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The Coming Jobs War
Definitive leadership strategy for fixing the American economy, drawn from Gallup’s unmatched global polling and written by the company’s chairman.
What everyone in the world wants is a good job. “This is one of the most important discoveries Gallup has ever made,” says the company’s Chairman, Jim Clifton.
In a provocative book for business and government leaders, Clifton describes how this undeniable fact will affect all leadership decisions as countries wage war to produce the best jobs.
Leaders of countries and cities, Clifton says, should focus on creating good jobs because as jobs go, so does the fate of nations. Jobs bring prosperity, peace and human development — but long-term unemployment ruins lives, cities and countries.
Creating good jobs is tough, and many leaders are doing many things wrong. They’re undercutting entrepreneurs instead of cultivating them. They’re running companies with depressed workforces. They’re letting the next generation of job creators rot in bad schools.
A global jobs war is coming, and there’s no time to waste. Cities are crumbling for lack of good jobs. Nations are in revolt because their people can’t get good jobs. The cities and countries that act first — that focus everything they have on creating good jobs — are the ones that will win.
The Coming Jobs War offers a clear, brutally honest look at America’s biggest problem and a cogent prescription for solving it.
What everyone in the world wants is a good job. “This is one of the most important discoveries Gallup has ever made,” says the company’s Chairman, Jim Clifton.
In a provocative book for business and government leaders, Clifton describes how this undeniable fact will affect all leadership decisions as countries wage war to produce the best jobs.
Leaders of countries and cities, Clifton says, should focus on creating good jobs because as jobs go, so does the fate of nations. Jobs bring prosperity, peace and human development — but long-term unemployment ruins lives, cities and countries.
Creating good jobs is tough, and many leaders are doing many things wrong. They’re undercutting entrepreneurs instead of cultivating them. They’re running companies with depressed workforces. They’re letting the next generation of job creators rot in bad schools.
A global jobs war is coming, and there’s no time to waste. Cities are crumbling for lack of good jobs. Nations are in revolt because their people can’t get good jobs. The cities and countries that act first — that focus everything they have on creating good jobs — are the ones that will win.
The Coming Jobs War offers a clear, brutally honest look at America’s biggest problem and a cogent prescription for solving it.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2011
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693 people want to read
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January 1, 2022
I read this book because current populist, protectionist urges seem like nationalistic competition for globally dwindling jobs, which might be called a "jobs war," and I wondered if Jim Clifton, the leader of Gallup, had unique insight on this phenomenon through the polling and research of his company. Unfortunately, the CEO's self-published book is surprisingly light on evidence, heavy on political proselytizing and advertising for Gallup. Jim Clifton is a slightly more sophisticated Robert Kiyosaki.
I'm surprised nobody, for the sake of Gallup's image, prevented Clifton from publishing his solution to high healthcare costs in the US, which has two prongs: (a) have people die sooner, and (b) fat-shaming. I'm not exaggerating:
'Somebody has to tell Uncle Louie it's time to cross to the other side and go join his friends, not run doctor to doctor, accepting one low-probability procedure after another.' (pages 155-156)
'Unfit should mean something worse than it currently does. Unfit should mean "intervention required." Unfit should mean less employable because unfit is a cause of lower energy.' (page 160)
Even if there are germs of reasonable ideas buried in what Clifton espouses, it's hard to get past his caustic victim-blaming, which is most extreme on healthcare, but present throughout.
Clifton sings the praises of entrepreneurs, with a kind of great man delusion blended with borderline eugenic fatalism.
'Some leaders even believe that anyone can be trained to be an entrepreneur. This is a mistaken assumption. Entrepreneurs have a rare gift. My estimate is that for every 1,000 people, there are only about three with the potential to develop an organization with $50 million or more in annual revenue.' (page 96)
'Nothing fixes bad managers, not coaching, competency training, incentives, or warnings – nothing works. A bad manager never gets better.' (page 114)
Jim Clifton became CEO of Gallup when and because his father, Don Clifton, bought Gallup and installed him as CEO. It's a little hard to take him seriously about individuals' abilities to be totally self-made, or when, with a perfect lack of self-awareness, he goes on to talk about the importance of fixing schools.
Even the core premise of the book, that "What the whole world wants is a good job," isn't well supported with evidence. I had assumed there would be some detailed analysis of polls, maybe some psychological research, but the closest thing to this didn't come very close at all:
'Of the 7 billion people on Earth, there are 5 billion adults aged 15 and older. Of these 5 billion, 3 billion tell Gallup they work or want to work.' (page 2)
So the strongest evidence provided that everyone wants to work is that 60% of adults say they do work, or want to work. I have no way of knowing whether "wanting to work" is separated from "wanting to have a decent standard of living." For example, how many people would want to work if they were guaranteed a basic income and social services?
I also expected Clifton would address job loss trends due to automation and so on, but there's scarcely a mention. He maintains that people just need to keep making companies, and that will make jobs. He is singularly focused on keeping US GDP higher than China's, never mind per-capita GDP or the strength of the connection between jobs and GDP.
Here are some questions listed in a section called "Defective employees." The questions are supposed to both help evaluate managers and "neatly factor all workers into the three categories of engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged" (page 104):
1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Most of these items map onto good advice for companies, but number ten's appearance on the list I think is symptomatic of a "death of science" problem in analysis. Why is "I have a best friend at work" on this list? I suspect the answer is that having a best friend at work is associated with being less likely to quit, and largely independent of other factors, so the item looks good statistically, despite being mostly useless to employees or managers.
Sometimes it's possible to see in Clifton's positions what could be genuine caring for people: a desire that everyone reach their full potential. Supporting people's strengths sounds good, and some of the ideas in the book are not all bad. But there are so many bad ideas, it's like picking through a dumpster.
I had thought that a book from Gallup might have interesting, relevant data and analysis. I really like the idea of using poll data to better understand the world. I had only known of Gallup's polling operation, not their management consulting side. Unfortunately, based on this book, it seems management consulting dominates their attention.
The only people who should read this book are those considering working with Gallup, the better to understand what they would be getting into.
I'm surprised nobody, for the sake of Gallup's image, prevented Clifton from publishing his solution to high healthcare costs in the US, which has two prongs: (a) have people die sooner, and (b) fat-shaming. I'm not exaggerating:
'Somebody has to tell Uncle Louie it's time to cross to the other side and go join his friends, not run doctor to doctor, accepting one low-probability procedure after another.' (pages 155-156)
'Unfit should mean something worse than it currently does. Unfit should mean "intervention required." Unfit should mean less employable because unfit is a cause of lower energy.' (page 160)
Even if there are germs of reasonable ideas buried in what Clifton espouses, it's hard to get past his caustic victim-blaming, which is most extreme on healthcare, but present throughout.
Clifton sings the praises of entrepreneurs, with a kind of great man delusion blended with borderline eugenic fatalism.
'Some leaders even believe that anyone can be trained to be an entrepreneur. This is a mistaken assumption. Entrepreneurs have a rare gift. My estimate is that for every 1,000 people, there are only about three with the potential to develop an organization with $50 million or more in annual revenue.' (page 96)
'Nothing fixes bad managers, not coaching, competency training, incentives, or warnings – nothing works. A bad manager never gets better.' (page 114)
Jim Clifton became CEO of Gallup when and because his father, Don Clifton, bought Gallup and installed him as CEO. It's a little hard to take him seriously about individuals' abilities to be totally self-made, or when, with a perfect lack of self-awareness, he goes on to talk about the importance of fixing schools.
Even the core premise of the book, that "What the whole world wants is a good job," isn't well supported with evidence. I had assumed there would be some detailed analysis of polls, maybe some psychological research, but the closest thing to this didn't come very close at all:
'Of the 7 billion people on Earth, there are 5 billion adults aged 15 and older. Of these 5 billion, 3 billion tell Gallup they work or want to work.' (page 2)
So the strongest evidence provided that everyone wants to work is that 60% of adults say they do work, or want to work. I have no way of knowing whether "wanting to work" is separated from "wanting to have a decent standard of living." For example, how many people would want to work if they were guaranteed a basic income and social services?
I also expected Clifton would address job loss trends due to automation and so on, but there's scarcely a mention. He maintains that people just need to keep making companies, and that will make jobs. He is singularly focused on keeping US GDP higher than China's, never mind per-capita GDP or the strength of the connection between jobs and GDP.
Here are some questions listed in a section called "Defective employees." The questions are supposed to both help evaluate managers and "neatly factor all workers into the three categories of engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged" (page 104):
1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Most of these items map onto good advice for companies, but number ten's appearance on the list I think is symptomatic of a "death of science" problem in analysis. Why is "I have a best friend at work" on this list? I suspect the answer is that having a best friend at work is associated with being less likely to quit, and largely independent of other factors, so the item looks good statistically, despite being mostly useless to employees or managers.
Sometimes it's possible to see in Clifton's positions what could be genuine caring for people: a desire that everyone reach their full potential. Supporting people's strengths sounds good, and some of the ideas in the book are not all bad. But there are so many bad ideas, it's like picking through a dumpster.
I had thought that a book from Gallup might have interesting, relevant data and analysis. I really like the idea of using poll data to better understand the world. I had only known of Gallup's polling operation, not their management consulting side. Unfortunately, based on this book, it seems management consulting dominates their attention.
The only people who should read this book are those considering working with Gallup, the better to understand what they would be getting into.
March 10, 2019
In “The Coming Jobs War”, Clifton observes students who have their spirits and hopes “irreparably broken” when they fail to obtain good employment, which Clifton defines as steady paying jobs that average at least 30 hours a week (Clifton, 2011). The raison d’être of schools like Crest Secondary School (CSS) are often touted to oppose such a narrative by reeling in those on the sidelines to the playing field of society through realising their potential for future employment (Khoo, 2018). I had the privilege of going on a field trip to Onesimus Garden together with the students from CSS and will be reflecting on my observations from interactions with the school’s students and teachers. My reflection will pertain to issues about the challenges and opportunities youth face in attaining good employment in the future and will bear further reference to “The Coming Jobs War” by Jim Clifton.
The first issue youths will face is being equipped for the right jobs. Globally, the assumptions held about vocational education are that it is a lesser alternative to academic education, and that those who enter these schools do not do so voluntarily, but do so as an inevitability of their poor results (The Guardian, 2017). Yet, one of the hallmarks of an education at CSS is its vocational curriculum that breadths over 4 services, namely: mechanical servicing, facility services, hospitality services and retail services. At first glance, the range of blue and pink-collar jobs are unimpressive, and to some, it might even be oppressive. The restrictive options for employment in the lower rung of the labour force appear to run the risk of the “soft bigotry of lower expectations”, seeming to signal to NT students that such jobs are all they can ever aspire to (Mead, 2018). However, this view of the vocational curriculum through the lenses of a prestige-driven society tends to discount its merits.
Clifton (2011) regularly cites the tragedy of the Detroit economy that was scourged by structural unemployment when automobile manufacturers decided to shift production to countries like Japan and Germany where wages were more competitive (Clifton, 2011). In the face of structural unemployment, the employment opportunities provided by CSS’ vocational curriculum stand firm as they serve needs in society that would hardly disappear. The resilience of their prospective industries could have been the source of CSS’ students’ confidence as they recounted their experiences in their vocational curriculum, with 2 girls from my group putting their hospitality capabilities on display by whipping up a delicious curry. Such confidence is in line with Clifton’s (2011) notions that confidence ultimately leads to a prize beyond graduation— that is attaining a job. Thus, although the limited employment choices might seem like restrictions, their resilient demand, coupled with the drive of CSS students present themselves as an opportunity for meaningful employment in the future.
The second issue youths will face in attaining good employment is being engaged in their jobs. According to Clifton (2011), employees’ engagement in their jobs are strongly associated with turnover rates, meaning that failure to be engaged with one’s job translates to job insecurity. Up till then, my impression of CSS students, and any Normal (Technical) (NT) stream students for that matter, had been one of disengagement with academics and school in general, and that they were notoriously difficult to motivate.
Upon meeting the CSS students, it soon became obvious that the group we were interacting with had one thing in common: they were all prefects. After reading “The Coming Jobs War”, such appointments started to make sense. If good employment is meant to help one achieve their fullest potential, this can only be realized when employees are engaged (Clifton, 2011). When CSS students are conferred the position of a prefect, it fulfils criteria laid down by Clifton (2011) for employee engagement, such as allowing the students to “know what is expected of them” and “feel their job is important”. Although I had previously believed that NT students were unmotivated, a particular encounter with Izaan while harvesting purple sweet potato leaves showed me otherwise. While he was initially pleased to be on the sidelines, his eyes lit up when I passed him cutters to prune the desirable sweet potato leaves, delighted to be conferred an exclusive role of cutting harvested leaves. As I praised the quality of leaves he had pruned, he was galvanised in his efforts. This showed me that there are no youth who are beyond motivation, and this presents itself as an opportunity for youth to find good employment in the future. The caveat, however, would be empowering youth with meaningful positions in the workplace, with more than a task to do, but a role to own, hence vitalising job engagement and job security.
The third issue that will decide whether youths find good jobs is whether they have people who are willing to invest in them. Clifton (2011) observes community leaders should care about the success of their communities before their own. This is not far from reality for the teachers at CSS who could have established their careers at more prestigious institutions yet chose to undergo specialized training in order to be an educator at CSS. From my observations, the teachers had a devoted understanding of their students as they seemed to be familiarised with their quirks.
An interesting dynamic I noticed was that the teachers seemed much more amicable than those I had in my secondary school days, relating to their students almost as peers with winsome banter. This prompted me to find out more from a teacher, who told me that the students in CSS might struggle with authority figures, either due to overbearing parents at home, or the absence of authority figures at home altogether. I was impressed that such dynamics were measured to bring out the best in students, when I assume a top-down authoritative approach would afford greater convenience. This echoes Clifton’s (2011) assertions that the leaders in community that make the most impact do not act out of self-interest, and hence are willing to take risks on others. With community leaders like the teachers at CSS willing to look beyond self-interests, youths will be instilled with the confidence to graduate. According to Clifton (2011), such confidence signals academic success, and hence better employability. In conclusion, the sacrifices made by community leaders have significant knock on effects for subsequent generations, and in the case of CSS, the teachers have chosen to instill confidence-boosting belief to their students when not many others would.
