Don't just listen to what Employers/Business Owners say.. think a bit also.

[Tension68]

My bro Duyunqi.. (wakao long nick sia.. can shorten o not bro?) jus recently attended a workshop thingy and he was damn annoyed at what some of the ppl there r saying.

We tok alot about it, and I tot to share some stuff here.. cos i wana noe wat bros here think too.

I wun tok so much abt the workshop he attended.. but mre on what he said on the "expectations of employers and businesses and business owners".

I believe we all noe that "multi-tasking" became a hot word for businesses, business owners and employers, when Windows program came out. Everybody caught on and "expected" employees to be able to do wat a pc, laptop.. or generally speaking, a machine can do better.

And we r all too familiar wif this word, "productivity". Garmen has been hammering it into our ears for the longest time. Employers, business owners have taken this and mutated it to their perverse workings to gain insane profits.

Dun get me ah? Well, here is how my discussion wif my bro went..

(i use dyq for bro la.. nick too lnog) dyq - i heard from one speaker at the workshop that overall productivity is down in sg.. and she still harp on listeners to be ready to do more, cos employers expect more.. but there's one phrase which got me.. "move, or be removed"

Me - producivity is down? KNS FT not doing their part leh. Wat is their contribution?
Dyq - u reali think they add any value? Esp those friggin cheap farks? forget it! employers r playing mind games with non-thinkers.
me - har? wat u mean?

And here is dyq's explanation on a personal experience he had.. as well as some he heard from.

When employers say they want employees to handle multiple roles, to take on more responsibilities, cos costs too high for biz to support more staff. That is not the real picture.

Get this, if 3 ppl were formerly handling the work, and employer cut off one.. and forces the remaining 2 to handle the work. If the employers did some study and even implement some work procedure re-engineering, 2 ppl might be able to learn some new things and continue.. and the one that got axed could haf been deployed elsewhere. But this is a good scenario.

Bro dyq has been in companies where employers cut staff, and force remaining ppl to handle the workload without doing anything to improve work process or procedures. U see, wat was done by 3 ppl is now done by ONE! If you expect that one person to be able to handle the increase in workload, without any help or change in work process and procedures, you are dreaming!!

So, end result is = productivity falls, and the ONE person has to work OVERTIME to be able to produce what was done by THREE people.
But over time, that ONE person sure kena burnout, cos no matter how much OT he put in, he only has 24hrs a day.. unless that ONE person want to work 7 days a week, without rest, and without sleep.. or even food or toilet breaks.

But hor, bro dyq's observation is that employers will not wait for burnout to happen, but instead use the fall in productivity as an excuse to hire cheap labour. If no sg locals take up the job, horsay liao, can hire foreigners!

So, now.. that ONE sg local worker has to teach maybe one or two foreigners, and at the same time, handle the workload. Most cases, the foreigners act blur or learn slowly.. but when face boss or employer, say that the SG local dun wan to teach, or duno how to teach.

In the end, the sg local sure kena fired, and then employer will hire foreigners to fill gap.

Now.. when at first, 3 sg locals work, then boss say cut cost, improve productivity.. so ONE sg local.. but productivity no go up..
So add foreigner (cheaper cos no sg local wan take the low pay job which cant even pay for food, transport and expenses after CPF)..but productivity still no go up.. and sometimes go further down even..
then, NO MORE sg local.. hire 3 or more foreigners (farking dirt cheap) to do the work of what was at first THREE SG LOCAL

So.. where's the increase in productivity? Is there any improvement at all?
The answer is.. YES.. improvement to the business owner, employers' earnings/profits.. cos operating costs has dropped.. a sure result from getting CHEAP LABOUR

And if you think hor the garmen duno this.. well.. where u think the business owners learn from? But this is just me and bro dyq opinion.

Now.. for the golden question, "What do you think?"

 

[Kinana]

Unfair? Your pay is much higher than what China people get.

 

[Tension68]

Unfair? Your pay is much higher than what China people get.

So if u live in Sg u shud haf Cheena land pay?
Where's the logic? So if u live in USA? Still get Cheena land pay?
Wat toking u ah?

 

[DuYunQi]

... sigh.. why are you always so lazy. my nick isn't that long. Besides, your typing skills are way better than mine.

I still remember you saying you are IRC trained!

Ok.. so like Ten was saying (see, I follow your style now), we had the discussion and employers' expectations, productivity and multi-tasking were brought up.

IMHO, if multi-tasking was really for human beings.. Windows environment kind of program would not have been developed on a machine.. a computer. Humans made machines to do things faster, and usually where humans can't really do fast enough, or over a long period of time.

Try to do 2 separate things at the same time.. do things.. not actions. Scratching your nose with one hand, and snapping your fingers with another is not doing things.. it's 2 separate actions without using much of your brain to analyze or for processing information.

Try to write on a piece of paper, what your favourite movie is.. while saying out loud, the storyline of another movie is.. listing out the plot, and also critiquing why you think it is good or bad.

If you can do the above with no difficulty at all.. I can conclude that you are not human!

We're just not supposed to do more than one thing at a time.. actions that comes with thought processes.. usually requiring analyzing and processing information. For us human beings, it would be better to use PRIORITISE.. rather than to use MULTI-TASK.. because humans can't really multi-task!

