Singapore drops 45 places in global ranking
of labour and human capital
Secondly, businesses should consider lobbying
MPs and MEPs. Data processors, including most IT
services companies, look set to take on new risks
and responsibilities and with them new costs.
Businesses with 250 employees will need to appoint
an independent data protection officer with protected
employment rights, reporting to the board. A whole
team could well be needed to comply with the new
accountability requirements. How will the right to
be forgotten work for social media, data storage and
archiving businesses? If minor security breaches
need to be notified to the ICO this will create an
unnecessary and costly administrative burden.
Singapore has
tumbled 45 places
to 56th in the world
for dynamic labour
and human capital.
The new law will need support from the UK
government and European Parliament and there
is still time to influence the outcome.
Aw Eng Hai, partner
at Grant Thornton
Singapore, admits
that the issue of
labour productivity
will be trickier with
the need for foreign
manpower a fairly
sensitive issue.
Shots in the dark
Some commentators are starting to speculate that
the draft law will flounder owing to the number of
issues outstanding. This seems unlikely, as there
is widespread agreement that change is needed.
Businesses (particularly IT firms) should seriously
consider what the changes might mean for them.
However, with so much still to be resolved, it is still too
early to carry out detailed planning for the new regime.
For now, businesses must concentrate on complying
with the current law - and make their views heard
about the new law while they still have the opportunity.
This comes ah ead
of the government’s
promise for tighter
foreign labour laws.
Original story found here:
http://www.hrmasia.com/
news/latest-news/singaporedrops-45-places-in-globalranking-of-labour-and-humancapital/179440/
“S
ingapore’s low birth rate and ageing
population are likely to weigh
further on productivity growth.
More needs to be done to achieve the right
local versus foreign manpower pool to keep
the economic wheels churning,” he added.
The GDI ranks 60 economies on their
dynamism based on 22 economic indicators
in five key areas – economics and
growth, science and technology, business
operating environment, labour and human
capital and financing environment.
Based on the Grant Thornton Global
Dynamism Index (GDI), weaker labour
productivity and slow economic growth
also caused Singapore to drop six
places from the top spot in a global
ranking of economic dynamism.
Singapore’s real GDP growth fell to 1.3%
last year from 5.2% for 2011. This caused
the country to fall from ninth place to 36th
in the “economics and growth” sector.
In addition, five of the top 10 economies
in last year’s report also fell down the
leader table this year. Finland slipped
from second to sixth and Sweden dropped
from third to ninth. Meanwhile, Australia,
Chile and China rose to become the three
best economies for growing business.
“We should be clear what the index
measures ... Singapore has not worsened
as an economy where dynamic businesses
can flourish, but rather, the six economies
above us have seen their business growth
environments improve relatively more
over the past 12 months,” said Aw.
“2012 was a tough year for our economy with
weak external demand depressing growth.
However, business growth fundamentals
remain robust with the best financing
environment in the world, a robust regulatory
framework and high levels of investment
in R&D. All these should support renewed
growth in the economy,” said Aw.
Meanwhile, Singapore was still ranked
first for its financing environment and
drew top scores for the quality of its
financial regulatory system, as well as
for translating a high percentage of its
GDP from the private-sector credit.
Accolade
OCTOBER 2013
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