The fourth issue that could determine whether youth attain good jobs would be the peers they are surrounded by. A commonality between Gallup’s evaluation of engagement at work and in school is its measure of close friends in the given place context (Clifton, 2011). Studies have also shown the task-related benefits of friendship opportunities at the workplace, that could easily be transposed to the school context, such as job satisfaction and career success (Morrison & Nolan, 2009). During our first interaction with the CSS Students, I had observed a special bond between the boys in our group that seemed to transcend their maturity. At my age, closeness was determined by our openness to each other’s insults. Yet, for the boys in our group, they were generous in affirming one another, reinstating why they could get along, with Dani memorably referring to Ryan as a “cool big brother”. No one could fault their friendship.
However, the attachment to peers could prove to be a double-edged sword. Concerns have been raised about the potential for specialized NT schools like CSS to curb the aspirations of students who could move up into higher streams (Loh, 2018). This was attributed to the attachment CSS students might have to their peers which might give them second thoughts about changing schools to a new environment should they consider moving into Normal (Academic) or Express streams. Thus, while friends can energise one in fulfilling tasks and engagement with a workplace or school, in the context of specialized NT schools like CSS, there is potential for these aspirations to be defused in light of attachments to peers.
Lastly, a challenge faced by youth in getting good employment in the future would be our sense of entitlement. Clifton (2011) makes a note of entitled citizens, putting the blame on them for the obscene government spending in the USA, especially in the area of healthcare. My point of departure here is not that governments merely spend too much, but that feelings of entitlement among citizens could result in the view that governments owe us a living, and in turn reduce our contribution to society. While we were cleaning up the cooking site, unbeknownst to us, the CSS students in our group had went off to the air-conditioned room for a nap. While it did paint a picture of childlike bliss worth laughing over, I left wondering how it was not instinctual to them to clean up after themselves. This runs parallel to trends of entitlement in the Singapore workforce, where Singaporeans would rather be unemployed for sustained periods of time than take up jobs they deem “beneath” them, especially in the non-PMET job market (Fang, 2015). This poses a challenge for the future of Singapore’s economy, as even despite significant job creation, citizens’ sense of entitlement would discount a large portion of viable jobs.
In conclusion, the trip to Onesimus Garden with CSS students allowed me to experience a microcosm of the future struggle for jobs for today’s youth. Though once deemed useless by the academic machine, students of CSS could find purpose in the robust vocational curriculum and engagement schemes. This was compounded by a belief-instilling ecology of teachers and peers, showing that it does indeed take a village to raise a child. Yet, all these efforts could come crumbling down with the zeitgeist of today’s youth—their sense of entitlement.
Works Cited
Clifton, J. (2011). The Coming Jobs War. Simon and Schuster.
Fang, J. (2015, January 28). Singaporeans continue to shun non-PMET jobs. Retrieved from Today Singapore: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore...
Khoo, C. (2018, June 20). Specialised schools help students realise potential. Retrieved from The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/le...
Loh, M. (2018, June 13). Specialised schools may be curbing student aspirations, social mixing. Retrieved from The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/le...
Mead, S. (2018, January 12). The Great Degree Debate. Retrieved from U.S. News: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowle...
Morrison, R., & Nolan, T. (2009). I get by with a little help from my friends... at work. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 41-54.
The Guardian. (2017, February 19). The Guardian view on vocational education: choice at 14 is not working. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
The first issue youths will face is being equipped for the right jobs. Globally, the assumptions held about vocational education are that it is a lesser alternative to academic education, and that those who enter these schools do not do so voluntarily, but do so as an inevitability of their poor results (The Guardian, 2017). Yet, one of the hallmarks of an education at CSS is its vocational curriculum that breadths over 4 services, namely: mechanical servicing, facility services, hospitality services and retail services. At first glance, the range of blue and pink-collar jobs are unimpressive, and to some, it might even be oppressive. The restrictive options for employment in the lower rung of the labour force appear to run the risk of the “soft bigotry of lower expectations”, seeming to signal to NT students that such jobs are all they can ever aspire to (Mead, 2018). However, this view of the vocational curriculum through the lenses of a prestige-driven society tends to discount its merits.
Clifton (2011) regularly cites the tragedy of the Detroit economy that was scourged by structural unemployment when automobile manufacturers decided to shift production to countries like Japan and Germany where wages were more competitive (Clifton, 2011). In the face of structural unemployment, the employment opportunities provided by CSS’ vocational curriculum stand firm as they serve needs in society that would hardly disappear. The resilience of their prospective industries could have been the source of CSS’ students’ confidence as they recounted their experiences in their vocational curriculum, with 2 girls from my group putting their hospitality capabilities on display by whipping up a delicious curry. Such confidence is in line with Clifton’s (2011) notions that confidence ultimately leads to a prize beyond graduation— that is attaining a job. Thus, although the limited employment choices might seem like restrictions, their resilient demand, coupled with the drive of CSS students present themselves as an opportunity for meaningful employment in the future.
The second issue youths will face in attaining good employment is being engaged in their jobs. According to Clifton (2011), employees’ engagement in their jobs are strongly associated with turnover rates, meaning that failure to be engaged with one’s job translates to job insecurity. Up till then, my impression of CSS students, and any Normal (Technical) (NT) stream students for that matter, had been one of disengagement with academics and school in general, and that they were notoriously difficult to motivate.
Upon meeting the CSS students, it soon became obvious that the group we were interacting with had one thing in common: they were all prefects. After reading “The Coming Jobs War”, such appointments started to make sense. If good employment is meant to help one achieve their fullest potential, this can only be realized when employees are engaged (Clifton, 2011). When CSS students are conferred the position of a prefect, it fulfils criteria laid down by Clifton (2011) for employee engagement, such as allowing the students to “know what is expected of them” and “feel their job is important”. Although I had previously believed that NT students were unmotivated, a particular encounter with Izaan while harvesting purple sweet potato leaves showed me otherwise. While he was initially pleased to be on the sidelines, his eyes lit up when I passed him cutters to prune the desirable sweet potato leaves, delighted to be conferred an exclusive role of cutting harvested leaves. As I praised the quality of leaves he had pruned, he was galvanised in his efforts. This showed me that there are no youth who are beyond motivation, and this presents itself as an opportunity for youth to find good employment in the future. The caveat, however, would be empowering youth with meaningful positions in the workplace, with more than a task to do, but a role to own, hence vitalising job engagement and job security.
The third issue that will decide whether youths find good jobs is whether they have people who are willing to invest in them. Clifton (2011) observes community leaders should care about the success of their communities before their own. This is not far from reality for the teachers at CSS who could have established their careers at more prestigious institutions yet chose to undergo specialized training in order to be an educator at CSS. From my observations, the teachers had a devoted understanding of their students as they seemed to be familiarised with their quirks.
An interesting dynamic I noticed was that the teachers seemed much more amicable than those I had in my secondary school days, relating to their students almost as peers with winsome banter. This prompted me to find out more from a teacher, who told me that the students in CSS might struggle with authority figures, either due to overbearing parents at home, or the absence of authority figures at home altogether. I was impressed that such dynamics were measured to bring out the best in students, when I assume a top-down authoritative approach would afford greater convenience. This echoes Clifton’s (2011) assertions that the leaders in community that make the most impact do not act out of self-interest, and hence are willing to take risks on others. With community leaders like the teachers at CSS willing to look beyond self-interests, youths will be instilled with the confidence to graduate. According to Clifton (2011), such confidence signals academic success, and hence better employability. In conclusion, the sacrifices made by community leaders have significant knock on effects for subsequent generations, and in the case of CSS, the teachers have chosen to instill confidence-boosting belief to their students when not many others would.
The fourth issue that could determine whether youth attain good jobs would be the peers they are surrounded by. A commonality between Gallup’s evaluation of engagement at work and in school is its measure of close friends in the given place context (Clifton, 2011). Studies have also shown the task-related benefits of friendship opportunities at the workplace, that could easily be transposed to the school context, such as job satisfaction and career success (Morrison & Nolan, 2009). During our first interaction with the CSS Students, I had observed a special bond between the boys in our group that seemed to transcend their maturity. At my age, closeness was determined by our openness to each other’s insults. Yet, for the boys in our group, they were generous in affirming one another, reinstating why they could get along, with Dani memorably referring to Ryan as a “cool big brother”. No one could fault their friendship.
However, the attachment to peers could prove to be a double-edged sword. Concerns have been raised about the potential for specialized NT schools like CSS to curb the aspirations of students who could move up into higher streams (Loh, 2018). This was attributed to the attachment CSS students might have to their peers which might give them second thoughts about changing schools to a new environment should they consider moving into Normal (Academic) or Express streams. Thus, while friends can energise one in fulfilling tasks and engagement with a workplace or school, in the context of specialized NT schools like CSS, there is potential for these aspirations to be defused in light of attachments to peers.
Lastly, a challenge faced by youth in getting good employment in the future would be our sense of entitlement. Clifton (2011) makes a note of entitled citizens, putting the blame on them for the obscene government spending in the USA, especially in the area of healthcare. My point of departure here is not that governments merely spend too much, but that feelings of entitlement among citizens could result in the view that governments owe us a living, and in turn reduce our contribution to society. While we were cleaning up the cooking site, unbeknownst to us, the CSS students in our group had went off to the air-conditioned room for a nap. While it did paint a picture of childlike bliss worth laughing over, I left wondering how it was not instinctual to them to clean up after themselves. This runs parallel to trends of entitlement in the Singapore workforce, where Singaporeans would rather be unemployed for sustained periods of time than take up jobs they deem “beneath” them, especially in the non-PMET job market (Fang, 2015). This poses a challenge for the future of Singapore’s economy, as even despite significant job creation, citizens’ sense of entitlement would discount a large portion of viable jobs.
In conclusion, the trip to Onesimus Garden with CSS students allowed me to experience a microcosm of the future struggle for jobs for today’s youth. Though once deemed useless by the academic machine, students of CSS could find purpose in the robust vocational curriculum and engagement schemes. This was compounded by a belief-instilling ecology of teachers and peers, showing that it does indeed take a village to raise a child. Yet, all these efforts could come crumbling down with the zeitgeist of today’s youth—their sense of entitlement.
Works Cited
Clifton, J. (2011). The Coming Jobs War. Simon and Schuster.
Fang, J. (2015, January 28). Singaporeans continue to shun non-PMET jobs. Retrieved from Today Singapore: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore...
Khoo, C. (2018, June 20). Specialised schools help students realise potential. Retrieved from The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/le...
Loh, M. (2018, June 13). Specialised schools may be curbing student aspirations, social mixing. Retrieved from The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/le...
Mead, S. (2018, January 12). The Great Degree Debate. Retrieved from U.S. News: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowle...
Morrison, R., & Nolan, T. (2009). I get by with a little help from my friends... at work. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 41-54.
The Guardian. (2017, February 19). The Guardian view on vocational education: choice at 14 is not working. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
October 25, 2019
In The Coming Jobs War (Clifton, 2011), Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton trumpets the advent of an “all-out global war for good jobs” (p. 1) and expounds on the exigencies of the US economy before offering a few solutions to address them and safeguard the economic authority of America. Despite his overtly nationalistic undertone, I find his arguments reasonably compelling, especially since they are grounded in statistical findings from Gallup’s World Poll. While the author claims that the book is applicable to every economy around the world as the science was assessed and examined from a global perspective (p. 14), it is nonetheless worth investigating its relevance to the Singapore economy. In this endeavour of mine, I reflected on my recent engagement with students from Crest Secondary School (CSS) – one of the two specialised schools for students from the Normal (Technical) stream in Singapore – including an island trip to Pulau Hantu and other combined activities.
In this reflection, I will be exploring the challenges and opportunities our youths face in getting good employment in the future, based on my interactions with the Crestans and with reference to the ideas and principles presented in The Coming Jobs War.
Firstly, it is important to qualify the notion of “good employment”. Clifton defines a good job as one “with a paycheck from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week” (p. 2). He goes on to suggest that beyond the existing perks of a good job, a great job also entails “unlimited growth opportunity”, a superior who is invested in your development, and that gives employees “a sense of mission and purpose” (p. 22). While job vacancies have continued to decline, the overall unemployment rate has remained stable at 2.2 per cent (Ministry of Manpower [MOM], 2019). Moreover, given the power of human ingenuity and the Singapore government’s relentless efforts in bracing the nation for technological disruptions (Seow, 2018; The Straits Times, 2019), it is most likely the case that there would be no serious shortage of good jobs in the next few decades. The question, then, lies in whether the Crestans would be able to land themselves a great job where they are valued by their managers, enjoy ample opportunity for professional development, and derive meaning from their work. Through my conversation with the Crestans, I learned that apart from the regular Normal (Technical) curriculum, CSS also allows its students to enrol in their choice of one of the four available ITE Skills Certificate (ISC) courses – hospitality, retail, mechanical, and facility services – in the third year of their study. This allows them to discover their occupational interests and strengths early and develop a passion in their craft, thus increasing their prospect of meaningful employment.
Apart from vocational training and early exposure to potential occupation, the Crestans also possess desirable attitudes and traits which predisposes them to a promising career. In chapter ten, Clifton proposes that a lack of zest and prospect for the future underlie students’ lost of hope in graduating, and that this disillusionment of what awaits them after graduation may subsequently drive students to disengage themselves from their academic learning and even drop out of the education system altogether (p. 133), which jeopardises their chances of securing jobs in the future. Indeed, research has shown that hope is a stronger predictor of academic success and graduation than grades and test scores (p. 134). Thus, Clifton argues, it is paramount for leaders to inspire hope and instil confidence in students (ibid.). Through my conversation with the Crestans, they are unmistakeably oozing with enthusiasm and positivity about their vocational specialisation and their future employment prospect. For instance, despite our brief encounter, a confident and driven Crestan by the name of Vernon – who specialises in retail services – could not stop sharing about his internship experience at Uniqlo and the multitude of other occasions where he was able to apply his customer service skills which he has acquired from his ISC course. Hence, it can be inferred that not only are the Crestans engaged in their learning, they are also hopeful and optimistic towards their future. This is no doubt due in part to the slew of opportunities offered by their school, which gives them a competitive edge in their respective sector while alleviating their uncertainty about their future employment prospects.
