Tan Kin Lian's Blog: S'pore workers clock up longest work hours: ILO

Thursday, January 07, 2010

S'pore workers clock up longest work hours: ILO

http://business.asiaone.com/Business...05-189718.html

DESPITE the recession that hit towards the end of 2008, Singapore workers still clocked up the most hours, says a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Shorter work weeks and temporary lay-offs introduced to save jobs during the downturn trimmed working hours here to below the mandatory cap of 44 a week - but only slightly. With working hours still way above 40 a week, Singaporeans put in more hours than workers in 12 other countries used for comparison in the recent report, an update on ILO's Global Wages Report 2008-09 released in November 2008.

The report shows 11 of these 13 countries posted a fall in working time in 2008 and the first three months of 2009, compared with 2007. Average working hours in the 13 countries declined from 39 to 38.2 per week.
'Men and women have both been affected,' the report says. 'Among the six examples with disaggregated data, we find that hours worked by women declined from 36.4 to 35.8, while hours worked by men declined from 40.7 to 40.'

The report says the cuts in hours contributed much to slower growth in monthly wages, which eased from an average 4.3 per cent to 1.4 per cent for 53 countries. 'Overall, while a majority of countries could maintain declining but positive wage growth in 2008, more than a quarter experienced flat or falling monthly wages in real terms,' the report says.

One of them is Singapore, where real wages slipped one per cent. The others include the US (zero per cent), Germany (-0.6 per cent), Switzerland (-0.7), Japan (-0.9), South Korea (-1.5) and Iceland (-4.8). Wages fell 3.6 per cent in Taiwan and 6.2 per cent in Hong Kong.

'Compared with the annual average of 2008, real wages in the first quarter of 2009 fell in more than half of the 35 countries for which data is available,' the report says. Although the report was released recently and quotes International Monetary Fund figures from October 2009, it does not go beyond June last year.

Working hours overall, including those in Singapore, should have fallen further as the recession deepened in Q2 2009. And that means wages as well. 'The picture on wages is likely to get worse in 2009 - despite the beginning of a possible economic recovery,' the report says.

Only workers in Iceland - which nearly went bankrupt - put in almost as many hours as Singaporeans in 2008 and Q1 2009. South Korean workers, who, like Singaporeans, are expected to work 44 hours a week, clocked up fewer than 40. Taiwanese workers also put in fewer hours, while the Japanese held constant.

7 comments:

Parka said...: I work 12 hours per day, 8 hours are from official job. 3 hours is for my own startup which I don't really consider work because the line is blurred between work and fun.

After adjusting everything, I think mine's a 60-hour week.

My official job pays well enough for me not to do my own startup. But that would mean I need to hold that job for the rest of my life. This is a significant risk because there's no such thing as an iron rice bowl job.

My end game is to be self-employed working at 15-hour week, at the age of 29, which explains why I'm working so many hours now. It's a good payoff, better than 4D.; January 07, 2010 1:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Looks like the Singapore worker can now advertise himself as cheaper, better, faster and longer.; January 07, 2010 2:37 PM
chazza said...: but according to MM we are not working hard enough, therefore the need to bring more PRCs into SG to put some spurs into our thick hides!; January 07, 2010 4:22 PM
Anonymous said...: With minimal worker protection & no unemployment protection, it is no wonder that s'poreans need to work the longest hours.

In fact, the recession has exacerbated the situation as the hourly earnings would have drop for many people. Thus forcing them to work longer for the same pay or to moonlight in a 2nd or 3rd job.

With respect to the mandatory cap of 44hrs per week, many jobs and many small-time employers don't bother to respect this. A good example is security guards --- standard contract is 12hrs per day, 6 days per week, $50 to $60 per working day. Even if complain to MOM, these employers will just say "oh, the OT pay already factored in what."

Singapore philosophy is "You die your business", and kids from 1yr old are all taught this is the way.; January 07, 2010 5:10 PM
Anonymous said...: This the "swiss" standard of living that GCT envisioned.

We have arrived. hurrah!; January 07, 2010 11:08 PM
A Singaporean said...: Perhaps "Singapore workers" refer to any worker in Singapore, including foreigners? The report is not surprising, given that shifts as long as 12 hours are common in certain job sectors, especially those in 24-hour establishments. For example, I know of coffeeshop stall helpers in a large coffeeshop chain working 12-hour days, and getting a day off once every two weeks. This translates to an average of working 6.5 days per week, or a 78 hour work week. And oh, if my information is correct, these people earn between $1000 and $1200 per month, while the daily revenue of a stall in this chain can be more than $2000.; January 08, 2010 4:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Because the cost of labour is so low, there is very little incentive to introduce automation or have improvements in technology.

We will continue to see elderly workers and FT working in jobs that should be automated but are not.
Its a cycle and we are trapped.

Unless the MoM and Parliament decides to change the rules, this will be the standard.

I support the idea that salaries should be paid based on hourly rates. When it is calculated per hour, we tend to view time differently. The willingness to set aside time for family and leisure is more compelling.

Do you know how much are you paid by the hour?; January 08, 2010 10:49 PM