ED 49: May-June 2013

10
sp E C i a l
hiring out of
To ease the contemporary manpower
the
box
May | Ju n 2013
En t r E p r E n E u r s’ Di g E s t
crunch in Singapore, business owners
can look into leveraging on a ready and
experienced alternative workforce
the local business community is no stranger to the manpower
crunch that has been affecting enterprises – especially the
small and medium ones (SMEs) – to varying degrees: some
find it difficult to hire new local staff while others face difficulty in
retaining trained workers. With the further tightening of foreign
manpower quotas outlined in Budget 2013, this labour clamp is expected
to have continued impact on businesses and their hiring policies.
So what can SME owners do to alleviate this pressing concern?
Manpower is a crucial element in any business, regardless of its nature,
scope or scale. Even with automation, physical staff are still needed to
man service counters, process paychecks and bring prepared food to the
customers. Robots and machines can only replace part of the workflow;
the rest will have to be handled by the “human touch”. Therefore, the
onus is on companies to at once retain their current trained staff, while
simultaneously looking for new personnel to bolster the ranks. With the
intense competition for conventional workers like professionals, managers
and executives (PMEs), SMEs can perhaps look towards a lesser-utilised
pool of labour, one that consists of experienced individuals willing to
perform often-shunned tasks, to lighten their manpower woes.
In its Budget recommendations to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the
Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) raised concerns
about manpower and staffing, one of them being making use of the
alternative workforce in Singapore to complement the conventional labour
pool. A discussion held by the Singapore National Employers Federation
(SNEF) also echoed the need to encourage older workers and women
back into the dwindling workforce by developing more age-friendly and
family-friendly workplaces. The discussion also highlighted the need for
a shift in employer mindset and weighty changes to the workplace in
order to create a pro-family environment which will retain parents in the
workforce.
Apart from parents and the silver generation, the alternative workforce in
Singapore also encompasses individuals who are economically inactive
(stay-home mothers, retirees, etc.) or persons with physical disabilities (the
visually, aurally, physically handicapped, etc.). These are local people with
a wealth of experience from previous job stints who are unable to hold
conventional full-time positions in companies due to family commitments
or disabilities. However, this potential pool of labour will be able to add
substantial value to any company or enterprise, with the right blend of
operational arrangements and management of course.