In chapter seven, Clifton highlights the importance of entrepreneurial spirit in job creation and quality Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth (pp. 83–97). Quoting the late president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, Clifton propounds that “[p]ersistence and determination alone are omnipotent” (p. 83); and according to Clifton, entrepreneurs are people with an exceptional surplus of optimism and determination (p. 90). These are the same entrepreneurial qualities demonstrated by the Crestans through the various engagement activities at Pulau Hantu. A case in point is their unceasing attempts at hitting a coconut up in the tree with a tennis ball in one of the minigames. Also, in instances when the flame at our grill had died out, they were determined in their attempts to bring back the fire by fanning the ember, unabated by the soreness in their arms. Their immense persistence and determination are therefore self-evident. Cognisant of the importance of entrepreneurship in invigorating the economy (Koh, 2016), the Singapore government has put in place an extensive support system to encourage entrepreneurship, such as the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE). Singapore was even lauded as an entrepreneur hub by an article in the Harvard Business Review (Anthony, 2015). Consequently, entrepreneurial opportunities abound for students of all academic pathways, including the ITE students, an example of which is the #startable Entrepreneurship Programme (NTU, 2013). Regardless of whether the Crestans would eventually embark on their own entrepreneurial journeys, their determination will certainly increase their chances of finding good employment.
Furthermore, the Crestans are also in the good hands of highly passionate “super mentors”, a term coined by Clifton (p. 73). He defines “super mentors” as people who can provide guidance, advice, and encouragement (ibid.), and who are willing to “take a risk for an individual and an idea” (p.74). He figuratively describes them as “the tipping point of extra energy” that kickstarts the action (ibid.), much like a catalyst in a chemical reaction. While Clifton claims that most super mentors are leadership position holders in universities (p. 79), I contend that the teachers at CSS also fit the description of a super mentor. My observation of the interactions between the Crestans and their teachers revealed that their relationship was one of mutual respect and understanding. Unlike the normal technical teachers whom I have encountered throughout my secondary school life, the teachers from CSS refrained from leveraging on their authority to intimidate their students into doing their bidding. Instead, they afford their students the respect and dignity that they deserve and are at times unafraid to treat them as equals in their interactions. I have also learned from our module coordinator that although the teachers at CSS could have pursued a career at a traditional mainstream school, they voluntarily subjected themselves to a stringent selection process and underwent specialised training in order to teach at CSS. This proves beyond doubt their dedication and professionalism, as well as their worthiness of the title “super mentors”. Under the nurture and guidance of such exceptional educators, the Crestans are likely to develop a more holistic character, which greatly increases their employability.
However, there is one potential pitfall which, if left unchecked, threatens to undermine all of the above-mentioned advantages: a lack of initiative. In chapter eleven, Clifton illustrates how the United States’ healthcare policy is leading the country off a cliff and puts forth an almost-intuitive solution to this gargantuan challenge – encouraging Americans to take charge of their own health (pp. 143–163). Alluding once again to behavioural economics, he advises that leaders should focus on changing the behaviour instead of changing the money since “behaviour happens before the money” (p. 153). While Singapore’s national healthcare spending is nowhere as exorbitant as that of the United States nor are we in the midst of a healthcare crisis, I observed a lack of self-directedness among most of the Crestans in my group that is similar in nature to that described by Clifton. After a tiring day out at Pulau Hantu, the Crestans in my group – perhaps exhausted from the series of activities – displayed minimal initiative in preparing their own food even though they were just as hungry as we were, and instead preferred to be served. Notwithstanding the gamut of support provided by their teacher, their school, and the government, the onus ultimately lies on the individual Crestans to make the most out of their advantages, take the steering wheel of their lives, and actively seize the opportunities that come their way. This is especially crucial in times of adversity.
The engagement has allowed me to gain tremendous insight into the employment prospects of the Normal Technical students from CSS, while The Coming Jobs War has equipped me with a unique set of lenses through which to analyse the issue in greater depth. All in all, it seems that while there are no doubt external factors at play in the equation, such as a supportive learning environment and the presence of transformational leaders, the Crestans’ confidence, determination, and intrinsic motivation to succeed are the ultimate determinants of their success in achieving good employment in the future.
References
Anthony, S. D. (2015, February 25). How Singapore became an entrepreneurial hub. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/02/how-singapore...
Clifton, J. (2011). The coming jobs war: What every leader must know about the future of job creation. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Koh, J. (2016, February 5). Entrepreneurship, innovation 'drive economic growth'. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/business...
Ministry of Manpower. (2019). Labour Market Report Second Quarter 2019. Retrieved from https://stats.mom.gov.sg/iMAS_PdfLibr...
The Straits Times. (2019, June 1). Education and training is new strategy to empower Singaporeans in age of tech disruption: Ong Ye Kung. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...
Seow, B. Y. (2018, September 5). Big study to find out how workers can be matched to future jobs. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...
National Technological University. (2013, 13 August). ITE students get business-savvy with NTU’s entrepreneurship programme, #startable. Retrieved from http://media.ntu.edu.sg/NewsReleases/...
In this reflection, I will be exploring the challenges and opportunities our youths face in getting good employment in the future, based on my interactions with the Crestans and with reference to the ideas and principles presented in The Coming Jobs War.
Firstly, it is important to qualify the notion of “good employment”. Clifton defines a good job as one “with a paycheck from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week” (p. 2). He goes on to suggest that beyond the existing perks of a good job, a great job also entails “unlimited growth opportunity”, a superior who is invested in your development, and that gives employees “a sense of mission and purpose” (p. 22). While job vacancies have continued to decline, the overall unemployment rate has remained stable at 2.2 per cent (Ministry of Manpower [MOM], 2019). Moreover, given the power of human ingenuity and the Singapore government’s relentless efforts in bracing the nation for technological disruptions (Seow, 2018; The Straits Times, 2019), it is most likely the case that there would be no serious shortage of good jobs in the next few decades. The question, then, lies in whether the Crestans would be able to land themselves a great job where they are valued by their managers, enjoy ample opportunity for professional development, and derive meaning from their work. Through my conversation with the Crestans, I learned that apart from the regular Normal (Technical) curriculum, CSS also allows its students to enrol in their choice of one of the four available ITE Skills Certificate (ISC) courses – hospitality, retail, mechanical, and facility services – in the third year of their study. This allows them to discover their occupational interests and strengths early and develop a passion in their craft, thus increasing their prospect of meaningful employment.
Apart from vocational training and early exposure to potential occupation, the Crestans also possess desirable attitudes and traits which predisposes them to a promising career. In chapter ten, Clifton proposes that a lack of zest and prospect for the future underlie students’ lost of hope in graduating, and that this disillusionment of what awaits them after graduation may subsequently drive students to disengage themselves from their academic learning and even drop out of the education system altogether (p. 133), which jeopardises their chances of securing jobs in the future. Indeed, research has shown that hope is a stronger predictor of academic success and graduation than grades and test scores (p. 134). Thus, Clifton argues, it is paramount for leaders to inspire hope and instil confidence in students (ibid.). Through my conversation with the Crestans, they are unmistakeably oozing with enthusiasm and positivity about their vocational specialisation and their future employment prospect. For instance, despite our brief encounter, a confident and driven Crestan by the name of Vernon – who specialises in retail services – could not stop sharing about his internship experience at Uniqlo and the multitude of other occasions where he was able to apply his customer service skills which he has acquired from his ISC course. Hence, it can be inferred that not only are the Crestans engaged in their learning, they are also hopeful and optimistic towards their future. This is no doubt due in part to the slew of opportunities offered by their school, which gives them a competitive edge in their respective sector while alleviating their uncertainty about their future employment prospects.
In chapter seven, Clifton highlights the importance of entrepreneurial spirit in job creation and quality Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth (pp. 83–97). Quoting the late president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, Clifton propounds that “[p]ersistence and determination alone are omnipotent” (p. 83); and according to Clifton, entrepreneurs are people with an exceptional surplus of optimism and determination (p. 90). These are the same entrepreneurial qualities demonstrated by the Crestans through the various engagement activities at Pulau Hantu. A case in point is their unceasing attempts at hitting a coconut up in the tree with a tennis ball in one of the minigames. Also, in instances when the flame at our grill had died out, they were determined in their attempts to bring back the fire by fanning the ember, unabated by the soreness in their arms. Their immense persistence and determination are therefore self-evident. Cognisant of the importance of entrepreneurship in invigorating the economy (Koh, 2016), the Singapore government has put in place an extensive support system to encourage entrepreneurship, such as the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE). Singapore was even lauded as an entrepreneur hub by an article in the Harvard Business Review (Anthony, 2015). Consequently, entrepreneurial opportunities abound for students of all academic pathways, including the ITE students, an example of which is the #startable Entrepreneurship Programme (NTU, 2013). Regardless of whether the Crestans would eventually embark on their own entrepreneurial journeys, their determination will certainly increase their chances of finding good employment.
Furthermore, the Crestans are also in the good hands of highly passionate “super mentors”, a term coined by Clifton (p. 73). He defines “super mentors” as people who can provide guidance, advice, and encouragement (ibid.), and who are willing to “take a risk for an individual and an idea” (p.74). He figuratively describes them as “the tipping point of extra energy” that kickstarts the action (ibid.), much like a catalyst in a chemical reaction. While Clifton claims that most super mentors are leadership position holders in universities (p. 79), I contend that the teachers at CSS also fit the description of a super mentor. My observation of the interactions between the Crestans and their teachers revealed that their relationship was one of mutual respect and understanding. Unlike the normal technical teachers whom I have encountered throughout my secondary school life, the teachers from CSS refrained from leveraging on their authority to intimidate their students into doing their bidding. Instead, they afford their students the respect and dignity that they deserve and are at times unafraid to treat them as equals in their interactions. I have also learned from our module coordinator that although the teachers at CSS could have pursued a career at a traditional mainstream school, they voluntarily subjected themselves to a stringent selection process and underwent specialised training in order to teach at CSS. This proves beyond doubt their dedication and professionalism, as well as their worthiness of the title “super mentors”. Under the nurture and guidance of such exceptional educators, the Crestans are likely to develop a more holistic character, which greatly increases their employability.
However, there is one potential pitfall which, if left unchecked, threatens to undermine all of the above-mentioned advantages: a lack of initiative. In chapter eleven, Clifton illustrates how the United States’ healthcare policy is leading the country off a cliff and puts forth an almost-intuitive solution to this gargantuan challenge – encouraging Americans to take charge of their own health (pp. 143–163). Alluding once again to behavioural economics, he advises that leaders should focus on changing the behaviour instead of changing the money since “behaviour happens before the money” (p. 153). While Singapore’s national healthcare spending is nowhere as exorbitant as that of the United States nor are we in the midst of a healthcare crisis, I observed a lack of self-directedness among most of the Crestans in my group that is similar in nature to that described by Clifton. After a tiring day out at Pulau Hantu, the Crestans in my group – perhaps exhausted from the series of activities – displayed minimal initiative in preparing their own food even though they were just as hungry as we were, and instead preferred to be served. Notwithstanding the gamut of support provided by their teacher, their school, and the government, the onus ultimately lies on the individual Crestans to make the most out of their advantages, take the steering wheel of their lives, and actively seize the opportunities that come their way. This is especially crucial in times of adversity.
The engagement has allowed me to gain tremendous insight into the employment prospects of the Normal Technical students from CSS, while The Coming Jobs War has equipped me with a unique set of lenses through which to analyse the issue in greater depth. All in all, it seems that while there are no doubt external factors at play in the equation, such as a supportive learning environment and the presence of transformational leaders, the Crestans’ confidence, determination, and intrinsic motivation to succeed are the ultimate determinants of their success in achieving good employment in the future.
References
Anthony, S. D. (2015, February 25). How Singapore became an entrepreneurial hub. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/02/how-singapore...
Clifton, J. (2011). The coming jobs war: What every leader must know about the future of job creation. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Koh, J. (2016, February 5). Entrepreneurship, innovation 'drive economic growth'. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/business...
Ministry of Manpower. (2019). Labour Market Report Second Quarter 2019. Retrieved from https://stats.mom.gov.sg/iMAS_PdfLibr...
The Straits Times. (2019, June 1). Education and training is new strategy to empower Singaporeans in age of tech disruption: Ong Ye Kung. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...
Seow, B. Y. (2018, September 5). Big study to find out how workers can be matched to future jobs. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...
National Technological University. (2013, 13 August). ITE students get business-savvy with NTU’s entrepreneurship programme, #startable. Retrieved from http://media.ntu.edu.sg/NewsReleases/...
October 20, 2020
1. Introduction
The Coming Jobs War by Jim Clifton the Chairman of Gallup, a polling and research company discusses the importance of jobs with regards to the American economy. He emphasises that the economy is a result of all the decisions and choices we make at many different levels.
He broke it down into several key categories and talks about the cause and effect each of them has on the economy. This review would examine five of these categories that were mentioned with respect to the Singapore Government’s response to the economy during the Covid pandemic of 2020.
2. High-energy workplace with regards to temporary jobs
Gallup conducted a study on the American workforce and fond out that 53% of the workforce is ‘not engaged’ with an additional 19% actively disengaged. When workers are disengaged, they do not add value to the organisation, they have no concern with productivity, the mission, and have no ambitions. These disengaged workers will not be able to develop their ability to become innovators and entrepreneurs which creates a culture of stagnation in the industry. This becomes counterproductive when creating new jobs and growing the GDP.
With the arrival of the pandemic, many Singaporeans found themselves suddenly unemployed. In order to aid in the rehiring and retraining of these displaced individuals, the Singapore government has implemented several schemes such as the professional conversion programmes and mid-career work attachments. Which has helped 12000 people in finding new employment under the SGUnited Jobs initiative.
However, these programmes do not secure a permanent job, it only provides temporary relief. The workplace attachments only employ 80% of them for up to 12 months. This short-term attachment does not create a culture where the employee would want to do their best, knowing that there is a time limit to their employment. Mr Lee Quane, regional director of ECA International, a global employment consultancy, has commented that because of the unemployment caused by the pandemic, many Singaporeans are turning to sectors like Food and Beverages. But once the economy recovers, “this group of new employees will likely exit these types of roles as they find jobs which are more attractive” . We must understand that the only reason why Singaporeans take on these jobs is that they have found themselves involuntarily unemployed at such short notice. This results in a low-energy workplace, filled with possible disengaged workers.
