I was at a community meeting recently and while discussing the issue of unemployment rate and more the government can do for Singaporean job-seekers, a friend who is a retailer stood up to raise her concern (she lamented in jest that she has been raising the same issue for many years, apparently).
She shared that she has been looking for staff for her new retail outlets, but it seems no Singaporeans would want to take it up. She recounted how those whom she interviewed turn down the job because they wanted only five day work week, no work on weekends, high pay, and staff benefits. She couldn’t fill the positions so she and her management team had to double up as sales assistants at her outlets. She turned to foreign labour to fill the positions Singaporeans don’t want, but was told she would need to hire more Singaporeans in her shops before she could hire foreigners!
It’s interesting to hear this account against the backdrop of many Singaporeans losing their jobs and turning to the government and VWOs for assistance, and yet, other retail business owners like my friend are facing the frustration of a shortage of staff.
So what is the real situation of our retail business today – are the jobs in this sector really bad? Why do Singaporeans shun away from retail-related jobs? Will business owners who turn to foreign labour to meet their business needs be slammed for not taking care of fellow Singaporeans? What can the government do to help?
Just who’s business is it anyway?
Terence Quek is director of a strategic creative think tank who can’t stop creating possibilities. He loves travelling and adventure and believes he was a nomad in his past life. While he sets out to obtain the cliché five C’s like some, he would rather not have them than to live without camaraderie, contributing to worthwhile causes, meaningful conversations, challenges that stretches his limits, and decent cups of black Nanyang coffee – the last being of paramount importance to his sanity. A romantic idealist saddled with a practical mind, Terence has been accused of thinking too much about the future and too little about the past. Little do they know that he’s favourite time, really, is now.