SINGAPORE: In its May 1 message, The Workers’ Party underlined the need to keep Singapore’s workers safe in view of difficult times to come, calling for “greater protections and preparation” amid economic uncertainty.
The message, issued by WP Chief Pritam Singh, cited the semi-annual report on the country’s economy from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), released last Wednesday (Apr 26), which said that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow between 0.5 and 2.5 per cent, notably lower than 2022’s growth of 3.6 per cent.
“Singaporeans are already living through one of the most rapid cost of living rises in recent history, eroding the purchasing power of their wages. MAS reported that headline inflation for 2023 is expected to ‘come in higher’ at 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent, reflecting the increasing price of transport, property and the effect of the 1 per cent GST hike.”
This economic situation may mean tougher times ahead for Singaporean wage earners, Mr Singh added.
He also cited another trend that could add to the pressures Singaporeans already feel, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT that can produce content similar to human output.
And while how far-reaching the effects of AI technologies are with respect to knowledge workers’ jobs, with Singapore’s aims of being a Smart Nation, the country won’t draw back from more widespread adoption of these technologies.
However, the question remains whether enough is being done “to position our workers to benefit from AI and similar innovations, rather than becoming its victims? How can we use such innovations to raise worker productivity and pay, and help our SMEs to grow and thrive?”
Thus the need for better protection for workers, including a redundancy insurance scheme, which the WP has been calling for in Parliament, and which “will not only ease the immediate financial pressure that retrenched workers face, but will also provide an automatic stabiliser to the economy.”
The WP also noted Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, saying on Apr 17 that “unemployment support” for workers may be introduced, and urged the Government “to move forth with implementing a redundancy insurance scheme to provide greater assurance and protection for our workers.”
Mr Singh ended the message by saying the WP “will continue to present responsible policy proposals in Parliament to move our society forward.”
/TISG
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