3. Entrepreneurship vs Innovation
In another chapter of Clifton’s book, he talks about the importance of entrepreneurship together with innovation. Many countries like America and Singapore rely heavily on innovation to drive its economy. He mentions how American leaders equate innovation to a better economy, as it creates new investments and jobs. However, according to Clifford, investing in research and development is only going to get you so far.
In response to the downturn of the Singapore economy, the government has been investing a lot in innovation. The government sees pervasive innovation as a key economic strategy during a time like this. Resulting in more opportunities for innovating and developing solutions. Some of the innovations that Singapore has created include Gill Mask by Mdesign Solutions, COVID-19 rapid test kit by A*STAR’s NanoBio Lab, and the trace together app by GovTech.
According to Clifton, the real power comes from the enterpriser, not the innovator. Innovations are vital, but “unless primary emphasis is put on the key attribute of entrepreneurship, and untold number of world-changing inventions and ideas will die” . One clear example of this would by the Trace Together by GovTech. Developed in about two months, it was a mobile application that would keep track of close encounters between users using their Bluetooth devices. It was meant to aid the government in tracking down individuals who have been in contact with an infected person, it was a tool that would have helped contact tracing. As an invention, it is a well thought out response to the needs of the outbreak. It had the potential to reduce the number of persons to person infections, if only it had been more well received by the people. If this “invention” had been properly marketed, and run, they could have gotten it to work as intended with the population. The inventors did not consider the users or as Clifton would call them, the customers. They failed to understand the needs and concerns of these customers.
4. Local Tribe Leaders
Not all the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the government, others outside the government could affect change on the economy. Tribe leaders according to Clifton are those who know who are the people to talk to, they know the levers to pull and they have the means to get things done. When these leaders act together, they can accomplish things faster than the local government. They are individuals in high positions in society such as CEOs and business owners, who have large networks and access to other talented people which can be used more effectively for the common good.
The Singapore Government was smart enough to understand its limitations. They knew to relieve the economic burden on Singapore, they had to seek help from such ‘Tribal Leaders’. The government started a new Progressive Wage Model (PWM) Mark to spur on the adoption of a minimum wage plus programme. Companies that employ lower-income workers and pays progressive wages and provide job advancement pathways will be recognised and awarded the PWM Mark. Currently, it is mandatory to implement them in the cleaning, security, and landscaping sectors. Whereas the other sectors are only on a voluntary basis. The government is trying to collaborate and appeal to the other leaders of their sectors to voluntarily adopt this program, rather than forcing them to partake in it. The government would complement the PWM with workfare benefits and skills upgrading but needs the tribal leaders to do more than just adopt and endorse. They need to be part of the solution. The more successful tribal leaders need to find ways to influence their consumers to pay slightly more and support like-minded progressive companies by purchasing their products and services. This would in turn spur up other companies to become progressive and adopt the PWM Mark.
5. Healthcare
Clifton attributes one of the main reasons for the decline in America’s economy is due to the inexplicable cost of healthcare. America has put in so much money into keeping sick people from getting sicker that it drains the finances away from other institutions. He blames the mindset of the people for the reason why America is spending the majority of its money and resources on sickness. Healthcare is not just about building hospitals and creating medicine, it starts with the individual. Every year America loses billions in health cost and productivity to obesity, if only they had taken the effort to get fitter, they could spend less on healthcare and direct them to other industries.
This mindset is especially relevant today as Singapore and the rest of the world is going through a healthcare crisis which has caused the economic downturn. Honestly, all it takes to shorten the crisis is for us individuals to do our part. The problem is not the disease or the lack of advancement in medicine, its due to our selfish human behaviour. Singapore’s Circuit breaker is the “get fit” of Clifton’s reasoning. If Singaporeans put in the effort to follow the regulations set in place, lessening face to face transition, the faster the Covid pandemic would be eradicated, the faster the economy can get back to normal. However, many Singaporeans take it for granted thinking that they as individuals flaunting the rules will not make a difference. During the first week of phase one post circuit breaker, 58 fines were issued by ESG and STB . Sometimes it is not the government’s fault that the economy is in such a state, but ours instead.
6. Competition Mindset – Foreigners Vs Locals
The previous categories are micro causes and effect categories that were highlighted by Clifton as the reasons for the decline of America’s Economy. Now we will take a step back and look at how that has affected the country and the world. Clifton has painted a world where in the future China will overtake America as the global economic powerhouse, and it is because China is constantly adapting while America has regressed and is barely keeping the status quo. Many Americans are apparently not taking it seriously, constantly thinking that no matter how well China’s GDP is, America will win because they can innovate better, while China is only in the production game. But that is no longer the case as China has started to show plenty of potential innovators, and soon all the jobs will be going over to China.
If you compare the war between America and China with Singapore’s situation, we can find a similar comparison with the debate on foreigners ‘stealing’ local jobs. Currently, the Singapore government has rolled out new measures to deter companies from hiring foreigners in place of locals in the low-mid sectors. The problem is that locals do not actually want to do the jobs that are being ‘reserved’ for them. The owner of Ka Soh Chinese restaurants in Singapore, Mr Cedric Tang has said that he prefers to hire locals but struggle to do so. Because, it is a labour-intensive job with shifts which locals prefer not to do, as a result, he has had to hire more foreigners.
So naturally, we are losing a lot of our jobs to foreigners, and we cannot blame the government for allowing so many to come in. Instead of creating sanctions on business owners to deter hiring locals, we need to change the mindset of the citizens. Because if we do not change, we may lose all our jobs bit by bit to foreigners, just like how America is going to lose to china if they do not change the way they think.
7. Conclusion
The problems our economy is facing right now is an accumulation of many different issues. It must be tackled at many fronts, from the top down and the bottom up. It is not only our leaders’ job to create the framework which allows the economy to flourish, but also to change the mindset of the people. However, no matter how sophisticated technology and elaborate our schemes and programmes are, in the end, it all boils down to the actions of the individual. It is our job to ensure that we work with our government rather than against it. In the event they are truly doing a poor job, it is our responsibility to call them out. The worst thing for the economy of any country is poor leadership.
Bibliography
Abdullah, Ahmad Zhaki. “Manpower Ministry to Review Companies Whose 'Singaporean Core Has Been Weakening': Josephine Teo.” CNA, September 1, 2020.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Clifton, John. The Coming Jobs War: What Every Leader Must Know about the Future of Job Creation. New York, NY: Gallup Press, 2011.
Min, Chew Hui. “Business Owners in F&B, Retail and Construction Raise Concerns about Rise in S Pass Qualifying Salary.” CNA, September 3, 2020.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Phua, Rachel. “Singapore Jobless Rate Hits 2.9%, Highest in More than a Decade; Retrenchments Double.” CNA, July 29, 2020. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Seow, Joanna. “Job Schemes Aim to Protect Singaporeans: Josephine Teo.” The Straits Times, July 4, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor....
Seow, Joanna. “More than 12,000 People Placed in New Jobs under SGUnited Initiative: Josephine Teo.” The Straits Times, July 3, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor....
“Singapore Agenda In Focus: Innovation.” Public Service Division, May 20, 2020. https://www.psd.gov.sg/challenge/idea....
Ting, Choo Yun. “New Progressive Wage Model Mark to Spur Adoption of 'Minimum Wage plus'.” The Straits Times, September 1, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics....
“58 Fines Issued by ESG and STB in the First Week of Phase One Post Circuit Breaker.” STB, June 9, 2020. https://www.stb.gov.sg/content/stb/en....
The Coming Jobs War by Jim Clifton the Chairman of Gallup, a polling and research company discusses the importance of jobs with regards to the American economy. He emphasises that the economy is a result of all the decisions and choices we make at many different levels.
He broke it down into several key categories and talks about the cause and effect each of them has on the economy. This review would examine five of these categories that were mentioned with respect to the Singapore Government’s response to the economy during the Covid pandemic of 2020.
2. High-energy workplace with regards to temporary jobs
Gallup conducted a study on the American workforce and fond out that 53% of the workforce is ‘not engaged’ with an additional 19% actively disengaged. When workers are disengaged, they do not add value to the organisation, they have no concern with productivity, the mission, and have no ambitions. These disengaged workers will not be able to develop their ability to become innovators and entrepreneurs which creates a culture of stagnation in the industry. This becomes counterproductive when creating new jobs and growing the GDP.
With the arrival of the pandemic, many Singaporeans found themselves suddenly unemployed. In order to aid in the rehiring and retraining of these displaced individuals, the Singapore government has implemented several schemes such as the professional conversion programmes and mid-career work attachments. Which has helped 12000 people in finding new employment under the SGUnited Jobs initiative.
However, these programmes do not secure a permanent job, it only provides temporary relief. The workplace attachments only employ 80% of them for up to 12 months. This short-term attachment does not create a culture where the employee would want to do their best, knowing that there is a time limit to their employment. Mr Lee Quane, regional director of ECA International, a global employment consultancy, has commented that because of the unemployment caused by the pandemic, many Singaporeans are turning to sectors like Food and Beverages. But once the economy recovers, “this group of new employees will likely exit these types of roles as they find jobs which are more attractive” . We must understand that the only reason why Singaporeans take on these jobs is that they have found themselves involuntarily unemployed at such short notice. This results in a low-energy workplace, filled with possible disengaged workers.
3. Entrepreneurship vs Innovation
In another chapter of Clifton’s book, he talks about the importance of entrepreneurship together with innovation. Many countries like America and Singapore rely heavily on innovation to drive its economy. He mentions how American leaders equate innovation to a better economy, as it creates new investments and jobs. However, according to Clifford, investing in research and development is only going to get you so far.
In response to the downturn of the Singapore economy, the government has been investing a lot in innovation. The government sees pervasive innovation as a key economic strategy during a time like this. Resulting in more opportunities for innovating and developing solutions. Some of the innovations that Singapore has created include Gill Mask by Mdesign Solutions, COVID-19 rapid test kit by A*STAR’s NanoBio Lab, and the trace together app by GovTech.
According to Clifton, the real power comes from the enterpriser, not the innovator. Innovations are vital, but “unless primary emphasis is put on the key attribute of entrepreneurship, and untold number of world-changing inventions and ideas will die” . One clear example of this would by the Trace Together by GovTech. Developed in about two months, it was a mobile application that would keep track of close encounters between users using their Bluetooth devices. It was meant to aid the government in tracking down individuals who have been in contact with an infected person, it was a tool that would have helped contact tracing. As an invention, it is a well thought out response to the needs of the outbreak. It had the potential to reduce the number of persons to person infections, if only it had been more well received by the people. If this “invention” had been properly marketed, and run, they could have gotten it to work as intended with the population. The inventors did not consider the users or as Clifton would call them, the customers. They failed to understand the needs and concerns of these customers.
4. Local Tribe Leaders
Not all the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the government, others outside the government could affect change on the economy. Tribe leaders according to Clifton are those who know who are the people to talk to, they know the levers to pull and they have the means to get things done. When these leaders act together, they can accomplish things faster than the local government. They are individuals in high positions in society such as CEOs and business owners, who have large networks and access to other talented people which can be used more effectively for the common good.
The Singapore Government was smart enough to understand its limitations. They knew to relieve the economic burden on Singapore, they had to seek help from such ‘Tribal Leaders’. The government started a new Progressive Wage Model (PWM) Mark to spur on the adoption of a minimum wage plus programme. Companies that employ lower-income workers and pays progressive wages and provide job advancement pathways will be recognised and awarded the PWM Mark. Currently, it is mandatory to implement them in the cleaning, security, and landscaping sectors. Whereas the other sectors are only on a voluntary basis. The government is trying to collaborate and appeal to the other leaders of their sectors to voluntarily adopt this program, rather than forcing them to partake in it. The government would complement the PWM with workfare benefits and skills upgrading but needs the tribal leaders to do more than just adopt and endorse. They need to be part of the solution. The more successful tribal leaders need to find ways to influence their consumers to pay slightly more and support like-minded progressive companies by purchasing their products and services. This would in turn spur up other companies to become progressive and adopt the PWM Mark.
5. Healthcare
Clifton attributes one of the main reasons for the decline in America’s economy is due to the inexplicable cost of healthcare. America has put in so much money into keeping sick people from getting sicker that it drains the finances away from other institutions. He blames the mindset of the people for the reason why America is spending the majority of its money and resources on sickness. Healthcare is not just about building hospitals and creating medicine, it starts with the individual. Every year America loses billions in health cost and productivity to obesity, if only they had taken the effort to get fitter, they could spend less on healthcare and direct them to other industries.
This mindset is especially relevant today as Singapore and the rest of the world is going through a healthcare crisis which has caused the economic downturn. Honestly, all it takes to shorten the crisis is for us individuals to do our part. The problem is not the disease or the lack of advancement in medicine, its due to our selfish human behaviour. Singapore’s Circuit breaker is the “get fit” of Clifton’s reasoning. If Singaporeans put in the effort to follow the regulations set in place, lessening face to face transition, the faster the Covid pandemic would be eradicated, the faster the economy can get back to normal. However, many Singaporeans take it for granted thinking that they as individuals flaunting the rules will not make a difference. During the first week of phase one post circuit breaker, 58 fines were issued by ESG and STB . Sometimes it is not the government’s fault that the economy is in such a state, but ours instead.
6. Competition Mindset – Foreigners Vs Locals
The previous categories are micro causes and effect categories that were highlighted by Clifton as the reasons for the decline of America’s Economy. Now we will take a step back and look at how that has affected the country and the world. Clifton has painted a world where in the future China will overtake America as the global economic powerhouse, and it is because China is constantly adapting while America has regressed and is barely keeping the status quo. Many Americans are apparently not taking it seriously, constantly thinking that no matter how well China’s GDP is, America will win because they can innovate better, while China is only in the production game. But that is no longer the case as China has started to show plenty of potential innovators, and soon all the jobs will be going over to China.
