Working in Singapore

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Singapore Workforce, 2007

27 November 2007

Record Employment, Higher Wages & Fewer Low-Wage Workers

The booming economy has enabled a record proportion of the resident population to secure employment, with notable gains achieved by women and older persons. The continued tightening of the labor market this year has also led to significant gains in income and a reduction in the number and share of low wage workers. Following rapid gains in the past two years and a record employment rate among residents this year, the growth in resident labor force eased in 2007, due to a smaller pool of remaining residents to bring into work. These are the key findings from the “Singapore Workforce, 2007” report by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department on the results of the comprehensive Labor Force Survey conducted in mid 2007.

2. The main findings of “Singapore Workforce, 2007” are:

• The growth in resident labor force over the year eased to 2.0% in 2007, which is close to the trend growth since 1991. This followed rapid gains averaging 4.2% p.a. in the preceding two years when more people had entered the labor force, encouraged by the economic upturn. As at June 2007, there were 1,918,100 residents in the labor force comprising 1,100,100 males and 818,100 females.

• Amid the abundant job opportunities this year, the employment rate improved to a new high, mainly driven by gains among women and older residents. In June 2007, 62.6% of the resident population aged 15 & over were employed, the highest since the start of the data series in 1991. Excluding the extreme age bands, the employment rate for those aged 25 to 64 edged up to a new record of 76.5% from 75.5% a year ago. Supported by efforts to improve employability of older workers, the employment rate of older residents aged 55 to 64 rose by 2.5%-points over the year to 56.2% in June 2007.

• Most of the new jobs taken up by residents were in occupations paying more than the median income. Nine out of ten jobs gained by residents from 1997 to 2007 went to Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMET), mostly in the services sector. Over the past three years, the gains were more spread out across the occupational groups, with more residents employed in sales & services jobs than before. Nevertheless, the majority (71%) of the jobs created for residents from 2004 to 2007 still went to PMETs. Consequently, PMETs now form 49% of the resident workforce, up from 40% a decade ago, while the share of production & related workers correspondingly declined from 31% to 26% and clerical, sales & service workers from 29% to 25%.

• Amid the tight labor market, the median monthly income for full-time employed residents rose over the year by 7.7% to $2,330 in June 2007, compared to gains of 1.6% p.a. from 2004 to 2006 and 1.2% p.a. from 1998 to 2004. Nevertheless, it is still lower than the gains averaging 9.5% p.a. during 1996 to 1998. After adjusting for inflation, the median income grew over the year by 6.3%P in 2007.

• As incomes rose, the number of low-wage workers in full-time employment with monthly income at or below $1,200 dropped by 6.6% from 363,700 in 2006 to 339,500 in 2007. They form 20% of the full time-employed residents in 2007, after remaining constant at 22% from 2003 to 2006.

• Reflecting a growing trend towards greater flexibility in working arrangements, the pool of resident employees engaged on a term contract basis expanded by 6.8% over the year to 183,700, with those on short term contracts of less than a year growing by as much as 14%. Against the larger base, the pool of employees on permanent appointment grew by only 2.0%. Nevertheless, the bulk (88%) of employees was still on permanent appointments, with contract employees forming the remaining 12%. Greater labor market flexibility was also reflected in the growing number of part-timers which more than doubled over the decade from 51,200 to 114,700, increasing their share of employment from 3.4% in 1997 to 6.2% in 2007, about the same as a year ago (6.3%).

• Despite continuing improvement in the education profile of the workforce, there remain a sizeable pool of 531,300 residents without secondary qualifications, forming 28% of the resident labor force (down from 637,200 (46%) in 1991). The workforce is also rapidly aging with slightly over half (53%) of the economically active residents aged 40 years or older, including 25% aged at least 50 years, up from 33% and 13% respectively in 1991. While the strong labor market performance in 2007 has lifted prospects even for the older and less educated, these workers nevertheless remain more vulnerable to losing their jobs and less likely to be re-employed during a downturn. The challenge remains in enhancing their long term employability amid a volatile economic environment.

3. The “Singapore Workforce, 2007” report profiles the resident workforce in Singapore in terms of their demographic and economic characteristics, focusing on the changes over time. More comprehensive data will be released in the annual labour force publication by 31 January 2008.

