BTO flat buyers face longer wait amid labour and supply strains

[egghead]

Hi egghead,

The main reasons why Singaporeans are not willing to work as construction workers is because it is not viable to do do. The wages of construction workers are artificially depressed due to the vast amount of FW being brought in. When you have plenty of workers available, it is a employer's market, and the employers dictate the wages.

Let me offer my view of this. I feel that the entire Singapore society has a certain bias towards certain jobs due to decades of social conditioning. From young, we are told to study hard, get good school, good university so as to get a "good job" meaning lawyer, doctors, accountant, etc. This thinking is already hard wired into our mind. Mind you, this is not just happening in Singapore. In China, you hear and read about graduates who would rather be jobless than take up blue collar jobs due to this conditioning.

[zhangwuji]

Shortage of construction worker? Singaporean have been shunt construction industry since the seventies. And HDB hand been able to deliver in reasonable in the passed. At one stage, we even had excess of up to 20000 units when LHK was in charge. When MBT took over, he even had to engage the help of property agents to clear the stocks.

One of the reasons that I can think of for the current labour shortage in the construction industry is due to the fact that our gov. has been releasing more and more plots of land for private developers over the passed few years at the expenses of land plots that are supposed to be allocated for HDB. Developers are now more busy than ever to build and launch condo. projects every week. We never had so many of private estate development projects in such short time span in our history before. How can we expect to get enough workers for HDB when they are all prioritized with the private developments. So labour shortage is just an excuse. Just stop releasing land plot for private development for a year or two and you can see if the workers will come back for HDB or not.

[investor101]

Labour shortage is because we rely too much on cheap, unskilled labour, instead of skilled labour.

Bosses have no incentive to upgrade because it is cheaper and more profitable to stick to unskilled labour.

Workers may not also upgrade because working hours are too long, leaving too little time to pick up necessary skills to upgrade. Also, many of my friends tell me that bosses like to make workers work OT for free, or underpay them for OT hours. Some workers also suggested ideas for improvements in the workplace. Some ideas helped to save the company tens of thousands of dollars a year. But the worker only got paid $100 one-time for the idea.

So, workers get the impression that any increase in productivity will not benefit them in the long run. So why bother to increase productivity? After a while, you discover that the the company will run out of steam for innovation and progress, since the rewards are not shared with the workers over the long term.

[egghead]

Some workers also suggested ideas for improvements in the workplace. Some ideas helped to save the company tens of thousands of dollars a year. But the worker only got paid $100 one-time for the idea.

So, workers get the impression that any increase in productivity will not benefit them in the long run. So why bother to increase productivity? After a while, you discover that the the company will run out of steam for innovation and progress, since the rewards are not shared with the workers over the long term.

It is for this reason that some workers stay as workers forever and fail to improve and move up. The ability to see problems and help company to save cost or improve profitability is an asset in itself and the individual should try to develop it as much as possible - this is value adding to his own ability. Employers will be able to see this and reward accordingly in time to come.

What reward scheme would you come up with say for an idea that saves costs by $10,000 a year if you are the employer?

[CityFarmer]

Some workers also suggested ideas for improvements in the workplace. Some ideas helped to save the company tens of thousands of dollars a year. But the worker only got paid $100 one-time for the idea.

So, workers get the impression that any increase in productivity will not benefit them in the long run. So why bother to increase productivity? After a while, you discover that the the company will run out of steam for innovation and progress, since the rewards are not shared with the workers over the long term.

It is for this reason that some workers stay as workers forever and fail to improve and move up. The ability to see problems and help company to save cost or improve profitability is an asset in itself and the individual should try to develop it as much as possible - this is value adding to his own ability. Employers will be able to see this and reward accordingly in time to come.

What reward scheme would you come up with say for an idea that saves costs by $10,000 a year if you are the employer?

I concur.

One of the value-add on a employee is experience in bringing value to company. He/She might not be rewarded over short-term, but over mid-term, he/she will be handsomely rewarded by becoming a hot-cake in labour market.

It is a question of choice, a win-win, or lose-lose.

(not a employer)

[natnavi]

Hi Egghead, I have to agree with you that many Singaporeans have this sort of perception.

Personally I think this sort of perception formed throughout the years in Singapore because of the lack of respect we give to such hard working individuals. The lack of respect came about partly due to the wages these individuals earn.

To a typical Singaporeans, a more respectable person is a person who can earn big bucks by being anyone of the individuals you mentioned below. Unfortunately, this is just how the government has shaped Singaporeans to be. Such perceptions in a society is unhealthy. Individuals should be respected as indviduals and not by what jobs they hold or how much money they earn.