If you compare the war between America and China with Singapore’s situation, we can find a similar comparison with the debate on foreigners ‘stealing’ local jobs. Currently, the Singapore government has rolled out new measures to deter companies from hiring foreigners in place of locals in the low-mid sectors. The problem is that locals do not actually want to do the jobs that are being ‘reserved’ for them. The owner of Ka Soh Chinese restaurants in Singapore, Mr Cedric Tang has said that he prefers to hire locals but struggle to do so. Because, it is a labour-intensive job with shifts which locals prefer not to do, as a result, he has had to hire more foreigners.
So naturally, we are losing a lot of our jobs to foreigners, and we cannot blame the government for allowing so many to come in. Instead of creating sanctions on business owners to deter hiring locals, we need to change the mindset of the citizens. Because if we do not change, we may lose all our jobs bit by bit to foreigners, just like how America is going to lose to china if they do not change the way they think.
7. Conclusion
The problems our economy is facing right now is an accumulation of many different issues. It must be tackled at many fronts, from the top down and the bottom up. It is not only our leaders’ job to create the framework which allows the economy to flourish, but also to change the mindset of the people. However, no matter how sophisticated technology and elaborate our schemes and programmes are, in the end, it all boils down to the actions of the individual. It is our job to ensure that we work with our government rather than against it. In the event they are truly doing a poor job, it is our responsibility to call them out. The worst thing for the economy of any country is poor leadership.
Bibliography
Abdullah, Ahmad Zhaki. “Manpower Ministry to Review Companies Whose 'Singaporean Core Has Been Weakening': Josephine Teo.” CNA, September 1, 2020.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Clifton, John. The Coming Jobs War: What Every Leader Must Know about the Future of Job Creation. New York, NY: Gallup Press, 2011.
Min, Chew Hui. “Business Owners in F&B, Retail and Construction Raise Concerns about Rise in S Pass Qualifying Salary.” CNA, September 3, 2020.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Phua, Rachel. “Singapore Jobless Rate Hits 2.9%, Highest in More than a Decade; Retrenchments Double.” CNA, July 29, 2020. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....
Seow, Joanna. “Job Schemes Aim to Protect Singaporeans: Josephine Teo.” The Straits Times, July 4, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor....
Seow, Joanna. “More than 12,000 People Placed in New Jobs under SGUnited Initiative: Josephine Teo.” The Straits Times, July 3, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapor....
“Singapore Agenda In Focus: Innovation.” Public Service Division, May 20, 2020. https://www.psd.gov.sg/challenge/idea....
Ting, Choo Yun. “New Progressive Wage Model Mark to Spur Adoption of 'Minimum Wage plus'.” The Straits Times, September 1, 2020. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics....
“58 Fines Issued by ESG and STB in the First Week of Phase One Post Circuit Breaker.” STB, June 9, 2020. https://www.stb.gov.sg/content/stb/en....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2022
This is a review of the book in accompaniment with my reflections on a trip I had to Pulau Hantu. The review focusses on the issues of employment and climate change.
Climate change has brought about great challenges to the world, including global warming, rising sea levels and increased frequencies of natural disasters. Amidst this global phenomenon, the world continues spinning and the youth of today continue to search for good employment, which Jim Clifton claims in “The Coming Jobs War”, is the most valuable social item that can be gained. He even claims that a good job is more valuable than religious, democratic or familial goals.
Referencing Clifton’s book, I will share my reflections on the Pulau Hantu trip in relation to 3 issues about the challenges and opportunities our youths face in getting good employment in light of challenges brought on by climate change.
As the ferry bobbed up and down, charting its course for Pulau Hantu, I wondered why I had never heard of this island before. Unlike Lazarus Island or Saint John’s Island, it was not a common destination for most Singaporeans. I was surprised at the state of the island. Tiled footpaths were abundant and the island was generally very well maintained, with any fallen leaves or branches neatly kept in a pile. The toilets were cleaner than some of the toilets in Singapore and there was even a designated cleaner there. I wondered why the government bothered to maintain such an island, especially when I doubted it received many visitors, such as today where the only other visitors were Malaysian fishermen. There was not much to do on the island as well for leisure, other than barbecuing food.
However, one interesting point I could see in relation to employment is regarding environmental degradation. We had the privilege of meeting a gentleman who had extensive knowledge on insects and shared with us how insects adapt to the environment and how on an island like Pulau Hantu, there can be other species which are not able to grow on Singapore.This could be due to the impact of humans or the presence of urbanisation.
Thus, we can draw an analogy to employment. Climate change can negatively affect certain industries such as the agricultural industry. Agriculture is a large industry which caters to the needs of all in the world as food is an undoubted necessity for all humans. Thus, it definitely requires a great amount of manpower to allow it to function, as well as analysts and scientists who help to make the process more efficient. Yet, climate change has been known to cause extensive droughts, preventing crops from being watered for months on end. In addition, “thermal stress could cause the loss of 60% of the working hours between farmers and workers in the agricultural supply chain” (Morning Future, 2019). Thus this can severely limit the opportunities available to the youth who are looking to contribute to this industry but are limited by the environment. In the same way, the difference in species of insects in Singapore and on Pulau Hantu is due to the environment. The increase in species on Pulau Hantu represents the increased access to different employment opportunities that are available to the youth. Thus youth would find it easier to gain good employment in certain industries in areas which are not affected by environmental degradation. Clifton states that “The state of the environment is a problem that, if left unchecked, will destroy humankind, but not today, not even next year.” While this remains true, I would like to posit the fact that the environment is degrading at such a fast pace that we may not have much time before the effects on employment become irreversible.
Another point would be that there is a consistent loop occurring between unemployment and environmental degradation. Starting with unemployment, unemployment causes workers to lose their livelihoods and can result in the inability to support their lifestyle or the lifestyles of their family. With basic survival on the line, it is expected that these workers would not have the headspace to worry about the environment when they are at risk themselves. Hence with less thought given to environmental conservation, the problem of climate change could become even worse. As mentioned above, climate change can reduce the opportunities available for employment in certain industries and thus this leads back to the issue of unemployment.
Clifton mentions that lawmakers need to know which laws, including “environmental regulations, (will) attract or repel talented entrepreneurs”. He goes on to state that “If enough talented people are repelled, then the new laws will cause brain drain and undermine job creation.” Entrepreneurs are essential to job creation in increasing the number of small to medium enterprises which are created, which are responsible for a bulk of new job opportunities. However, governments also have to keep the public interest in mind. With environmental conservation gaining popularity among the youth, it can be seen as an important aspect to be considered in public policy. Thus the balance which governments draw between environmental regulation and attracting entrepreneurs is crucial.
While on Pulau Hantu, I noticed infrastructure on a nearby island which appeared to belong to the oil company Shell. Oil companies are responsible for a great amount of damage to the environment such as through the emission of carbon monoxide and water pollution. The Guardian reported that a study in 2019 had “found that the largest five stock-market-listed oil and gas companies spend nearly $200m each year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change” (The Guardian, 2019). Across the sea were many cargo ships which I assumed to be headed towards or leaving the Singapore harbour. Cargo ships also release a great amount of oil into the sea when travelling. Thus for a country like Singapore, which relies heavily on shipping for trade and economic deals, it could be difficult to implement restrictions on shipping in the interest of the environment. With the added pressure from companies themselves and the employment opportunities shipping does contribute to Singaporeans, it puts the government in a difficult position. For countries that are not so reliant on oil or shipping, like Denmark, employment may not be so heavily affected by environmental degradation as they are already doing a considerable amount against it.
While on the island, we were assigned tasks to complete, such as barbecuing the food we had brought over, distilling sea water or cleaning the beach. However, there was no one truly enforcing us to do the activities but ourselves. There was the added pressure of having the staff from St Hilda’s Community Services Centre there with us but after a few hours of cooking and distilling, we were left to our own devices. We spent time sitting along the coast, reflecting about life and engaging in meaningful discussions. I realised individuals are very unique in their interests, with some choosing to sit by the coast while others experimented with the cooking, talked to the Centre staff or even tried to break open coconuts.
My last point highlights the role capitalism plays in affecting the environment, employment and how they each have effects on each other. “Capitalism occurs where free enterprise — the freedom to create anything you want, to build whatever you want — is allowed to flourish.” This was quite similar to the situation on Pulau Hantu, where after completing the given tasks, we each set off on our separate paths to complete new, self set, tasks. The benefit of this system is that entrepreneurship is encouraged. Young minds with bright ideas have the freedom to pursue their ideas, assuming they have sufficient capital to do so. Clifton has mentioned that both innovation and entrepreneurship are important in fueling job creation. More small to medium sized enterprises, which “are responsible for most of the jobs in America” (Clifton, 2011), will also form.
However, every system has its disadvantages. Capitalism encourages actions which are done in the interest of oneself. Consumer consumption can rise significantly and lead to an increased environmental burden on the Earth. An example of this is the consumption of bluefin tuna. According to the World Wildlife Fund, bluefin tuna is an endangered species that is at risk due to excessive fishing. As fisheries have not been able to properly cultivate the tuna, constant consumption could soon see the tuna population dropping to dismal numbers. Bluefin tuna are top predators which keep the marine ecosystem functioning effectively. Without them, this would negatively affect marine life, which can have more adverse effects on the sea and other aspects of the environment. From an economic standpoint, the loss of tuna would put many out of employment and cause potential fisheries to close down. Thus, it is clear that environmental concerns are also economic concerns, with the two directly affecting each other.
Climate change affects employment opportunities directly and indirectly through government regulations and capitalism. The youth of today must recognise the importance of the environment in keeping the Earth, themselves and future generations alive. We may have different needs but one thing we have to cooperate on is environmental conservation. For the sake of our world and our lives.
Word Count: 1496
References
Clifton, J. (2011). The Coming Jobs War. Gallup Press.
Morning Future. (2019). The effects of global warming on jobs: 80 million fewer jobs.
Retrieved from
https://www.morningfuture.com/en/2019...
Taylor, M & Watts, J. (2019). Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions. The Guardian.
Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
World Wildlife Foundation. (n.d.). Bluefin Tuna.
Retrieved from
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species...
Goolsby, K. (n.d.). The Outsourcing Phenomenon Comes with Age. Outsourcing Centre. Retrieved from https://www.outsourcing-center.com/th...
Climate change has brought about great challenges to the world, including global warming, rising sea levels and increased frequencies of natural disasters. Amidst this global phenomenon, the world continues spinning and the youth of today continue to search for good employment, which Jim Clifton claims in “The Coming Jobs War”, is the most valuable social item that can be gained. He even claims that a good job is more valuable than religious, democratic or familial goals.
Referencing Clifton’s book, I will share my reflections on the Pulau Hantu trip in relation to 3 issues about the challenges and opportunities our youths face in getting good employment in light of challenges brought on by climate change.
As the ferry bobbed up and down, charting its course for Pulau Hantu, I wondered why I had never heard of this island before. Unlike Lazarus Island or Saint John’s Island, it was not a common destination for most Singaporeans. I was surprised at the state of the island. Tiled footpaths were abundant and the island was generally very well maintained, with any fallen leaves or branches neatly kept in a pile. The toilets were cleaner than some of the toilets in Singapore and there was even a designated cleaner there. I wondered why the government bothered to maintain such an island, especially when I doubted it received many visitors, such as today where the only other visitors were Malaysian fishermen. There was not much to do on the island as well for leisure, other than barbecuing food.
However, one interesting point I could see in relation to employment is regarding environmental degradation. We had the privilege of meeting a gentleman who had extensive knowledge on insects and shared with us how insects adapt to the environment and how on an island like Pulau Hantu, there can be other species which are not able to grow on Singapore.This could be due to the impact of humans or the presence of urbanisation.
Thus, we can draw an analogy to employment. Climate change can negatively affect certain industries such as the agricultural industry. Agriculture is a large industry which caters to the needs of all in the world as food is an undoubted necessity for all humans. Thus, it definitely requires a great amount of manpower to allow it to function, as well as analysts and scientists who help to make the process more efficient. Yet, climate change has been known to cause extensive droughts, preventing crops from being watered for months on end. In addition, “thermal stress could cause the loss of 60% of the working hours between farmers and workers in the agricultural supply chain” (Morning Future, 2019). Thus this can severely limit the opportunities available to the youth who are looking to contribute to this industry but are limited by the environment. In the same way, the difference in species of insects in Singapore and on Pulau Hantu is due to the environment. The increase in species on Pulau Hantu represents the increased access to different employment opportunities that are available to the youth. Thus youth would find it easier to gain good employment in certain industries in areas which are not affected by environmental degradation. Clifton states that “The state of the environment is a problem that, if left unchecked, will destroy humankind, but not today, not even next year.” While this remains true, I would like to posit the fact that the environment is degrading at such a fast pace that we may not have much time before the effects on employment become irreversible.
Another point would be that there is a consistent loop occurring between unemployment and environmental degradation. Starting with unemployment, unemployment causes workers to lose their livelihoods and can result in the inability to support their lifestyle or the lifestyles of their family. With basic survival on the line, it is expected that these workers would not have the headspace to worry about the environment when they are at risk themselves. Hence with less thought given to environmental conservation, the problem of climate change could become even worse. As mentioned above, climate change can reduce the opportunities available for employment in certain industries and thus this leads back to the issue of unemployment.
Clifton mentions that lawmakers need to know which laws, including “environmental regulations, (will) attract or repel talented entrepreneurs”. He goes on to state that “If enough talented people are repelled, then the new laws will cause brain drain and undermine job creation.” Entrepreneurs are essential to job creation in increasing the number of small to medium enterprises which are created, which are responsible for a bulk of new job opportunities. However, governments also have to keep the public interest in mind. With environmental conservation gaining popularity among the youth, it can be seen as an important aspect to be considered in public policy. Thus the balance which governments draw between environmental regulation and attracting entrepreneurs is crucial.
While on Pulau Hantu, I noticed infrastructure on a nearby island which appeared to belong to the oil company Shell. Oil companies are responsible for a great amount of damage to the environment such as through the emission of carbon monoxide and water pollution. The Guardian reported that a study in 2019 had “found that the largest five stock-market-listed oil and gas companies spend nearly $200m each year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change” (The Guardian, 2019). Across the sea were many cargo ships which I assumed to be headed towards or leaving the Singapore harbour. Cargo ships also release a great amount of oil into the sea when travelling. Thus for a country like Singapore, which relies heavily on shipping for trade and economic deals, it could be difficult to implement restrictions on shipping in the interest of the environment. With the added pressure from companies themselves and the employment opportunities shipping does contribute to Singaporeans, it puts the government in a difficult position. For countries that are not so reliant on oil or shipping, like Denmark, employment may not be so heavily affected by environmental degradation as they are already doing a considerable amount against it.