By: Warren E Carter

  After being here in Singapore without a job I decided to take something that was always hiring. I had sent out over 100 resumes and had gone on some interviews but none of the interviews turned to lead to being hired. One thing I realized quickly was that if you didn’t have a diploma or a degree the job market was some what closed to you. There were job that you apply for but over all your chances were not as good as those with one. Several factors added to my frustration of seeking employment such as not being bilingual in Chinese and only speaking English. So while searching through the added I would cross of the one that said “must be bilingual in Chinese and English” then I would go through the remaining add to see what was there for me to call. Another factor here in Singapore is age, if you are what they would call to old out now put on the “short list” to be called back, if you are not the right sex the same thing happens to you. It’s not right, but it is the way it is here in South East Asia.

  I applied for a job as a Security Officer, thinking that I could do this job fairly easily due to my military background. The ad had all requirement listed of which I filled them all so I when to the company for an interview. When I arrived there was about 6 other guys waiting to be seen so while I waited I complete the application and attached my resume. So there we sat in a small room about 8 feet by 12 feet and 4 chairs. The room was hot and uncomfortable but this didn’t seem to be a concern to the company. After about an hour I was called in for my interview. The lady explained the job to me and while she was talking to me I felt that she was trying to talk me out of taking the job. May be she felt the job was below me and that I would want this kind of work or something along those lines. Now I’m not sure if I am the first American to work in this line of work here in Singapore but I am pretty sure that if I am not the first then I am one of few. From what I saw of the applicants most where from Malaysia or were Singaporean Indians while I did meet a few Singaporean Chinese they like me were far and few between like me. Most of them were younger men with no other skills or just looking to make some money to survive in these hard times. So as the interview went on I explained that I was there to get a job and that I knew what it was going to require of me. I asked her if she wanted to pictures and bank account information since that is what they stated in the ad.

  The next meeting was to pick up my uniforms and complete some more paper work. This meeting was about 30 minutes long where it was explained to us about pay, sick days, vacation and a few other items. Sick days had to be confirmed through an approved clinic which made sense to me as did the requirement for submitting your vacation request after you had passed the probation period of 3 months. During the probation period the company would have you complete a physical paying for the initial visit with the employee paying for all follow on appointment needed to be cleared. Another item to be done by the company was the security check done on all employees. This was required to be done on all employees to assure they had to warrants, criminal record or medical disabilities such as mental health. The last and most important was the pay.

  Doing security work you were required to work a 12 hour day, days a week. The shifts ran from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evenings with payday being twice a month. The down side this arrangement was if you needed to take care of any business during the Monday to Friday you were out of luck unless you were able to change your off day to a weekday and give up your weekend where you would normally spend with family. The pay, well that is the really sad part of the whole deal. I don’t mind working long hours if I am getting paid for it like I should. After all that is why we all work. What I was given for my base pay was only a emir S$680.00 per month plus overtime pay of 1.5 after 44 hours of work per week. So let’s do some math and see how that all works out.

So using this formula if a worker worked their 6 day week his pay it would look like this twice a month.

This is if the payroll department gets it right, but more about that later on in the story.

  I started work on a Monday as a relief guard replacing people that where sick or needed the day of or even just adding manpower to a location. Being a relief guard had its advantages vice being a permanent worker in one location. The benefit was that since you would only be there a day or 2 the crew in place would not bother to train you to much about the location because it was time consuming and no point training you if you would be gone the next day never to return. So chances were that you would be placed in one maybe spots to check passes, open gates inspect back-packs or some other menial task that didn’t take much effort or training. The other advantage was that you had a chance to move around to different locations so if the one you were at one day wasn’t to you liking you may end up at a different place the day after. While some places had a security guard of 1 man other could get very large. One man station meant that it was only you for the whole 12 hours with no relief for lunch or dinner which was a big disadvantage to being in that kind of location. In a large crew location you could have anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for your lunch. I worked in a few places that had really nice cafeterias with reduced prices thus making it very appealing for some one on a limited income to have a good meal before returning to their post. So working as a relief you had to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

If you were assigned to permanent post you were required to learn all the post and be able to work equally well in each one of them. You had the chance to get to know the ins and outs of the building and learn your way around in case of emergence. Different companies require different things from the security guards so there is no set rule on what is required from one company to another. Some may have a stick security program while another may only want the guards for show and to keep order such as in the malls. The down side to this for me was that NO ONE ever told me what authority I have? I didn’t know if I could detain some one or how much force I could use to subdue some one with out getting trouble my self with the police. Many of the jobs given to the guards like logging in deliver trucks at the loading bays seemed to me like it should be done by a company employee for accountability reasons. Again this was never explained to me so who knows what the reason could be?