Next, Ten put out what I had observed about what employers and business owners try to "sell", about employees having to take on multiple roles, duties and responsibilities.. because the company needs to improve productivity.

That is utter bullshit! The real reason is they want to maximise profits by cutting costs down to a bare minimum. And so they experiment with headcount. Reduce the number of staff, without doing anything to change the work process and see how they manage.

All the while, they already have a back-up plan! Cheap labour replacements would be called in once the remaining ppl are facing difficulties. Well, the employers and business owners who don't do any adjustments or change anything but cut headcount, already know what's going to happen. (at least the caucasians I spoke with do.. some of the locals too.. the rest just want to follow blindly..what's new?)

And when what they already know, starts to show up in the output figures.. their back-up plan kicks in. It's simple, really.

How do you justify getting cheap labour? Prove that the current ppl who are getting higher wages, can't cope with new business changes to "improve productivity". The axe was always behind the backs of the employers.. it's just the question of timing it with the workers' inability to cope.

And if the worker DOES cope.. guess what.. the employers have a win win situation. They cut costs by cutting headcount, and maintained or even improved productivity.. isn't that great?

Poor worker.. slog and slog.. if they manage to meet or go above expectations, maybe get a small performance-based bonus (maybe).. if don't perform, bye bye. Truth is, most will try their hardest to meet the expectations.. cos they already know how hard it is to secure employment in SG. And he employers ALSO know this.

So.. bring work back home and slog after work.. put in overtime, work on weekends and holidays.. and maybe even if managed to meet expectations.. employers might use excuse that "only managed to maintain producitivity" and hire foreigners to "help out".

This is happeneing in businesses in SG now.. and perhaps 5 years back already.. or more even.. if nobody stands up and kicks this sham down.. it's goiong to stick around for more years to come.

Basic employee's rights and benefits are really few for PMEs in SG. No anti-discrimination laws.. and work-life balance has been talked about ONLY. No real action taken by the ppl. I say the ppl, because if you expect the businesses to steer clear of easy money/profits by squeezing employees and staff.. then you should carry on sleeping and dreaming.

People should start the "revolution". For it is the people that change dynasties, goverments and also social norms. It is the people who should start saying what life and work should be.. and not let business and bueiness owners, or even the government do so. This is my thinking and my very honest opinion.

 

[nirvarq]

When a couple are equal they have too much arguments end up unhappy or divorce. When one side is in control the other have to give way, end up divorce or the weak keep giving way.

It's a matter of balance so that conflicts or problems can be worked out amicably. If the mentality is wayward not gracious enough new problems will always arises.

It's a never ending cycle. Unless moral & education are taught to our young ones life will not change for the better but technology & global warming are catching up fast & furiously.

Unite or it might be too late for mankind

 

[DuYunQi]

Interestingly, I had a chat with a ex-colleague just a day earlier.. we were working in a place where the dominant are Pinoys.
He told me that when the pinoys first started out, they were zealous and eager to please.. did everything and even went beyong their way to get things done.
After being confirmed (3months later), attitudes changed. Said "yes" to more work or tasks assigned.. then slacked away.
They took long smoke breaks, covered for each in their own clique, came late for work.
And best is.. since they are the majority in the department, if anything they feel not happy with.. they show it en masse.

One tactic is to come late.. each and everyone of them.
Next is to call in for sick leave, saying "got MC". Suddenly u find in a team of 4, 3 (of which r the pinoys) are on MC on the SAME day.

They do this until the manager or supervisor get nervous, as finding local SGs are hard (low pay and ridiculous workload and expectations)..plus the fact that they don't want to pay what SG locals are asking for.. which is mos times, in accordance with the living costs.

In the end, the pinoys ae appeased.. and the workload is transferred to the SG locals, who bcos they ARE the minority in there.. dare not voice out.. in fear of being let go.

The pinoys systemically "gang" up and put the SG locals in the department in a bad light.. and are constantly finding ways to shoff-off their so-called achievements. The SG locals, altho trying their best.. are being ignored and their contribution, overlooked by the managers and supervisors.

And to make things worse, what the company doesn't realize is.. when one disgruntled SG local joins and leaves this company (or any for that matter), they will "publise" their experiences.. making it all the more harder for the company to recruit SG locals. Bad publicity travels.. and so.. the cycle continues.

In the end, the company is STUCK with the now lazy pinoys, who had been hiding their true colours all along.

 

[Tension68]

Company stuck wif pinoy? Thought they wanted them?
Well.. too bad if pinoy true colour is not what they expected.. who will show true colour b4 being confirmed?
Some hide so well that even few yrs u olso duno ah
they beri gud at back-stabbing n unkating u noe.. oh. wait.. u told me this olso..

Well. business owners who say wan cut costs.. they wan cheap labour.. dun expect these idiots to do more than they r paid
not unless u reali wan gif them promotion.. and i got experience.. once u promote them.. they run in 3 months
cos they can go back home n find good job liao.. got ur promotion to show how good they r

local employers r burning the stick at both end.. fark wif local sgs.. and think they can out-smart foreigners..
well.. some of them r not dat stoopid..