While on the island, we were assigned tasks to complete, such as barbecuing the food we had brought over, distilling sea water or cleaning the beach. However, there was no one truly enforcing us to do the activities but ourselves. There was the added pressure of having the staff from St Hilda’s Community Services Centre there with us but after a few hours of cooking and distilling, we were left to our own devices. We spent time sitting along the coast, reflecting about life and engaging in meaningful discussions. I realised individuals are very unique in their interests, with some choosing to sit by the coast while others experimented with the cooking, talked to the Centre staff or even tried to break open coconuts.
My last point highlights the role capitalism plays in affecting the environment, employment and how they each have effects on each other. “Capitalism occurs where free enterprise — the freedom to create anything you want, to build whatever you want — is allowed to flourish.” This was quite similar to the situation on Pulau Hantu, where after completing the given tasks, we each set off on our separate paths to complete new, self set, tasks. The benefit of this system is that entrepreneurship is encouraged. Young minds with bright ideas have the freedom to pursue their ideas, assuming they have sufficient capital to do so. Clifton has mentioned that both innovation and entrepreneurship are important in fueling job creation. More small to medium sized enterprises, which “are responsible for most of the jobs in America” (Clifton, 2011), will also form.
However, every system has its disadvantages. Capitalism encourages actions which are done in the interest of oneself. Consumer consumption can rise significantly and lead to an increased environmental burden on the Earth. An example of this is the consumption of bluefin tuna. According to the World Wildlife Fund, bluefin tuna is an endangered species that is at risk due to excessive fishing. As fisheries have not been able to properly cultivate the tuna, constant consumption could soon see the tuna population dropping to dismal numbers. Bluefin tuna are top predators which keep the marine ecosystem functioning effectively. Without them, this would negatively affect marine life, which can have more adverse effects on the sea and other aspects of the environment. From an economic standpoint, the loss of tuna would put many out of employment and cause potential fisheries to close down. Thus, it is clear that environmental concerns are also economic concerns, with the two directly affecting each other.
Climate change affects employment opportunities directly and indirectly through government regulations and capitalism. The youth of today must recognise the importance of the environment in keeping the Earth, themselves and future generations alive. We may have different needs but one thing we have to cooperate on is environmental conservation. For the sake of our world and our lives.
Word Count: 1496
References
Clifton, J. (2011). The Coming Jobs War. Gallup Press.
Morning Future. (2019). The effects of global warming on jobs: 80 million fewer jobs.
Retrieved from
https://www.morningfuture.com/en/2019...
Taylor, M & Watts, J. (2019). Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions. The Guardian.
Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
World Wildlife Foundation. (n.d.). Bluefin Tuna.
Retrieved from
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species...
Goolsby, K. (n.d.). The Outsourcing Phenomenon Comes with Age. Outsourcing Centre. Retrieved from https://www.outsourcing-center.com/th...
November 12, 2019
In reflection with regard to an interaction with Crest Secondary School, an institution for students who might be less inclined to academics:
As a University student, something that seems like a forgotten fragment of past is the streams of secondary school. Most of us come from the Express Stream and a truly inspiring group from the Normal Academic Stream, the paths that generally lead to Junior College or Polytechnic. But the group which often slips our mind is the last group of our peers, a group that many conservative parents in Singapore would advise us to steer away from, those in the Normal Technical Stream. But though many may forget about this group of individuals, the minds behind Crest Secondary School certainly did not.
During the time we spent with the students from Crest, we learnt more about the courses of study available in their programme. The students I spent the most time with were from the hospitality track, one of the practical skill driven courses available in the school. They shared with us about the skills they learned there, including housekeeping and culinary skills and about the job paths they were likely to take in the future after they graduated and completed their studies in an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) or Polytechnic.
As raised in the book “The Coming Jobs War” by Jim Clifton (hereinafter Clifton), there is a bold assertation made that having more successful entrepreneurs and creating more jobs is paramount in the upcoming economic climate and is essential in preventing society from breaking down. He also emphasizes that every leader should know the importance of job creation and that what everyone wants is a good job. While Clifton doesn’t hide that he is a born and bred American and his statements are made with the most direct relevance to the United States, he comes from a place of concern towards his country as a world leader and that perspective is one that has merit towards Singapore and those who seek jobs here in the coming future.
“Entrepreneurs are the rainmakers”, so said Clifton. One of the quintessential elements he believes will define success in the future is for enough entrepreneurs to gather in one place and create enough jobs to start a cycle. It’s a noble ideal, but one that immediately presents a challenge for the graduates of Crest Secondary School. In our interactions with those students, we came to quickly realize that they were incredibly friendly and good-natured people, but also fundamentally survival minded. Being brought up in certain environments with certain societal expectations, the students think simply of how to earn a living and feed themselves, and to have a comfortable life. None of them brought up spectacular dreams of any form or any intention to start businesses of their own. Where Clifton calls individuals to become leaders in their respective communities by starting their own businesses, the students of Crest Secondary fall far more easily into the working class. Their skillsets and intentions leave them far more likely to seek out and to need the jobs created by these innovative entrepreneurs than to be these entrepreneurs themselves. This is, of course, not to speak ill of these students either. Should any of them wish to pursue business endeavours, they are well equipped with the skills to do so, though among the few we were exposed to, it seems unlikely that path will be explored by them.
Clifton also places Education as a factor of great importance to youth in the coming years. He encourages us not to look at the few popular success stories of college drop-outs with great entrepreneurial dreams as a reference to believe that education stands in the way of innovation. He argues instead that most highly successful start ups have their roots in university, with the institutions playing essential roles in grounding these attempts in the critical starting phase of their formation. He believes this so strongly, in fact, that in his eye America stands a huge advantage in the upcoming jobs war due to the presence of their top 100 universities, which stand as the biggest differentiating global factor for their nation. This is fortunately not something the youth of Singapore have to fear. The vision set within our nations many years ago places a huge emphasis on education and our education structures are an indispensable part of our social structure. This extends even towards the students of the Normal Technical Stream, who are often viewed to not be as inclined towards studies as other students. They are offered paths to Polytechnic and ITE as a means of further study and to those who desire, ITE can also lead to Polytechnic and the latter presents the opportunity to go to university as well. The students of Crest for example had their full cohort eligible for further study at ITE and are well set on the path to take on the coming challenge in education. Even if their path might be slightly longer, they are by no means out of the education race.
Leadership at the community level is another issue that Clifton highlights will be defining in the search for good employment in the coming years. “More money, jobs and GDP turns on who is named manager than on any other decision,” says Clifton. “Fire all lousy managers today.” That is his stance on the need for companies to seek the right leadership in their managerial positions. He extends this to the city level as well, driving home the point that cities need leaders that are willing and able to bring in new companies who will create new jobs for the people under their care. He describes leadership as the key to creating new jobs, and this is certainly something that is well handled by Singapore. As a small city-state, Singapore was fundamentally built on the basis of drawing other nations to invest in us and create opportunities for our locals. For some of the students of Crest for example, who pursue hospitality, Singapore has solidified its reputation as a tourist destination in Southeast Asia and drawn in multiple big-name multinational hotel chains like Marriott and Holiday Inn to set up base here. The number of jobs these chains create in hospitality, ranging from the Food and Beverage (F&B) sector, the housekeeping sector or customer service is astounding, with each hotel easily being staffed in the hundreds or thousands. While the of Crest for the most part are not the type to pursue a path of community leadership, the current leadership has definitely outdone itself in providing opportunity for them in employment.
Clifton described engaged employees as an important factor in upkeeping productivity as well. In his argument, a large number of jobs are being held by disengaged employees who are hindering the growth of organizations in general, and by extension hindering the creation of more jobs. The keywords in this issue would likely be attitude and work ethic and in the eyes of most people, those in the Normal Technical path would struggle in this area. But this is not true of those in Crest. In our experience with them they are people who are incredibly passionate about what they do, something cultivated in them by their tutors. It was shared with us that this extends to the level that students of Crest prefer their time in school to time at home, the opposite of many other students. If they carry this attitude forward into the working world, staying engaged in their jobs is unlikely to be a challenge and they can hold reputation as the most dedicated of employees.
Another perspective offered by Clifton is product management. “The answer is customer engagement.” When customers love the products we create, companies will grow and new jobs will flow,” he said. As he argues, new customers will lead to more jobs as demand increases and there is a role to be played to ensure products resonate with their market. But coming back to those in hospitality at least, they are taught to take pride in their work and trained to have better attitudes. That being a service sector, the product is the interactions and experience that guests have in and of themselves and this is certainly something the students of Crest are being prepared for way ahead of time. The work ethics being taught to the students there are respectable and will likely be valued by any employer who takes them in the future.
Ultimately, Clifton’s point is, in no loose terms, a call to war. “I don’t use the term ‘war’ lightly. This really has to be a war on job loss, on low workplace energy, on healthcare costs, on low graduation rates, on brain drain, and on community disengagement,” he says. “Those things destroy cities, destroy job growth and destroy city GDP. Every city requires its own master plan that is as serious as planning for war.” Though, in with the current leadership, the members of Crest are well cared for. If all continues, they may have nothing to fear in the upcoming jobs war at all.
As a University student, something that seems like a forgotten fragment of past is the streams of secondary school. Most of us come from the Express Stream and a truly inspiring group from the Normal Academic Stream, the paths that generally lead to Junior College or Polytechnic. But the group which often slips our mind is the last group of our peers, a group that many conservative parents in Singapore would advise us to steer away from, those in the Normal Technical Stream. But though many may forget about this group of individuals, the minds behind Crest Secondary School certainly did not.
During the time we spent with the students from Crest, we learnt more about the courses of study available in their programme. The students I spent the most time with were from the hospitality track, one of the practical skill driven courses available in the school. They shared with us about the skills they learned there, including housekeeping and culinary skills and about the job paths they were likely to take in the future after they graduated and completed their studies in an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) or Polytechnic.
As raised in the book “The Coming Jobs War” by Jim Clifton (hereinafter Clifton), there is a bold assertation made that having more successful entrepreneurs and creating more jobs is paramount in the upcoming economic climate and is essential in preventing society from breaking down. He also emphasizes that every leader should know the importance of job creation and that what everyone wants is a good job. While Clifton doesn’t hide that he is a born and bred American and his statements are made with the most direct relevance to the United States, he comes from a place of concern towards his country as a world leader and that perspective is one that has merit towards Singapore and those who seek jobs here in the coming future.
“Entrepreneurs are the rainmakers”, so said Clifton. One of the quintessential elements he believes will define success in the future is for enough entrepreneurs to gather in one place and create enough jobs to start a cycle. It’s a noble ideal, but one that immediately presents a challenge for the graduates of Crest Secondary School. In our interactions with those students, we came to quickly realize that they were incredibly friendly and good-natured people, but also fundamentally survival minded. Being brought up in certain environments with certain societal expectations, the students think simply of how to earn a living and feed themselves, and to have a comfortable life. None of them brought up spectacular dreams of any form or any intention to start businesses of their own. Where Clifton calls individuals to become leaders in their respective communities by starting their own businesses, the students of Crest Secondary fall far more easily into the working class. Their skillsets and intentions leave them far more likely to seek out and to need the jobs created by these innovative entrepreneurs than to be these entrepreneurs themselves. This is, of course, not to speak ill of these students either. Should any of them wish to pursue business endeavours, they are well equipped with the skills to do so, though among the few we were exposed to, it seems unlikely that path will be explored by them.
Clifton also places Education as a factor of great importance to youth in the coming years. He encourages us not to look at the few popular success stories of college drop-outs with great entrepreneurial dreams as a reference to believe that education stands in the way of innovation. He argues instead that most highly successful start ups have their roots in university, with the institutions playing essential roles in grounding these attempts in the critical starting phase of their formation. He believes this so strongly, in fact, that in his eye America stands a huge advantage in the upcoming jobs war due to the presence of their top 100 universities, which stand as the biggest differentiating global factor for their nation. This is fortunately not something the youth of Singapore have to fear. The vision set within our nations many years ago places a huge emphasis on education and our education structures are an indispensable part of our social structure. This extends even towards the students of the Normal Technical Stream, who are often viewed to not be as inclined towards studies as other students. They are offered paths to Polytechnic and ITE as a means of further study and to those who desire, ITE can also lead to Polytechnic and the latter presents the opportunity to go to university as well. The students of Crest for example had their full cohort eligible for further study at ITE and are well set on the path to take on the coming challenge in education. Even if their path might be slightly longer, they are by no means out of the education race.
Leadership at the community level is another issue that Clifton highlights will be defining in the search for good employment in the coming years. “More money, jobs and GDP turns on who is named manager than on any other decision,” says Clifton. “Fire all lousy managers today.” That is his stance on the need for companies to seek the right leadership in their managerial positions. He extends this to the city level as well, driving home the point that cities need leaders that are willing and able to bring in new companies who will create new jobs for the people under their care. He describes leadership as the key to creating new jobs, and this is certainly something that is well handled by Singapore. As a small city-state, Singapore was fundamentally built on the basis of drawing other nations to invest in us and create opportunities for our locals. For some of the students of Crest for example, who pursue hospitality, Singapore has solidified its reputation as a tourist destination in Southeast Asia and drawn in multiple big-name multinational hotel chains like Marriott and Holiday Inn to set up base here. The number of jobs these chains create in hospitality, ranging from the Food and Beverage (F&B) sector, the housekeeping sector or customer service is astounding, with each hotel easily being staffed in the hundreds or thousands. While the of Crest for the most part are not the type to pursue a path of community leadership, the current leadership has definitely outdone itself in providing opportunity for them in employment.
