Will minimum wage laws work here?

[ProWelfare]

employees would leave if they find that they are underpaid, but lets not forget that in singapore's current situation, there are more than enough labor to take over the place of the employee who resigned.

is this efficient?

look at HP, the new CEO was given 1 simple directive, make the company profitable. what he did was shut down RnD to reduce cost, sure the company was profitable.. for that year. but in the long run, how would a tech company survive without RnD?

in singapore's case, we always have people saying "oh, it would hurt our economy etc"

but are what we are doing natural? is natural selection such an awful thing?

perfect example would be post GFC, the QE1-3 right now sure has boosted the economy, however everyone is still in uncertainty because nobody know where the bad apples are.

if i were to give a hypothesis, it would be such that singapore right now thrives only on cheap labor with no care for productivity, something that will hurt us in the long run

Very true. Thriving on cheap labors at the same time shouting out "INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY". Maciam oxymoron like that.

 

[Kiwi8]

Once u google the letter writer's name, u will find that the letter sounds hollow liao.

 

[widman01]

actually there are articles all over the internet about why HK's minimum wage has made things worse. have a read, i like to have both sides of the story.

as i said, im not against minimum wage. but i find it too simplistic. so does implementing a minimum wage solve all our problems? i doubt it. i prefer a wage system that helps by setting a minimum per sector, then increasing the wages gradually with productivity gains and training. only this can we have sustainable wage increases and not a overly simplistic one-size fits all solution.

question to ponder - if you really believe in minimum wage - then what should Singapore's minimum wage be and how would you determine it? what happens when the figure you had in mind is too low or too high for employers to pay?

what negative effect? show me. most likely wishful thinking without any evident

even hk legislation agreed to increase min wages further more. this year increase hkd2

 

[Meat Bao]

Minimum wage is not good.

Minimum wage basically is market interference or distortion, it is an artificially imposed floor level, a kind of price control.

Price control always brings distortions and inefficiencies.

Basically, it means there would be more unemployment.

Suppose a company is hiring two workers at $4 dollars each.
Let's say there is a minimum wage of $8 dollars.
The company would be forced to fire one worker.

Minimum wage will hurt those whom the policy is intended to help :

Teenage workers, semi-skilled workers, part-time workers, elderly workers.

It is a bad policy.

The current government policy of WIS and similar schemes is already correct.
Stop goading the government to adopt a bad populist policy that doesn't work and that will hurt the people.

 

[BioProEng]

minimum wage means ... eg. u got some cert, exp, skills, attitude etc, market rate is $1500. Employer should pay u at least $1500/mth for your qualification, skill etc. If you're ambitious, u can further upgrade, or clock more skillsets to get promotion, increment.


w/o minimum wage, boss tell u 1 word, "$900/mth... take it or leave it! Ai lai, mai suah".


limbei ish been there, done that.

and if you reject the job, the boss will go MOM cry father cry mother, say no sinkie want the job despite offering high pay good working hrs, and need more cheaper better faster fw/ft......

 

[uncle168]

there is a shortage of workers in Singapore

S$8?

S$18 they will also pay

last time collect dishes in hawker centre about S$600 per month, now is at least S$1K

they got fire any worker?

they will not fire 1 worker, they will keep both workers

they will just increase the price of the goods and services they sell

this is called social justice

all singaporeans who work hard deserves to earn a respectable wage

keekeekee

 

[BioProEng]

Minimum wage is not good.

Minimum wage basically is market interference or distortion, it is an artificially imposed floor level, a kind of price control.

Price control always brings distortions and inefficiencies.

Basically, it means there would be more unemployment.

Suppose a company is hiring two workers at $4 dollars each.
Let's say there is a minimum wage of $8 dollars.
The company would be forced to fire one worker.

Minimum wage will hurt those whom the policy is intended to help :

Teenage workers, semi-skilled workers, part-time workers, elderly workers.

It is a bad policy.

The current government policy of WIS and similar schemes is already correct.
Stop goading the government to adopt a bad populist policy that doesn't work and that will hurt the people.

if the workers is paid at $4, and minimum wages offer at $8..... this means the ppl are really very seriously underpaid.... and need to be looked into it......

and if the coy operation cannot pay the 'minimum wages', then it also shows the economy is really something wrong somewhere....

and to see... inflation going up = coy sell at higher price = higher profits if employees pay is not increased.... unless the factor of increase is really only the rental and utilities etc.... then govt need to check why is this so.... isn;t it?

 

[brylimme]

Justify productivity increase boss?

Working 8-5 have to be extended to 7-9 job? To justify the pay increase?

Or getting a machine to replace a 2 men job so that 1 man operating the machine can get the average of the 2-men job's pay?

so here's how i see it. i have two people cleaning tables at $6/hour and they can turn around customers at the rate of say 30 customers an hour. with machines they can turn around say 50 customers in an hour and that brings me more revenue. not only do i not need to fire anyone, i can increase the pay of both to maybe $8/hour. at the same time, the cleaners are no longer just "cleaners" but machine operators that they needed training for. this training and further skill set upgrade would entitle them to a higher pay because their job scope has added responsibilities.

everyone wins...

