Frustrations from Labour Shortage and the Solution

Because of the tight labour policies adopted by the government since 2011, every organization, from government agencies to MNCs, from small enterprises to professional firms, from F & B establishments to manufacturing, are facing labour shortage. This has brought about the following 5 common frustrations:

Overworked staff, leading to fewer people wanting to join your industry and making new people leaving faster than before. Such outcomes only aggravate the situation and leave the overworked staff even more overworked
Giving Up Opportunities to Expand Business. Business opportunities are plentiful, but there is simply no one to do the work. Not to talk about overseas expansions, even expanding from Payer Lebar to Potong Pasir poses logistics problems for companies
Customer Service Compromised. Unfortunately customers still expect the same level of service as before, even when there are fewer people doing the work. Many a times managers and even bosses have to roll up their sleeves and become another 'Sheng Siong Supermarket' - where bosses carry goods and drive lorries!
Cash Flow Issues. Because of labour shortage, staff remuneration will go up. This, puts inflation pressure, and the higher inflation in turn result in higher staff remuneration. If sales are down because of a lack of manpower, cash flow will become a headache soon
Longer Working Hours and Poorer Quality of Life. With the ERP rates on AYE until 7 pm, plus the above reasons, many people are forced to work 10 to 12 hours a day and still cannot get work done. Not to talk about having more babies, even watching 7 pm TV show has become a luxury. No wonder many lamented the dwindling quality of life!

What is the solution? The one and only solution is to raise labour productivity. Using the PIC scheme, companies can lower their staff cost and increase productivity when they invest in staff training, IT and automation equipment. (Details at this blog and here). There are in fact 36 ways in solving the labour shortage problem, you can read all of them at here. Related articles:

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