Clifton described engaged employees as an important factor in upkeeping productivity as well. In his argument, a large number of jobs are being held by disengaged employees who are hindering the growth of organizations in general, and by extension hindering the creation of more jobs. The keywords in this issue would likely be attitude and work ethic and in the eyes of most people, those in the Normal Technical path would struggle in this area. But this is not true of those in Crest. In our experience with them they are people who are incredibly passionate about what they do, something cultivated in them by their tutors. It was shared with us that this extends to the level that students of Crest prefer their time in school to time at home, the opposite of many other students. If they carry this attitude forward into the working world, staying engaged in their jobs is unlikely to be a challenge and they can hold reputation as the most dedicated of employees.
Another perspective offered by Clifton is product management. “The answer is customer engagement.” When customers love the products we create, companies will grow and new jobs will flow,” he said. As he argues, new customers will lead to more jobs as demand increases and there is a role to be played to ensure products resonate with their market. But coming back to those in hospitality at least, they are taught to take pride in their work and trained to have better attitudes. That being a service sector, the product is the interactions and experience that guests have in and of themselves and this is certainly something the students of Crest are being prepared for way ahead of time. The work ethics being taught to the students there are respectable and will likely be valued by any employer who takes them in the future.
Ultimately, Clifton’s point is, in no loose terms, a call to war. “I don’t use the term ‘war’ lightly. This really has to be a war on job loss, on low workplace energy, on healthcare costs, on low graduation rates, on brain drain, and on community disengagement,” he says. “Those things destroy cities, destroy job growth and destroy city GDP. Every city requires its own master plan that is as serious as planning for war.” Though, in with the current leadership, the members of Crest are well cared for. If all continues, they may have nothing to fear in the upcoming jobs war at all.
November 3, 2019
Clifton’s “The Coming Jobs War” sheds light on the problems America and other countries face in creating jobs for their people and how the rest of the world can be severely impacted by this issue. As the saying goes, “When the American economy sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold”. Despite Singapore’s low unemployment rate, it is still highly applicable to our society as we are after all a country that is highly dependent on the world’s economy. I was fortunate to have embarked on a field trip to Pulau Hantu with Crest Secondary School (CSS) students and will be crafting my reflections on the things I observed through my interactions with them and how it links to Clifton’s book.
The first issue raised by Clifton is the high dropout rates in high school due to the sense of hopelessness students feel. Gallup’s study found out that this lack of vision and anticipation for the future is one of the main factors why students were dropping out of school. Students lose hope when they recognise that their future appears relatively bleak and do not look forward to what the future awaits. As they struggle with finding jobs in the future with the knowledge that they belong to the bottom, their energy gets depleted rapidly and may even drop out of life altogether when they discern how life is never fair in their favour. In the Singapore context, this is very common for those who do not follow the conventional route of a four-year secondary school path followed by junior college/polytechnic then university. Instead, some will require five years in secondary school and head off to ITE, with a rare minority moving on to a polytechnic and university. This group of people is likely to feel a strong sense of despair and emptiness as they take 11 years to complete their education, compared to a 6 years journey taken by their peers. CSS students are part of this group of people who have been thrown off the beaten path and their futures seem to be already written for them as their education here gears them for their next destination – ITE. This is an unchangeable fact and they themselves know what is in store for them. ITE, also coined as “It’s the End” by many Singaporean parents, is every parent’s greatest fear as the name says it all. To support my point, I would briefly touch on a personal experience. With such strong stigmatisaion by society against an educational institute, what would students who study there feel about themselves? These students, too, slowly start to accept society’s label of them and once their belief has solidified, they would have a difficult time breaking free from these labels (Teo, 2018). Despite how the government constantly emphasizes that “Every school is a good school”, I still strongly beg to differ as it is difficult to absorb this in when the problem is so glaring.
The second problem is underemployment. Gallup’s economics defines someone as underemployed if the person does not get the job he desires. This is prevalent in Singapore where there is an increasing trend of low salaries and underemployment, especially amongst the less educated (Seow, 2019). CSS currently offers four ITE Skills Certificate courses namely Hospitality Services, Retail Services, Facility Services and Mechanical Servicing to equip students with useful vocational and life skills. These skills, however, would at most earn them mediocre blue-collared jobs in the future and upon closer inspection, we realise that such industries are already dominated by foreigners who come at a lower expense than locals (Mohan, 2019). Websites like GumTree and RecruitExpress may make it appear that there are ample job opportunities in Singapore, but majority of them are ad-hoc ones which do not fall under Gallup’s definition of being employed. During the field trip to Pulau Hantu with the students from CSS, I observed one of the boys exhibiting his culinary skills which was rather impressive to me, considering the food items and equipment we were limited to. However, this also means that the students are likely to be restricted to only these skills-based jobs in the future and would forever be trapped in the vicious cycle at the bottom of the job system. This proves to be true, considering how Singapore is advancing towards a knowledge-based economy where skills relating to research and education are highly valued (Tan, 2017). Therefore, it is very likely that despite being equipped with these skills, the students would still find it hard to turn the tide in their favour.
The third observation by Clifton is the importance of possessing leadership skills just as he stated how every city needs its own “local tribe leaders” to do good for the city they love. Cooking with CSS students was much better than I expected as we did not have to instruct them to help us with the cooking- they took the initiative to help us chop the vegetables and watch the chicken’s fire while we busied ourselves with other things. Perhaps it was because I went in with no expectations, or perhaps it was because I was too preoccupied such that every little action seemed significant to me, but it was comforting to see them stepping up to lend a helping hand. It is important that students start developing such soft skills from a young age as these can sometimes be more valuable than hard skills. Parallels can be drawn to the working world whereby employers are keen on looking out for people who are pro-active and responsible as stated in a Forbes report. Indeed, the Singapore government also aligns itself with such values by giving accreditation to students who boasts sterling leadership qualities.
The fourth concern raised by Clifton is how people nowadays lack entrepreneurship spirit, causing many innovations to fail to be successfully commercialised. Clifton mentioned the importance of optimism and determination in entrepreneur whereby they would never give up, making them one of the world’s most valuable people. One of the activities we had with the CSS students while exploring the island was throwing ping pong balls at a coconut tree to attempt to knock down a coconut. It was fascinating to see how the kids had such creative ideas to try and get the coconut down from using a long tree trunk to shaking the tree vigorously. In the end, my group managed to knock down not one, but two coconuts. Maybe it was the boat ride or maybe I was just really disinterested, but I was actively disengaged from the activity as I thought it was impossible to get the coconut down and there was no point trying. This simple activity can indeed reveal how different people react to challenging situations and our hunger in getting what we want.
Finally, Clifton emphasised the value of maintaining a high energy level in the workplaces as well as an employee’s wellbeing which includes but is not limited to their physical health, emotions, hopes, aspirations, amount of rest and so on. Just about a month ago, a report found that Singapore ranked the second most overworked city in a study of 40 cities in the survey with workers averaging a 44.6 hours work week (CNA, 2019). It is crucial to retain a high energy level in the workplace to ensure that workers are more engaged and perform better in work (Baker, 2016). In Crest Secondary School, the students mainly learn from a flipped classroom concept where real-life scenarios are simulated, and they are to solve the problem on the spot. This high-involvement activity ensures that they are constantly engaged while being encouraged to voice out their opinions. Because of this, the students whom I interacted spoke eagerly to me about what they learn and do in school. This is juxtaposed against our attitudes when we mentioned to them how our education is like when they questioned us. It is therefore very telling how our energy levels differ. This is a good avenue for them to further develop their skills and with higher levels of training in the future serving to benefit and allowing them to gain an edge over the other many talents out there vying for the same jobs.
In a nutshell, this field trip allowed me to see things from the lens of a demographic whom I do not have much opportunities to interact with and made me realise how some of them are still living in their own bubble, unbeknownst of what is in store for them. We live in a dog eat dog world where the jungle law of the survival of the fittest applies. It is inevitable that since there are champions, there must also be losers who finish last. In this war for jobs, there is limited supply yet a vastly excessive demand. It is unfortunate but true that those who fall through the cracks are bound to be left behind by society eventually.
The first issue raised by Clifton is the high dropout rates in high school due to the sense of hopelessness students feel. Gallup’s study found out that this lack of vision and anticipation for the future is one of the main factors why students were dropping out of school. Students lose hope when they recognise that their future appears relatively bleak and do not look forward to what the future awaits. As they struggle with finding jobs in the future with the knowledge that they belong to the bottom, their energy gets depleted rapidly and may even drop out of life altogether when they discern how life is never fair in their favour. In the Singapore context, this is very common for those who do not follow the conventional route of a four-year secondary school path followed by junior college/polytechnic then university. Instead, some will require five years in secondary school and head off to ITE, with a rare minority moving on to a polytechnic and university. This group of people is likely to feel a strong sense of despair and emptiness as they take 11 years to complete their education, compared to a 6 years journey taken by their peers. CSS students are part of this group of people who have been thrown off the beaten path and their futures seem to be already written for them as their education here gears them for their next destination – ITE. This is an unchangeable fact and they themselves know what is in store for them. ITE, also coined as “It’s the End” by many Singaporean parents, is every parent’s greatest fear as the name says it all. To support my point, I would briefly touch on a personal experience. With such strong stigmatisaion by society against an educational institute, what would students who study there feel about themselves? These students, too, slowly start to accept society’s label of them and once their belief has solidified, they would have a difficult time breaking free from these labels (Teo, 2018). Despite how the government constantly emphasizes that “Every school is a good school”, I still strongly beg to differ as it is difficult to absorb this in when the problem is so glaring.
The second problem is underemployment. Gallup’s economics defines someone as underemployed if the person does not get the job he desires. This is prevalent in Singapore where there is an increasing trend of low salaries and underemployment, especially amongst the less educated (Seow, 2019). CSS currently offers four ITE Skills Certificate courses namely Hospitality Services, Retail Services, Facility Services and Mechanical Servicing to equip students with useful vocational and life skills. These skills, however, would at most earn them mediocre blue-collared jobs in the future and upon closer inspection, we realise that such industries are already dominated by foreigners who come at a lower expense than locals (Mohan, 2019). Websites like GumTree and RecruitExpress may make it appear that there are ample job opportunities in Singapore, but majority of them are ad-hoc ones which do not fall under Gallup’s definition of being employed. During the field trip to Pulau Hantu with the students from CSS, I observed one of the boys exhibiting his culinary skills which was rather impressive to me, considering the food items and equipment we were limited to. However, this also means that the students are likely to be restricted to only these skills-based jobs in the future and would forever be trapped in the vicious cycle at the bottom of the job system. This proves to be true, considering how Singapore is advancing towards a knowledge-based economy where skills relating to research and education are highly valued (Tan, 2017). Therefore, it is very likely that despite being equipped with these skills, the students would still find it hard to turn the tide in their favour.
The third observation by Clifton is the importance of possessing leadership skills just as he stated how every city needs its own “local tribe leaders” to do good for the city they love. Cooking with CSS students was much better than I expected as we did not have to instruct them to help us with the cooking- they took the initiative to help us chop the vegetables and watch the chicken’s fire while we busied ourselves with other things. Perhaps it was because I went in with no expectations, or perhaps it was because I was too preoccupied such that every little action seemed significant to me, but it was comforting to see them stepping up to lend a helping hand. It is important that students start developing such soft skills from a young age as these can sometimes be more valuable than hard skills. Parallels can be drawn to the working world whereby employers are keen on looking out for people who are pro-active and responsible as stated in a Forbes report. Indeed, the Singapore government also aligns itself with such values by giving accreditation to students who boasts sterling leadership qualities.
The fourth concern raised by Clifton is how people nowadays lack entrepreneurship spirit, causing many innovations to fail to be successfully commercialised. Clifton mentioned the importance of optimism and determination in entrepreneur whereby they would never give up, making them one of the world’s most valuable people. One of the activities we had with the CSS students while exploring the island was throwing ping pong balls at a coconut tree to attempt to knock down a coconut. It was fascinating to see how the kids had such creative ideas to try and get the coconut down from using a long tree trunk to shaking the tree vigorously. In the end, my group managed to knock down not one, but two coconuts. Maybe it was the boat ride or maybe I was just really disinterested, but I was actively disengaged from the activity as I thought it was impossible to get the coconut down and there was no point trying. This simple activity can indeed reveal how different people react to challenging situations and our hunger in getting what we want.
Finally, Clifton emphasised the value of maintaining a high energy level in the workplaces as well as an employee’s wellbeing which includes but is not limited to their physical health, emotions, hopes, aspirations, amount of rest and so on. Just about a month ago, a report found that Singapore ranked the second most overworked city in a study of 40 cities in the survey with workers averaging a 44.6 hours work week (CNA, 2019). It is crucial to retain a high energy level in the workplace to ensure that workers are more engaged and perform better in work (Baker, 2016). In Crest Secondary School, the students mainly learn from a flipped classroom concept where real-life scenarios are simulated, and they are to solve the problem on the spot. This high-involvement activity ensures that they are constantly engaged while being encouraged to voice out their opinions. Because of this, the students whom I interacted spoke eagerly to me about what they learn and do in school. This is juxtaposed against our attitudes when we mentioned to them how our education is like when they questioned us. It is therefore very telling how our energy levels differ. This is a good avenue for them to further develop their skills and with higher levels of training in the future serving to benefit and allowing them to gain an edge over the other many talents out there vying for the same jobs.
In a nutshell, this field trip allowed me to see things from the lens of a demographic whom I do not have much opportunities to interact with and made me realise how some of them are still living in their own bubble, unbeknownst of what is in store for them. We live in a dog eat dog world where the jungle law of the survival of the fittest applies. It is inevitable that since there are champions, there must also be losers who finish last. In this war for jobs, there is limited supply yet a vastly excessive demand. It is unfortunate but true that those who fall through the cracks are bound to be left behind by society eventually.
June 8, 2012
The author, Jim Clifton, is the current chairman of Gallup, the world-renowned polling and research firm. His main argument is that most if not all current world leaders have no idea how to begin fighting the next world war. That’s because it’s not going to be a conventional war: this war will be for economic survival. It will be waged at the local level—city by city—and whichever country has the most cities that are able to attract the greatest number of talented and creative workers will win.
It’s at the local level that the true entrepreneurial spirit can thrive, where investors, mentors, entrepreneurs and academics can foster the best conditions for the creation of jobs. And it is the creation of new, good jobs that will determine the winners in this new economic reality by expanding the GDP, or gross domestic product, of the home country. Clifton uses San Francisco and Detroit as examples of the potential for both positive and negative job creation in cities. San Francisco, as the gateway to Silicon Valley, has thrived with entrepreneurial and creative spirit, leading the charge in the information age. Detroit, however, once the world leader in automobile industry, fell victim to the lack of foresight and complacency that came to dominate America’s thinking. One city excelled at creating good, new jobs and one didn’t.
