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Google and Spotify have announced staff cuts in Singapore, while Meta and Twitter are already implementing them. It is feared that mid- and high-level unemployment will rise in the city-state, which is one of the global centers of the sector. But the government insists that “technology will continue to support the development of our economies.”
Singapore () – The decline of the online communication giants and the operators of the large social and e-commerce platforms is hitting employment hard in a sector that has exploded in recent years without real planning in terms of of potential and resources, including human
Singapore has always been at the forefront of these technologies and their use, positioning itself as the nerve center of many hi-tech initiatives. Consequently, the tsunami of layoffs sweeping the globe (more than 60,000 in January 2023 alone at Microsoft, Amazon and other companies, and more than 160,000 last year) could not fail to have repercussions in the city-state. Alphabet (controlled by Google) and Spotify have announced layoffs in Singapore, while Meta and Twitter are already implementing them. A wave of medium and high level unemployment is feared, which until now was the pride of the local labor force, and the premises are in sight: if in the first half of 2022 there were barely 260 workers who lost their jobs, in the second half of the year, 1,270 had already been converted.
The government confirms its commitment to support investment, training and employment in a key sector of the economy and to continue cultivating local talent for their insertion in the sector, the Minister of Communications and Information said today at the inauguration of an official program of updating of human resources in the technological sectors.
Josephine Teo did not hide the difficulties in the sector, which were also raised at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. However, she recalled that “there is a conviction that technology will continue to support the development of our economies”, particularly with regard to the “green economy” and the search for environmental sustainability.
“Right-sizing the workforce of these companies is a painful task, especially for those involved and their families, but without a more disciplined approach to workforce growth, technology companies risk becoming too big and losing agility. ”. Above all, he stressed, if the current trend towards the digitalization of various sectors such as banking, logistics, hospitality and retail trade, which were not included before but which increasingly require more and more highly trained personnel, continues.
Official training and continuing education programs for staff to be employed in digital communications, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data analytics have engaged nearly 200,000 Singaporeans since 2016.