 

[brylimme]

if the workers is paid at $4, and minimum wages offer at $8..... this means the ppl are really very seriously underpaid.... and need to be looked into it......

and if the coy operation cannot pay the 'minimum wages', then it also shows the economy is really something wrong somewhere....

and to see... inflation going up = coy sell at higher price = higher profits if employees pay is not increased.... unless the factor of increase is really only the rental and utilities etc.... then govt need to check why is this so.... isn;t it?

yes, wages that seem generally unfair must be looked into. i dont want our less fortunate in society to suffer. but this can be done with minimum wage via sectors - which is what progressive wage is pretty much about. it's kind of how the cleaners now must start at minimum $1,000. progressive wage doesnt stop there. it uses the $1,000 as a base to keep building upwards so that it's good for everyone.

 

[Shutterx]

actually there are articles all over the internet about why HK's minimum wage has made things worse. have a read, i like to have both sides of the story.

as i said, im not against minimum wage. but i find it too simplistic. so does implementing a minimum wage solve all our problems? i doubt it. i prefer a wage system that helps by setting a minimum per sector, then increasing the wages gradually with productivity gains and training. only this can we have sustainable wage increases and not a overly simplistic one-size fits all solution.

question to ponder - if you really believe in minimum wage - then what should Singapore's minimum wage be and how would you determine it? what happens when the figure you had in mind is too low or too high for employers to pay?

can show me the news?

 

[4Dluckystrike]

You r asking low wage workers to increase productivity? So after increasing productivity, u mean boss will pay more ?
There is no min wage, why should they pay more ?

 

[widman01]

ppl who said min wages is bad.... read hk case.
it is good policy. even hk business asking for more min wages.

Business fears over minimum wage prove groundless | South China Morning Post

 

[Shutterx]

so here's how i see it. i have two people cleaning tables at $6/hour and they can turn around customers at the rate of say 30 customers an hour. with machines they can turn around say 50 customers in an hour and that brings me more revenue. not only do i not need to fire anyone, i can increase the pay of both to maybe $8/hour. at the same time, the cleaners are no longer just "cleaners" but machine operators that they needed training for. this training and further skill set upgrade would entitle them to a higher pay because their job scope has added responsibilities.

everyone wins...

if u are the boss, will you buy a machine for $xx,000 and also increase ur workers pay to $8/hr??

if u can, that means u are supporting a min wage of perhaps $5/hr and above.

 

[Meat Bao]

There is no such thing as "underpaid" or "overpaid" because everything is just market equilibrium.

The price is just like that.

Supply and demand --> interact = market price.

If there is a minimum wage, it is an artificially imposed price control, a floor level.
It is an external interference which brings distortion to the market and disrupt the equilibrium.

The result is more unemployment.

Singapore has one of the world's lowest unemployment rate.
This is not by accident.

If there is minimum wage, there would be more unemployment, which in my opinion is contrary to the spirit of the policy in the first place.
It is supposed to help people, but it ends up hurting people.

I think we should all reject minimum wage, for a more inclusive and egalitarian society.

 

[Meat Bao]

 

[dark_aLLeY]

so here's how i see it. i have two people cleaning tables at $6/hour and they can turn around customers at the rate of say 30 customers an hour. with machines they can turn around say 50 customers in an hour and that brings me more revenue. not only do i not need to fire anyone, i can increase the pay of both to maybe $8/hour. at the same time, the cleaners are no longer just "cleaners" but machine operators that they needed training for. this training and further skill set upgrade would entitle them to a higher pay because their job scope has added responsibilities.

everyone wins...

machine breakdown how?

rast time moi work in precision engineering factory @ loyang... when machine breakdown, all the ju hu kia and tiongs stand there gong gong i see u, u see me.

 

[Shutterx]

RMB14.5 to SGD = $2.90/hr

Guangdong Revises Minimum Wage Levels
Guangdong Revises Minimum Wage Levels | China Briefing News

 

[dark_aLLeY]

RMB14.5 to SGD = $2.90/hr

Guangdong Revises Minimum Wage Levels
Guangdong Revises Minimum Wage Levels | China Briefing News

O god, we're so far behind a communist country.



We only 1st world marketing nia.

 

[Shutterx]

Guangzhou min wage RMB15 = $3/hr

for SG, we can make it $5 to $6/hr


do u want 1st world cost of living and 3rd world country wages???

 

[dark_aLLeY]

and if you reject the job, the boss will go MOM cry father cry mother, say no sinkie want the job despite offering high pay good working hrs, and need more cheaper better faster fw/ft......

He/She will try to appeal for cheaper FT with work pass thru agents... appeal until MOM gives in.