33,000 earn more after companies get help from scheme
The Straits Times - April 19, 2012
By: Janice Heng
-- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
THE display on the screen was initially tricky, but after two weeks Madam Lim Kah Keow mastered the new high-tech cash registers at soya bean chain Mr Bean.
Today, six months later, the 58-year-old cashier finds ringing up purchases on the colour-coded touchscreen a breeze.
'It's much better now, since everything looks clearer,' she said in Mandarin.
But more importantly, her pay has risen by 9.5 per cent, allowing her to take home more than $1,500 a month.
Madam Lim is among 33,000 workers across Singapore who are earning more after their companies tapped the government-funded Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) to raise their productivity.
The programme, headed by the Employment and Employability Institute of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), targets the bottom one-third of workers, who earn $1,700 or less a month.
It helps companies raise productivity by adopting technology, redesigning processes or training staff. It also co-funds up to 50 per cent of such costs.
Since its introduction in August 2010, $30 million has been committed to projects by 543 companies in more than 30 sectors.
One such project was replacing the old cash registers at Mr Bean's 62 outlets with a computerised point-of-sale system.
Sales and inventory information can now be updated automatically, and colour-coded cash register displays with pictures help make staff more efficient in serving customers.
Greater efficiency helped Mr Bean enjoy double-digit growth last year, which the company passed on. Its 285 frontline staff had pay rises of 9.5 per cent on average.
Such productivity gains-sharing is one of the IGP's aims.
More than half of the 33,000 workers helped so far will see or have seen pay rises of at least 10 per cent.
Another one-third of them will see pay rises of between 5 and 10 per cent.
The IGP's impact on productivity was witnessed first-hand by NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say yesterday when he visited four companies, including Mr Bean.
Reiterating NTUC's commitment to raising the wages of low-wage workers, Mr Lim said: 'The best way - the most sustainable way - to push up wages is for wages and productivity to go up in sync, mutually reinforcing.'
NTUC has long focused on boosting productivity, but it used to be an 'uphill task', he said.
In the 2005 Job Re-creation Programme - the IGP's predecessor - 'outreach was limited because many employers had other options. And one option, of course, was more manpower'.
But today's tighter labour market, which the NTUC expects to continue until 2020, may cause mindsets to shift, said Mr Lim.
Another company he visited was Park Hotel Group.
As a receptionist at Park Hotel Clarke Quay, Mr Matthew Emmanuel, 28, used to earn $1,200 a month.
But his new multi-skilled position, as receptionist, waiter and housekeeper, pays him a whole 50 per cent more: $1,800.
The three-in-one position was devised for the group's three Singapore hotels last year, to cope with the labour crunch.
The gains are not only monetary. Mr Emmanuel said: 'It's given me a lot of experience and a better understanding of all the departments in the hotel.
Ref:STjobs
Popular Posts!
-
Chinese buyer pays CNY 180,000 for endangered fish By Mark Godfrey-June 30, 2016 See video- https://www.facebook.com/wunna.htun.94/videos/74...
-
Bitcoin exchange operator sued in Singapore An electronic market maker ...
-
Levi’s 501 Shrink-To-Fit (STF) Denim – The Ultimate Guide AUG 15, 2013 | | by Alexander Ramos If I can summarize Shrink-To-Fit (STF) in ...
-
The Best Bitcoin Exchanges Last Updated: 12 October 2017 When it comes to finding the best bitcoin exchange things are not all t...
-
Latest Blow For Thailand: No Longer World’s Tastiest Rice By Sameer Mohindru ...
-
Where did Bitcoin come from? Bitcoin was ‘invented’ by a person or group of people using the name ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’. Does anyone kno...
-
Oil and gas industry in Myanmar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oil wells in Yenangyaung , 1910 Burma ...
-
Design Th ere is no practical position of protecting patents and design per se in Myanmar although there has been the Science and T...
LEVIS JEAN SHOP!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My Blog List
ONLINE SOFTWARE!
- Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition version 8
- Adobe PhotpshopCS6 for MAC
- Adobe for for Macintosh!
- Antivirus for Mac - Complete Virus Protection
- Audio, Video, Business and More Software for Mac OS X!
- Avira Free Antivirus for Mac!
- ClamXav The Free Anti-Virus Solution for Mac OS X
- Download free software from Softonic!
- Freemacware!
- Mac Keeper Security Software!
- Opensourcemac!
- avast! Free Antivirus for Mac!
No comments:
Post a Comment