The jobless rate for locals rose to 6.2 per cent in September that year, as worldwide fear of the infectious respiratory disease affected trade, tourism and business, and led to mounting job losses.
This year's jobless level is expected to worsen, with most analysts agreed that the recession has not bottomed out yet.The current swine flu outbreak adds to uncertainties over the economy and job market. The Manpower Ministry figures showed a rising trend in job losses over the past year. (See chart)
There were 12,600 redundancies in the first three months of the year, the highest quarterly figure in a decade, surpassing the quarterly peak of 8,890 in 2001 due to the dot.com bust and terrorist attacks in the United States.
Most losses - 9,000 - were from the beleaguered manufacturing sector. Another 2,900 came from the services sector, and 700 from construction. The redundancy numbers are in line with what analysts have predicted.
Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho, for instance, said he had predicted that 12,000 people would lose their jobs in the first quarter. He said this was a relatively low figure despite the severity of the slowdown because of government measures like the Jobs Credit scheme which subsidises the wage bill for local workers, and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) which encourages employers to retrain workers.
MOM figures showed that overall unemployment here rose from 2.5 per cent last December to 3.2 per cent last month, with 95,600 people out of work.
The unemployment rate which excludes foreigners, however, spiked much more, jumping from 3.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent over the same period.
SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Unemployment is defined as a person having the ability to work but is not offered the opportunity to do so. It is one of the major issues in the society that is yet to be solved. It has become a main social problem within Singapore with the increasing rates of unemployment. This is a issue that is worth worrying about as unemployment is closely and proportionally related to our nation’s economic progress. With the occurrence of the recent economic crisis, Singapore’s economy has indeed encountered another downturn. This has caused the gross domestic product to decrease and proportionally, more jobs would be lost and less people will be employed. Unemployment is indeed a social problem which we need to rectify and improve in the society of Singapore.
But why is such a phenomenon worrying? A high employment rate would mean that a significant number of people within the country are without jobs and this will undoubtedly cause the rate of poverty within the country to increase. Families who were once financially dependent would have to now save and scrimp just because the sole breadwinners were all retrenched due to the economic crisis. Children who could attend school would now encounter difficulties managing with the school fees. The elderly who had previously depended on their children would now have to survive with merely their savings. Imagine, if these elderly people required money for treatment of illnesses or an operation. This would be the negative results of a high unemployment rate. Families would not be capable of maintaining a lifestyle which requires a stable occupation. Unemployment will thus indirectly cause the breaking up of families.
Another negative impact of unemployment would be the huge reduction in the efficiency of the economy. Unemployed individuals will grab any job they see and this might cause them to work below their original skill level. All the labour resources of a country with high unemployment rates would not be fully utilized and the economy will not be efficient as before, possibly causing a decline. With the economy of the country greatly affected, foreign people will not be tempted to invest in the country and the revenue will decrease. All these factors will eventually lead to the collapse of the economy in that particular country. This will greatly affect the society as the society relies heavily on the economy to function.
Lastly, the presence of unemployment might cause the loss of valuable skills. Experienced veterans might not be as highly skilled before after a certain period of unemployment. This can be counted as a loss of human capital within the country. This might also possibly instill a mindset into the local workers that the foreign workers are the reason of the unemployment, causing rules and laws to protect the local workers’ interest to come in place. In countries of high unemployment rates, unscrupulous employers might use the situation to their advantage. For instance, this could be a good chance to lower the salaries of the workers due to the high competitiveness in a country with unemployment. This will be another factor that will greatly diminish the economy. It will also cause the country to be branded with such a notorious reputation.
In conclusion, I feel that the subject of unemployment is something that needs to be addressed and solved as soon as possible. Once the issue of unemployment is resolved, this will ensure that a healthy economy continues and the prosperity of the country.
