Speaking on the eve of the release of the latest growth forecast for Singapore, he told reporters there were no signs yet of retrenchment, although it is to be expected next year.

Some unions are also expecting lower year-end bonuses, he said on the sidelines of a forum with employers and unionists at Downtown East resort centre in Pasir Ris.

But he assured Singaporeans the labour movement had not been sleeping in the past three years when the global economy was going strong.

Among other things, the NTUC has been redesigning jobs for low-wage workers, introducing flexible work for women and re-employing mature workers.

He now wants workers and employers to tighten their belts and spend wisely.

Also, they need to work together to make their companies more competitive by reducing costs and improving productivity.

At the forum, he also cited a company that found it made more business sense to keep its local workers in an economic downturn.

The company, which Mr Lim declined to name, believed that when the economy rebounded, other companies would compete for workers.

But it would be a step ahead, with enough local workers to meet the required ratio for hiring foreign workers.

Singapore National Employers Federation president Stephen Lee also told the forum employers should take a long term view on the current push for re-employment of older workers and continue to support it.

'All these up and down economic cycles, no matter how sharp they are, we will be able to ride them out,' he said.

Earlier, deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How also called on employers to strengthen their fundamentals to limit the financial fallout.

This include containing costs, gearing up operations to be flexible, training employees to be adaptable and working with unions to keep up the morale of workers.

'We need no longer waste time hoping to be miraculously shielded from the financial turmoil that is unfolding globally, or from its economic consequences,' he said.

'Instead, we can take positive and productive action to deal with the challenges ahead.'

He drew attention to the signs that Singapore's economy was slowing down in tandem with the world economy.

The Trade and Industry Ministry has revised its growth estimates downwards from 4-6 per cent to 4-5 per cent for this year.

While Mr Heng did not say if there would be a further downward revision in Friday's announcement, he highlighted Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's comments on Sunday that the Singapore economy may slow down for several quarters.