The life of a Security Officer

  Many of the people doing security work are skilled labor workers that at one point had good paying job. As Singapore grew and requirements changed some workers found it difficult if not impossible to continue to work in their fields because they may not have the education level now required or never got a certification in that field if they have any at all. To support the family and pay bills these people become Security Officers. I stated earlier in this article about the lack of Chinese Singaporean in this line of work with 6% unemployment in the country you would wonder why there are not more of them working in this area that is wide open for workers. (I can’t speak about other companies and their lever of Chinese workers so some figures many not be fully correct.)

My location was on the south side of the island while I lived in the north. I would wake up at 6 am to arrive at work after an hour MRT and bus ride to arrive at 7:30 and then start at 8am. When I got off it would 8pm and I would reach home around 9:15 to 9:45 depending on if I was lucky enough to catch bus that came by around 8:10 and the MRT was waiting for me when I got to the station, this was the only way I would get home early. If not, well it’s the late time reaching home. So once I got home, ate dinner, showers and did what I needed to do for the next day it could be as late as 11pm. Ok, so now its bed time and it starts all over again the next day. One the day off it is spend with family or taking care of items that could be none during the evening or over the phone if you have a chance to use one while working which is probably unlikely. I had it easy compared to the guy who lived in Malaysia and had to cross the causeway twice a day and fight that traffic jaw so maybe I shouldn’t complain too much, what do you think?

  Once at work it was a different situation all together so lets talk about the employees of the company where the security guard are at. Before I started my wife who is a Chinese Singaporean told me, security jobs where no good and that the people working in those fields are uneducated and that is the only work they can get. She went on to say that it is not a respected line of work and most Singaporeans (Chinese) look down on those that do this type of work for a living. She grew up in Singapore so I knew she had a much better understanding of things then I ever could until I got out there for my self and had the opportune to form my own opinions. Quickly after starting I found what she told me to very true I’m sad to sad. On this one day I had to stop a worker and ask him for his pass before he could enter the building, all employees had to display there badges all the time but this gentleman felt he was senior enough that he didn’t have to. So while I held him there he looking around for his pass only to find it in his wallet, turning it over so I can see it he gives me this look like “who are you to spot me, hey you good”. I thanked him and he moved on. While talking to the Security Officers they feel they need to explain every little detail several times. When I would greet them in the morning few would respond with even fewer looking my way to even acknowledging me at all. I found this to be a bit demoralizing but then I would just conceder the source and that they must not be a people person and let them pass the next time. 95 percent of the workers will not have and formal contact with the security guards and if they do most of the time it is short and kept within the confines of the work place. This could be and most likely due to office politics which runs ramped in offices in Singapore so workers don’t want to get their co-works talking about them and their personal lives.

Security guards arrive at work well before many workers in company and leave long after the staff has gone home to their families. They are left to safeguard the building from fire, thief and any other damage to the location yet these worker go unnoticed and unappreciated by those they are there protect.

 We are the untrained,

Working for the ungrateful,

Doing the unwanted,

With distinction!

   So what motivation does the security guard to do the job? That’s a good question and a hard one to answer too. It can not be the treatment they receive from the employees nor can it be the working conditions. Pay, it’s small and is just enough to help make ends meet for the married man with a family. So what is it, the desire to do a good job, maybe? But I think it is just the plain simple fact that these people are hard working individuals and have always been that way. They know that pay is low of what they do each do but it is still their job. These days having a job is very important, so day-in and day-out they go work and stand their post. When a worker is making S$3.80 per hour on average to guard millions of dollars of computer software, where is the drive/motivation for them to go out of their way to safeguard it? I guess it could boil down to which is more important couldn’t it, the man the designed the computer program or the man who stops it from being stolen. I think both are just as important in their own areas. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that security guard should make as much as a computer software designer but lets keep or in perspective a bit more. You have 40 year old wives with kids in school, welders, computer students, engineers, electricians, lorry drives, receptionist and ship crew members all working in the security business so there is a vast field of knowledge working outside of their normal trade and each is looking for the opportunity to return to them.

