AMID calls this week for companies to review cost-cutting measures and consider moderate wage increases, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong on Friday reminded bosses not to forget long-term fixes that they also need to make.

It was important for companies to invest in the future by reviewing their business strategies and how they could do things better, Mr Gan said. Workers, too, have to press on with upgrading themselves.

'These areas are important and critical for our businesses to remain competitive as we emerge from recession,' he said on the sidelines of the opening of the Asia-Pacific regional headquarters of pharmaceutical services company Quintiles.

The new 79,000 sq ft facility consolidates Quintiles' three locations in Singapore and sets the stage for future expansion.

Mr Gan was responding to reporters' questions on guidelines released on Thursday by the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore National Employers Federation and the Government.

The guidelines for employers came amid emerging signs of a recovery here, with the economy growing by 14.9 per cent in the third quarter over the previous quarter.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times

rchang@sph.com.sg