Tackling burnout, call for mentoring: Tan See Leng on helping S’pore workers in their careers
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Manpower Minister Tan See Leng urged managers to mentor and encourage young Singaporeans in the 2024 New Year edition of Work Talk podcast.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
SINGAPORE – Jan 1 may mark the beginning of a geopolitically hard year. Heavy price tags on things may also persist.
But Manpower Minister Tan See Leng wants Singapore workers to know that his ministry is all hands on deck to soften blows.
In early 2024, he will be announcing measures to enhance retirement security, and employability and wages of older workers – especially those on the lower pay scale.
With trends such as the globalisation of talent and disruptions from artificial intelligence, Dr Tan, who helms the Ministry of Manpower, will be focusing energies on helping workers take charge of their own careers.
In the 2024 New Year edition of The Straits Times’ Work Talk podcast, he rallied workers: “Whatever it is, stay positive.
“We will never leave you alone.”
He added: “We may not have all the solutions. We may not have all the knowledge, and we are not omnipotent.
“But for many of us, we’ll die trying.”
Made half in jest, his last remark capped a year of progress made on raising wages for low-wage workers through the Progressive Wage Model, refining the criteria for foreign talent with the introduction of the Complementarity Assessment Framework, or Compass, and enhancing workplace fairness with the drafting of the upcoming workplace fairness law.
Dr Tan also talked about his personal cure for burnout, navigating back-to-back meetings, and made an appeal to managers to mentor younger Singaporeans.
Listen to the interview on Work Talk.