Luckily, perceptions can be changed. Hence, in my own opinion, I think we can start doing this by raising the wages of such jobs. In time to come, we will learn to respect such jobs.

Let me offer my view of this. I feel that the entire Singapore society has a certain bias towards certain jobs due to decades of social conditioning. From young, we are told to study hard, get good school, good university so as to get a "good job" meaning lawyer, doctors, accountant, etc. This thinking is already hard wired into our mind. Mind you, this is not just happening in Singapore. In China, you hear and read about graduates who would rather be jobless than take up blue collar jobs due to this conditioning.

---

IMO, I think you are partially right.

On the other hand, I think that the shortage of labour is because private developers are refusing to upgrade their equipments. Let me try to draw a parallel here with computers.

In the old days when there was the 14.4k modem, it will be unthinkable how long it will take to download ten 3mb songs with one modem and one computer.

To speed things up I have two options:
A) I can buy ten cheap computers, ten cheap 14.4k modems, and hire ten cheap workers to hasten my downloads.

OR

B) Buy a higher end computer with Fibreoptics internet connection. That way, I can still download ten 3mb songs but all I have to do is rely on one worker.

It is the same in the contruction industry. Developers are not upgrading their equipments. That is why they still need so many cheap FWs.

Shortage of construction worker? Singaporean have been shunt construction industry since the seventies. And HDB hand been able to deliver in reasonable in the passed. At one stage, we even had excess of up to 20000 units when LHK was in charge. When MBT took over, he even had to engage the help of property agents to clear the stocks.

One of the reasons that I can think of for the current labour shortage in the construction industry is due to the fact that our gov. has been releasing more and more plots of land for private developers over the passed few years at the expenses of land plots that are supposed to be allocated for HDB. Developers are now more busy than ever to build and launch condo. projects every week. We never had so many of private estate development projects in such short time span in our history before. How can we expect to get enough workers for HDB when they are all prioritized with the private developments. So labour shortage is just an excuse. Just stop releasing land plot for private development for a year or two and you can see if the workers will come back for HDB or not.

[zhangwuji]

Hi Egghead, I have to agree with you that many Singaporeans have this sort of perception.

Personally I think this sort of perception formed throughout the years in Singapore because of the lack of respect we give to such hard working individuals. The lack of respect came about partly due to the wages these individuals earn.

To a typical Singaporeans, a more respectable person is a person who can earn big bucks by being anyone of the individuals you mentioned below. Unfortunately, this is just how the government has shaped Singaporeans to be. Such perceptions in a society is unhealthy. Individuals should be respected as indviduals and not by what jobs they hold or how much money they earn.

Luckily, perceptions can be changed. Hence, in my own opinion, I think we can start doing this by raising the wages of such jobs. In time to come, we will learn to respect such jobs.

Let me offer my view of this. I feel that the entire Singapore society has a certain bias towards certain jobs due to decades of social conditioning. From young, we are told to study hard, get good school, good university so as to get a "good job" meaning lawyer, doctors, accountant, etc. This thinking is already hard wired into our mind. Mind you, this is not just happening in Singapore. In China, you hear and read about graduates who would rather be jobless than take up blue collar jobs due to this conditioning.

---

IMO, I think you are partially right.

On the other hand, I think that the shortage of labour is because private developers are refusing to upgrade their equipments. Let me try to draw a parallel here with computers.

In the old days when there was the 14.4k modem, it will be unthinkable how long it will take to download ten 3mb songs with one modem and one computer.

To speed things up I have two options:
A) I can buy ten cheap computers, ten cheap 14.4k modems, and hire ten cheap workers to hasten my downloads.

OR

B) Buy a higher end computer with Fibreoptics internet connection. That way, I can still download ten 3mb songs but all I have to do is rely on one worker.

It is the same in the contruction industry. Developers are not upgrading their equipments. That is why they still need so many cheap FWs.

Shortage of construction worker? Singaporean have been shunt construction industry since the seventies. And HDB hand been able to deliver in reasonable in the passed. At one stage, we even had excess of up to 20000 units when LHK was in charge. When MBT took over, he even had to engage the help of property agents to clear the stocks.

One of the reasons that I can think of for the current labour shortage in the construction industry is due to the fact that our gov. has been releasing more and more plots of land for private developers over the passed few years at the expenses of land plots that are supposed to be allocated for HDB. Developers are now more busy than ever to build and launch condo. projects every week. We never had so many of private estate development projects in such short time span in our history before. How can we expect to get enough workers for HDB when they are all prioritized with the private developments. So labour shortage is just an excuse. Just stop releasing land plot for private development for a year or two and you can see if the workers will come back for HDB or not.