  The turn over of Security Officers are quit high since many can not or don’t want to devote the time needed to work and the hours spent away from the family. This leads to manpower problems with the companies and from there it trickles down to the individual locations needed train officers. Another problem I can see is that the companies know that everyone can be replaced in the drop of a hat. Senior management doesn’t really take care of the workers like they should. With pay being not correct, pay slips and vacation papers getting lost, the long and tiring hours, no allowances for transportation or food it all adds up and workers get disgusted with a company in time these reason cause them to seek work else where. For example; a man on night crew gets off at 8am, he travels to the main office to check on is vacation request. He arrives at 8:30 and makes his first inquire to the worker who tells him that no one can help him until 9am when the staff comes in. Shortly after the staff arrives the asked again only to be told to have a seat. It wasn’t until 10:30 when he finally got his answer, yes you got it, he had to fill out another request form and resubmit it. So here is this man dead tired filling out a form before he could head home to grad some sleep and head back to work that evening.

  Companies know times are hard and well always take advantage of the situation in the way of paying its employees to make money of the company at the workers expense. Since the companies are aware of this they take their time to get the medical forms to the works as well as the security checks since both costs the company money. So what the company will do wait to see if the employee will last for a while before having it done. I spoke with a few workers that had been with the company for 3 plus months, well pas the probation period, who still hadn’t had the medical or security check done. So this told me that the company is cutting cost and not taking care of its workers, nor does it comply with some kind government requirements if and exist in Singapore for this line of work. Training in any kind of first aid, firefighting, self defense or crowd control, items I would think would be taught to the workers, was never mentioned to me while with the company and I never heard of any such training being conducted by the company or and other organization.

  So in reality how effective are the security guards that are out there guarding the companies and mall that cover the island of Singapore in the event of some disruption or major distribution it’s a good question that I don’t think anyone really wants to answer.

  I trained a person to do a job at my location that was going to work in the security line but only 5 days a week from 8:30 to 6:30 Monday to Friday and was going to make at least $1,300 a month, can you guess how I felt? S$300 a month more, less hours per day and less days per week! Needless to say I wasn’t all that happy about it.

Working with D' Guard Security (July 2004)

Working in Singapore / Learning the hard way

There are times in our life when we learn lessons about things the hard way. No one likes to think that they are stupid, are that others think they are stupid. Some people will take advantage of others while other will not. But what can you do about it? Really nothing, because this is just the way things work in the world so you just have to be careful and try to have as much knowledge as you can when dealing others.

In the work place it is a cut throat world where people will back stab you, lie to you, turn on you and tell lies about you to cover their own ass. Everyone wants to keep their jobs and if it means making you look bad in your job so they look better they will do that. A person need to always beware of what is going on around them so when situations arise you will know how to respond to it or if you should just sit back and watch and listen.

In today’s Singapore the workers are trying to find any job they can and employers know this. It is know as an employers market. They can pick and chose whom they want and cut those that they wish to anytime they want.

One mans experience: Starting in a new company I wanted to do well and prove him self and his skills. From his first day he put forth the best effort he could towards the company and often give suggestions to his manager about improvements he felt would benefit the company. I was the kind of person that always gave of myself when working, I would spend many hours after work working writing up instructions that would benefit the other employees within his department. I never asked for compensation for phase but did it only to help his fellow workers.

One day the company informed me that I would be attending a school for my NSRS Certification in Security and gave me the address of its location. So I attended for the week and passes the test which followed. The following week I returned to work but had to resign due to family reasons. When my follow co-works heard that I was leaving they told me that I will have to repay the company for the school since there was a bond attached to the school. I told them that I never signed a bond before the school thus it was not a factor since this should have been done before the school to lay out the stipulations of attending the school so if I didn’t want to sign the bond I would not have be sent to the school. Being a person of integrity I said that he would pay for the test since I was leaving the company and felt that it was only fair. After all the government agency was paying for the course as a way to improve the worker in the country.

When I met with my manager about my resignation I had submitted I found himself faced with signing the bond to repay the company. I told my manager that I would pay for the test as I stated on the phone when we talked the day before but felt I should not have to pay for the class since it was paid for by the government and by signing the bond I would be committed to work for the company for 1 year. The manager told me the I was told about the bond before the class but I replied saying, “I was never told about a bond before!” From my last job he knew the weight of signing a bond in a company since he had done it many times before, so I thought to myself that the manager was just trying to cover his ass for something he forgot to do. The manager informed me not to worry and that they would only charge him a fair share of the cost after they knew what the cost would be and if decided not to repay the company then they would just have to absorb the cost themselves. The manager felt confident that I would sign the Bond Letter even thought it was after the class due to my character and that he wanted to the fair. I knew that by signing the Bond Letter I was putting a lot on the line but I trusted my manager and what was said I signed the Bond Letter.

I had put in a 30 day notice to give the give the company time to find a replacement for him but found out from a co-worker that his past day would be 15 days earlier, which was not a big deal to me but still thought it was strange since no new employee and arrived to learn my job yet.

