From work by hand to machines
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Jolene Ang
When gardener Johnny Chan joined the landscaping industry eight years ago, he was trimming hedges and cutting grass with tools by hand. But since then, machines have dramatically changed many of those tasks, and his job along with it.
What used to take three to four hours can now be done in just an hour, said Mr Chan. "At the start, the work was tough. But after the first few years, when I was more familiar with the work and the machines, it became not so physically demanding," he told The Straits Times in Mandarin.
Mr Chan, 55, is now a landscape supervisor with Toh Chin Leong Construction, which is contracted by nature parks such as Gardens by the Bay.
Workers like him are covered under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the landscape industry. Their minimum basic wages are set to rise by 6.3 per cent a year on average over six years from 2023.
Mr Chan declined to reveal his salary, but a landscape supervisor's baseline wage under the PWM stands at $2,350 now, and is expected to reach $3,380 in 2028.
Mr Chan said he wanted to join the landscaping industry because of his interest in plants. He was also bored with the routine of his previous job as a delivery driver. He has since enrolled in numerous courses, including ones on how to use machinery and those that expand his knowledge of greenery and the environment.
Mr Chan said: "The work is challenging, with new technology and developments. I don't need a high salary as long as I can do work that I enjoy, but if I get opportunities to learn new skills and get a higher salary, I would be very happy."
Singapore National Employers Federation deputy honorary secretary Felix Loh noted the challenge of an ageing workforce in the landscape industry, which has a median age of 60.
"The younger generation is more used to technology. We need to automate some operations (such as watering) to make them faster, to raise productivity. And some of these equipment, you need higher skills to operate them," said Mr Loh, who is also Gardens by the Bay chief executive.
Jolene Ang