This is chicken and egg situation here. When they can get as many FWs as they need and cheaply, there would not be any incentive to invest in equipment. Investing in equipment would mean coughing up $$$ and there is no guarantee that they could win more future projects thereby fully utilised the equipment invested. There is is also cost involved in keeping idle equipment such rental space and phycisal maintenance. Compare these to hiring FWs, those workers are paid daily salary. There is not cost involved when there not work is not work to be done.

[natnavi]

You are right.

Developers are not willing to take the risks. However, taking calculated risks is a daily affair in business. Even when we want to own part of a company through buying shares, there are risks. When a company wants to capture another country's, the company will need to do their homework first, before taking some risks to expand into a foreign country.

It is never possible for a company to remain status quo for all eternity. If the company took the risk, and did badly and go bankrupt use it cannot outperform its competitor, so be it. That is capitalism. If the government was to step in all the time to help them out, then it is not capitalism. The government are propping up lousy companies that never want to change and innovate.

Imagine what would happen to Apple if the government decided to pump in money to Apple when Apple was losing money in the early 90's (pre Steve Job's come back). Do you think there will be any incentive for Apple to rehire Steve Job and produce the iMac, Iphone, etc, which as a result change how mobile phones and PCs now work?

Sticking to old ways and not wanting to improve is really unhealthy. Moreover, relying on the government to help you achieve such agenda is worse.

"Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell." - Frank Borman

This is chicken and egg situation here. When they can get as many FWs as they need and cheaply, there would not be any incentive to invest in equipment. Investing in equipment would mean coughing up $$$ and there is no guarantee that they could win more future projects thereby fully utilised the equipment invested. There is is also cost involved in keeping idle equipment such rental space and phycisal maintenance. Compare these to hiring FWs, those workers are paid daily salary. There is not cost involved when there not work is not work to be done.

[zhangwuji]

You are right.

Developers are not willing to take the risks. However, taking calculated risks is a daily affair in business. Even when we want to own part of a company through buying shares, there are risks. When a company wants to capture another country's, the company will need to do their homework first, before taking some risks to expand into a foreign country.

It is never possible for a company to remain status quo for all eternity. If the company took the risk, and did badly and go bankrupt use it cannot outperform its competitor, so be it. That is capitalism. If the government was to step in all the time to help them out, then it is not capitalism. The government are propping up lousy companies that never want to change and innovate.

Imagine what would happen to Apple if the government decided to pump in money to Apple when Apple was losing money in the early 90's (pre Steve Job's come back). Do you think there will be any incentive for Apple to rehire Steve Job and produce the iMac, Iphone, etc, which as a result change how mobile phones and PCs now work?

Sticking to old ways and not wanting to improve is really unhealthy. Moreover, relying on the government to help you achieve such agenda is worse.

"Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell." - Frank Borman

This is chicken and egg situation here. When they can get as many FWs as they need and cheaply, there would not be any incentive to invest in equipment. Investing in equipment would mean coughing up $$$ and there is no guarantee that they could win more future projects thereby fully utilised the equipment invested. There is is also cost involved in keeping idle equipment such rental space and phycisal maintenance. Compare these to hiring FWs, those workers are paid daily salary. There is not cost involved when there not work is not work to be done.

They were not willing to take the risk because there was a cheaper option and that is hiring FWs. So that itself was a calculated decision. Business wise, it was a sound decision. Should the one who opened the floodgate shoulder the responsibility?

Business is all about staying profitable while dealing with competitions. We can't blame business owner for choosing the lower cost option.

Should the one who opened the floodgate senslessly shoulder the responsibility instead of giving excuses.

[natnavi]

My answer would be a resounding yes...

In this case, in this article, the developers are pressurizing the government to allow more FWs in with such a riduculous article. They do so by telling the people that the developers need more FWs, else they cannot build fast enough. Well... if one look deeper, its just full of half truths... If the government persist and stand firm on their ground, these companies will eventually need to upgrade or risk losing to the first company that does upgrade and is able to the same amount of job in the same amount of time or less, with less people.

They were not willing to take the risk because there was a cheaper option and that is hiring FWs. So that itself was a calculated decision. Business wise, it was a sound decision. Should the one who opened the floodgate shoulder the responsibility?

Business is all about staying profitable while dealing with competitions. We can't blame business owner for choosing the lower cost option.

Should the one who opened the floodgate senslessly shoulder the responsibility instead of giving excuses.