who are looking for new jobs, as it increases the rate of employment.

PMETs can learn and be equipped with new skills. According to document B, citizens are given fees to help them learn more skills to prepare themselves for a society where things change, and more specific skills are needed. Singaporeans aged 25 and above will receive an opening credit of S$500 from January 2016. Skillsfuture helps Singaporeans learn at every age and adapt to changes in the job market and the new opportunities that will come up. According to document A, the recent rise of new businesses like Uber exemplifies this. Robotics and artificial intelligence programs displace routine jobs. Workers must continually upgrade themselves to stay relevant. They need to advance their current understandings and knowledge to keep up with society and maintain their relevance in society progressively.

New technologies can supersede entire industries, displace all workers but also create new job opportunities. Though it is uncertain which industries will perish or flourish, PMETs, our stakeholders, need to constantly stay open and seize opportunities to improve their skills and upgrade themselves.