After leaving:

A meeting was set up between the manager and I so I could return the items he had from the company. Days before the meeting I and contacted the manager asking how he would receive his last pay check but was never given an answer. As I was on his way to the office this ran though his mind a lot and got a gut feeling that I would not be receiving the amount of pay due to me. Once manager and I met from the start I felt something wasn’t quit right. When I handed over the items to the manager he did an inspection on them and asked me why I had removed the tag in the shirt collar? I informed him that the shirt had be received in that condition and what reason would I have to remove the tag? We moved on to the pay slip and went of the pay this is when I discovered that I owned the company $555.00 for the training and that I still owned the company 2 dollars due to the other deductions even though he had worked 16 days in the pay schedule. So it was evident that the company kept him working long enough to reclaim the cost of the school from is pay incase he decided not to repay them. I was shown a page that showed page and was told that this is what was covered for the cost of the course which only amounted to 94.40 dollars. I was also told that in all rights they should also reclaim my pay while attended the class but the manager was waving that in fairness and that the 2 dollars I didn’t have to worry about either. Knowing at that time there was nothing I could do I kept quite but was really upset by the out come and knew he a only done it to him self but signing the Bond Letter.

The aftermath:

I wanted to find out all I could about how the government paid for the classes that employees attend. I wrote to several different agencies, found the cost of the school and was told that the cost did in fact cost $500 of which the company paid but then the company was repaid by the Workforce Development in the amount of $500 and that is I had repaid the company any portion of the course to notify then so they can reclaim the money from them.

E-mail from WDF:

The course fee paid by D'Garde was $500.

The amount supported by SDF was also $500.

Please let us know if you refund any portion of the course fee to D'Garde as the company will have to refund SDF as well.

As for your certificate, our NSRS officer will contact you separately.

Thank you.

Regards,

Incentives Management Division

Singapore Workforce Development Agency

So I thought about it and what should he do? The company had obviously lied to me about the cost and what was due in the form of repayment by me.

Several days later I received a call from my old company and my old manager told me that the accounting office and made a mistake and he has my $500 check. So I guess the WDA contacted them and did some checking so keep out of trouble I was given a full   refund.

Integrity is important weather it is in a person or in a company’s policy. To take advantage of a company’s employees solely for the purpose of taking pay out of their pockets shows the lack of care and concern of those they employ and speaks volumes of the leadership or lack of good leadership within the company.

If a company is going to have its employees sign bonding letter for classes attended by its employees the company should first solely pay the cost of the class with out any assistance or reimbursement from government agencies for the classes. Other wise there should be no Bonding letter to hold the working to the company for a certain amount of time. If an employee should decide to leave the company before the time has laps then the cost should be that percentage of the remaining time from the total cost and not the full amount.

Lesson learned:

1. Have all your fact before doing anything in that concerns work.
2. Ask questions all the time and don’t stop until you get the answer you need to answer your question.
3. Get everything in writing before you make major moves within the company.
4. Keep a written record of events that happen with date, time, location, and witnesses of possible.
5. Talk less and listen more.
6. Don’t trust anyone you work with.

Working in Singapore Part 3

My job as an Instructor

In September of 2004 I received a call from the manager for the school where I had attended for my NSRS certificate in Security. He asked me is I was working and if I would be interested in working as an instructor at a new school he was starting. I would be training security officer like my self. After hearing what he had to say I told him I would be interested and that I wanted 2,500 per month to do the job what he said it should not be a problem.

When I went to the office for an interview with the director and manage it went well   but when I was asked how much I wanted and I gave the same amount of 2,500 he said they were only 1,700 to start. Well that caught me off guard but since it was or I believed to be a 5 day a week job office hours I agreed to it.

My first day of work was November 15 2004, it was a very slow day as one other new person and I sat around the office most of the day doing noting at all. But that was short lived because for the next 4 weeks I worked from 8:30am until 7pm if not later seven days a week while we got the school set up to open.

The old staff members were there but did very little in the way of helping in the way of moving, setting up the classroom and helping with the training material. So the new instructors were pretty much on their own.

One problem the school had as far I was concerned is that there were no rules or instruction in place, everything was done word-of-mouth so there was always confusion on how to do things, what time to show up or quit work. It was really a mess in the beginning. Over time some things ran smoother but in other area they didn’t.

