Our CEO Joshua Yim was quoted in The Business Times’ Views from the Top column on 26th November on the topic of how Singapore’s manufacturing sector will evolve to remain a pillar of the economy, and how this will affect our recruitment staffing services.

“Manufacturing will continue to be an important pillar in Singapore’s economy but the question is how it will evolve, as competing on price is no longer viable because the cost of labour in Singapore is rising. The clampdown on the hiring of cheap labour in the form of foreign workers has worsened the situation and it is quite natural that some companies may choose to leave Singapore and relocate their operations to countries with a lower cost of labour. Generally, labour intensive activities will move out of Singapore to other countries in East Asia.

The industry on the whole will need to move from mass production to high value adding activities that incorporate a higher degree of research and development. How will this affect our recruitment business? As our manufacturing customers start hiring more specialised staff instead of the type of workers required for mass production, we will move up the value chain together with them as we help them recruit these higher skilled talent. Therefore, I believe that our business will do just as well, if not even better than before.”

Source: The Business Times, 26 November 2012