During December I attended my Assessors course so I could instruct class and in January 2005 I had my first class of students. Three Chinese gentlemen that spoke ok English but ages were 69, 70 and 71.so it had been a long time since any of them had attended classes, this would be a continuing problem at the school along with the languages also.

Students:

For me coming out of the U.S. Navy I was accustom to dealing with younger people who had finished their 12 years of school or had passed and equivalency test which is not and easy test. So now I am teaching students that are on average 55 years old, haven’t been to school in many years, some only having 2 or 3 total years of education, English is ok but again with some not all that good. It was a different environment completely needless to say. With these obstacles I was still able to be an effective instructor and got most of the student to pass the exam.

In class you will have a mix of sexes, races and religions so care had to be taken not to offend any one in anyway. Which wasn’t really hard as long as you keep you job on the professional side. Sometimes in class the students would talk about Singapore or ask questions about America so we would spend some time in that those areas.

Over time the job will ware on you. You have good classes, these are classes where the students are all quick learners and do their home study. Fair classes, you have several that have a hard time with English or can’t read well. A bad class, well you have most that read, don’t speak English and have to be taught in a different language, don’t study and are very slow learners.

I cared for my students but at the same time if I saw one student not doing their part to learn the material and was trying to float the class hoping they could bluff their way thought the exam I wouldn’t spend extra time with them, why? If there are not willing to try to learn the material to pass the exam so they can start working then they must not really need a job and was just wasting the classrooms and me time. The course to me is not a hard test if you have a lick of common sense and pay attention in class. When I have to explain what a metal detector is to a student I know it is going to be an up hill battle with them. I gave all my students the best I have and expected the same form them also. I was not teaching kid and everyone in the class knew how important it was to get the certificates to work.

I could not let me self become emotional attached with the problems of the students. Everyone has problems and I could not take on the weight of a class for 5 days to solve their problems. It may sound cold and heartless but that is the way it is. If something goes wrong during the text what happens the students turn on you and now you are in trouble. They will say you never taught a subject or that you said something you didn’t say to try to win points with the tester hoping they will be passed. Some times they will walk out of the test or not even show up for it. Then your manager what to know why? Shit I don’t know why they slug walked out! Well I do but it fair to say “the student didn’t know the material and never studied or was just plain dumb”? I don’t thing so. Some people can’t remember for a shit and when taking an oral exam you have to be able to remember, so if you can, well there is no way you can pass the assessment exam for the certificate.

All instructors had to maintain a 75% pass rate or you are gone from the company, so you have this pressure to make sure as many pass as you can. So if you have a bad class it will hurt your passing percentage. It doesn’t matter if you are a good instructor or not what matters is how many passed the test. Os if you get a really poor class what can you do? I can not make students study, I can only teach them if they want to learn and some just don’t wan to learn or for some reason can’t. When someone else is paying for a class the student can care less if they pass or not.

For me when I reached a certain point I knew I had to leave, so I departed the company after 17 months. Will I miss the job? Yeah in ways, I will mainly it due to the students I met in my classes. I learned a lot about Singapore and the people from them.

Update on the Security Industry: Jan 2006

  Seeing that the security industry needed to be greatly improved the government made it mandatory that all Security Officers working with an agency had to attend training and passed the required exam. This was the first step of many that are planned. This first step and made the industry more professional but it still lacks behind in some area.

  Many that are working in the industry are over 45 years of age and some are even in their mid-seventies and come since they still need to work to make ends meet. Over all the work force is on the lower end of the education level and is still not seen as a profession to enter for the younger population of the country, but can you really blame them? 12 hours a day and 6 days a week for a bring check between S$1,100 and S$1,500 a month is a killer on anyone after time and not worth it to many younger people.

  With the remaining changes planned this could vastly help the industry to become the work force needed in Singapore to protect its citizens.

General information on pay: (For the 2007 figures on wages go to here)

Average Monthly Nominal Earnings

Source: Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM, Report on Labour Force Survey of Singapore 2003.

Notes:

1) Monthly earnings refer to all remuneration received before deduction of the employee's CPF contributions and personal income tax. They include basic wage, overtime payments, commissions, allowances and other monetary payments, annual wage supplement (AWS) and variable bonuses but exclude employer's CPF contributions.

2) Data pertain to all full-time and part-time employees who contribute to the CPF. All identifiable self-employed persons who had made voluntary contributions are excluded.

3) Data from 1998 onwards are not comparable with the previous years. Prior to 1998, CPF Board caters 4-digit field for monthly wage data in their database. In 1998, the field size was expanded to 5-digit.

Average Monthly Real Earnings