The world’s entrepreneurial leaders—because political leaders can’t make the hard choices they need to and be successful—must step in and take the reins. Classical economics, the traditional method economic decisions are based on, must also give way to behavioral economics. This is the strength of Gallup’s research, Clifton claims, because its questions are geared toward individual behavior that leads to economic choices instead of attempting to analyze events after the choices are made. The key is the individual and only behavioral economics can understand the individual dynamic: “Individuals are the global economy ... All the decisions and choices—yours and mine and everyone else’s—are the economy. An economy rises and falls on people’s combined consciousness. America’s economic future isn’t huge and vague; it starts with every individual.” Clifton points to Gallup’s extensive and in-depth polling of individuals at the global level for these insights. The World Poll—beginning in 2005 and questioning people worldwide about what they wanted most—suggests that seven billion people believe the prospect of a good job is the most important. That belief powers what Clifton calls GNW, or gross national wellbeing. It’s this GNW that in turn determines a country’s financial bottom line, or GDP.
The United States, Clifton points out, emerged from World War II as the leading global economic powerhouse, which not only ensured that it survived but led the global marketplace. However, Clifton claims that if America doesn’t right itself and address a number of internal issues, it will be overtaken before the year 2040 by China—where the economy is growing by ten percent per year. Without the hope of a good job in your country’s cities, people will go elsewhere. And a new world economic power will replace the current leader.
Again, Clifton says that this book is applicable to all nations of the world and will help any country to be economically competitive in the future. Even if you're not one of the leaders he's trying to reach, Gallup has provided some interesting observations and conclusions to ponder.
It’s at the local level that the true entrepreneurial spirit can thrive, where investors, mentors, entrepreneurs and academics can foster the best conditions for the creation of jobs. And it is the creation of new, good jobs that will determine the winners in this new economic reality by expanding the GDP, or gross domestic product, of the home country. Clifton uses San Francisco and Detroit as examples of the potential for both positive and negative job creation in cities. San Francisco, as the gateway to Silicon Valley, has thrived with entrepreneurial and creative spirit, leading the charge in the information age. Detroit, however, once the world leader in automobile industry, fell victim to the lack of foresight and complacency that came to dominate America’s thinking. One city excelled at creating good, new jobs and one didn’t.
The world’s entrepreneurial leaders—because political leaders can’t make the hard choices they need to and be successful—must step in and take the reins. Classical economics, the traditional method economic decisions are based on, must also give way to behavioral economics. This is the strength of Gallup’s research, Clifton claims, because its questions are geared toward individual behavior that leads to economic choices instead of attempting to analyze events after the choices are made. The key is the individual and only behavioral economics can understand the individual dynamic: “Individuals are the global economy ... All the decisions and choices—yours and mine and everyone else’s—are the economy. An economy rises and falls on people’s combined consciousness. America’s economic future isn’t huge and vague; it starts with every individual.” Clifton points to Gallup’s extensive and in-depth polling of individuals at the global level for these insights. The World Poll—beginning in 2005 and questioning people worldwide about what they wanted most—suggests that seven billion people believe the prospect of a good job is the most important. That belief powers what Clifton calls GNW, or gross national wellbeing. It’s this GNW that in turn determines a country’s financial bottom line, or GDP.
The United States, Clifton points out, emerged from World War II as the leading global economic powerhouse, which not only ensured that it survived but led the global marketplace. However, Clifton claims that if America doesn’t right itself and address a number of internal issues, it will be overtaken before the year 2040 by China—where the economy is growing by ten percent per year. Without the hope of a good job in your country’s cities, people will go elsewhere. And a new world economic power will replace the current leader.
Again, Clifton says that this book is applicable to all nations of the world and will help any country to be economically competitive in the future. Even if you're not one of the leaders he's trying to reach, Gallup has provided some interesting observations and conclusions to ponder.
March 18, 2020
Book review of The Coming Jobs War with a reflection
In The Coming Jobs War (Clifton, 2011), Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton claims from the perspective of the United States that a new worldwide war is launching which threatens American’s dominantly economic position in the world market as well as its paramount political influence power. Using Gallup’s World Poll statistics and examine economy under American context, he expanded his argument to the world in which he aggressively analyzes shortfalls of American, Chinese, Japanese, and Germany economy to give alerts to America, or more broadly, the international capital society of a coming economic war that pivots on jobs. He concludes rather absolutely that entrepreneurship and job creation are of supreme priority in the upcoming economic climate and are key factors in preventing societies from breaking down.
According to Clifton, a Good Job is defined as the one giving employee steady income with an average of 30+ hours devotion week. He differentiates between formal and informal jobs, pointing out that albeit unsteady informal jobs which are ubiquitously found in developing countries or underdeveloped areas can support survival and subsistence of people, it has no real economic energy because people working with these jobs are in both miserable and hopeless state, lacking activeness to contribute to economy and society.
Gallup’s statistics show that of 5 million adults aged above 15, 3 billion of them are willing to or imperative to have a job while only 1.2 billion full-time jobs are available in the world, indicating devastating unemployment or unsatisfiable employment rate across the world.
I generally disagree with Clifton’s absolute idea that the lack of good jobs will become the cause of hunger, extremism, out-of-control migration patterns, reckless environmental trends, widening trade imbalances, and on and on. In my opinion, this idea is based on a model that ignores much of complication within the economy and society so that the model is extremities to easily fall apart with the variance of several factors. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that these problems are potential and will bring a shock to both society and the economy once triggered by the impact of other adverse situations.
Moreover, leadership in companies facilitates the process of job creation. However, as the world evolves and people’s mindset change, a new leadership, which is mostly related to modern appeals to Human rights, women in the workplace, and etc., shall be discovered to effectively contribute to job creation in the future. As Clifton argues that, research has shown people have shifted their reliance and appeals away from love, money, food, shelter, safety, peace, and freedom to a more job-oriented appeal. I do not much consent with his argument, but I find it relational and arguable that people become more eager to a good job not because of the simplification of pursuing from a variety to single, but for the sake of strengthened and inter-related effect of their original and primitive demands which drive them to be keen on good jobs.
Furthermore, as the main argument of Clifton, entrepreneurship is the key factor in creating jobs as well as constructing high-energy workplace (or actively engaged workplace). Gallup has determined that 28% of the American workforce is “engaged,” another 53% is “not engaged,” and a staggering 19% is “actively disengaged.” Among which, the 28% engaged people are the ones who truly accelerate the company’s innovation and facilitate business, from an economic perspective, their decisions and behaviors have positive externalities to the company; the 53% not engaged are just performing normal works which add no additional creative values to the company; the rest 19% actively disengaged are called “trouble makers” who consume more resources than what they contribute, burdening the company with negative externalities. From a personal view of mine, a high ratio of employees in China expresses their reluctance of doing the current job and their inability to find a better job to engage themselves. The scarcity of good jobs is especially serious and cruel from my view: many high positions in companies overtly mark their employment standards as Master or Doctors degree only and majority of good jobs limit hiring scope to students graduated from 985, 211 universities (only 0.5% - 4% of university enrollment in China is 985 universities and 3% - 14% is 211 universities and the specific statistics is subject to province), which is very cruel to bachelors graduated from a normal university. Therefore, the majority of graduates in China are forced to be placed on non-engaging jobs and live a miserable life since on and plenty of bachelors are forced to continue to read Master's or Doctor’s degrees to improve competency.
To resolve this, companies could follow a chain of Identifying strength – The right fit – Great managers – Engaged employees – Engaged customers – Sustainable growth – Real profit increase – Stock increase to save companies. Therefore, to resolve the middle link: engaged employees, we need to trace back to ensure previous links are effective. Take Mr. Khoo and his presentation of “Being engaged at work” as a case, we can explore the way to engage employees from the very beginning. Firstly, the Handshake allocates its interns according to their capacity and evaluate their performance in the intern period to distinguish every individual with their strength. Furthermore, the company will observe new employee’s goodness of fit for the job as well as the company itself. Mr. Khoo shared that, if someone cannot adapt into the company’s atmosphere (or the company’s culture), he would most likely choose to leave by himself – that is the power of company atmosphere which drives the engaged colleagues to release their potential while compelling the not engaged to adapt themselves to be engaged, and exclude the actively not engaged to leave the company. More importantly, the leadership and entrepreneurship of managers escalate the engagement of employees of the Handshake. A manager with leadership should hold the spirit of humanism with scrutiny to critically evaluate employees while providing them humanitarian care. Mr. Khoo’s example of their careful investigation of the sudden disappearance of an employee rather than directly judging it as the employee’s fault impressed me. Thus, from an individual company’s perspective, leadership is of paramount importance to keep the company’s growth so as to create more jobs.
From the perspective of employees, we can explore through the process of interaction between Crest Secondary School students. During the interaction, I learned that they are different from normal secondary schools but are more technique-oriented and generally they do not attend polytechnics and universities after a 5-year secondary education but continue to have a technical education. As I am aware of that, they may be a group of minority students in Singapore as analogized with technical education in China and they are likely stereotyped as obtuse students. However, through the interaction, I found they are very smart, and they even have clear objectives about their future and how they going to realize their objectives. They are taking vocational courses in hospitality services, retail services, facility, and mechanical servicing to prepare them for a vocational career. Although the interaction with them is very short, they impressed with their positive career attitude and their supportive and interactive characteristics in the discussion.
In short, I have learned from Clifton’s book that the world economy imperatively needs more good jobs to avoid potential crises and improve citizens’ life qualities. Moreover, job creation is not only about enhancing GDP or acquiring more money but more essentially to cultivate entrepreneurship and leadership in individual firms. The experience of the Handshake indicates that a humanitarian and supportive culture in a company with scrutinized management could facilitate employees’ engagement thus creating more good jobs for society.
In The Coming Jobs War (Clifton, 2011), Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton claims from the perspective of the United States that a new worldwide war is launching which threatens American’s dominantly economic position in the world market as well as its paramount political influence power. Using Gallup’s World Poll statistics and examine economy under American context, he expanded his argument to the world in which he aggressively analyzes shortfalls of American, Chinese, Japanese, and Germany economy to give alerts to America, or more broadly, the international capital society of a coming economic war that pivots on jobs. He concludes rather absolutely that entrepreneurship and job creation are of supreme priority in the upcoming economic climate and are key factors in preventing societies from breaking down.
According to Clifton, a Good Job is defined as the one giving employee steady income with an average of 30+ hours devotion week. He differentiates between formal and informal jobs, pointing out that albeit unsteady informal jobs which are ubiquitously found in developing countries or underdeveloped areas can support survival and subsistence of people, it has no real economic energy because people working with these jobs are in both miserable and hopeless state, lacking activeness to contribute to economy and society.
Gallup’s statistics show that of 5 million adults aged above 15, 3 billion of them are willing to or imperative to have a job while only 1.2 billion full-time jobs are available in the world, indicating devastating unemployment or unsatisfiable employment rate across the world.
I generally disagree with Clifton’s absolute idea that the lack of good jobs will become the cause of hunger, extremism, out-of-control migration patterns, reckless environmental trends, widening trade imbalances, and on and on. In my opinion, this idea is based on a model that ignores much of complication within the economy and society so that the model is extremities to easily fall apart with the variance of several factors. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that these problems are potential and will bring a shock to both society and the economy once triggered by the impact of other adverse situations.
Moreover, leadership in companies facilitates the process of job creation. However, as the world evolves and people’s mindset change, a new leadership, which is mostly related to modern appeals to Human rights, women in the workplace, and etc., shall be discovered to effectively contribute to job creation in the future. As Clifton argues that, research has shown people have shifted their reliance and appeals away from love, money, food, shelter, safety, peace, and freedom to a more job-oriented appeal. I do not much consent with his argument, but I find it relational and arguable that people become more eager to a good job not because of the simplification of pursuing from a variety to single, but for the sake of strengthened and inter-related effect of their original and primitive demands which drive them to be keen on good jobs.
Furthermore, as the main argument of Clifton, entrepreneurship is the key factor in creating jobs as well as constructing high-energy workplace (or actively engaged workplace). Gallup has determined that 28% of the American workforce is “engaged,” another 53% is “not engaged,” and a staggering 19% is “actively disengaged.” Among which, the 28% engaged people are the ones who truly accelerate the company’s innovation and facilitate business, from an economic perspective, their decisions and behaviors have positive externalities to the company; the 53% not engaged are just performing normal works which add no additional creative values to the company; the rest 19% actively disengaged are called “trouble makers” who consume more resources than what they contribute, burdening the company with negative externalities. From a personal view of mine, a high ratio of employees in China expresses their reluctance of doing the current job and their inability to find a better job to engage themselves. The scarcity of good jobs is especially serious and cruel from my view: many high positions in companies overtly mark their employment standards as Master or Doctors degree only and majority of good jobs limit hiring scope to students graduated from 985, 211 universities (only 0.5% - 4% of university enrollment in China is 985 universities and 3% - 14% is 211 universities and the specific statistics is subject to province), which is very cruel to bachelors graduated from a normal university. Therefore, the majority of graduates in China are forced to be placed on non-engaging jobs and live a miserable life since on and plenty of bachelors are forced to continue to read Master's or Doctor’s degrees to improve competency.
To resolve this, companies could follow a chain of Identifying strength – The right fit – Great managers – Engaged employees – Engaged customers – Sustainable growth – Real profit increase – Stock increase to save companies. Therefore, to resolve the middle link: engaged employees, we need to trace back to ensure previous links are effective. Take Mr. Khoo and his presentation of “Being engaged at work” as a case, we can explore the way to engage employees from the very beginning. Firstly, the Handshake allocates its interns according to their capacity and evaluate their performance in the intern period to distinguish every individual with their strength. Furthermore, the company will observe new employee’s goodness of fit for the job as well as the company itself. Mr. Khoo shared that, if someone cannot adapt into the company’s atmosphere (or the company’s culture), he would most likely choose to leave by himself – that is the power of company atmosphere which drives the engaged colleagues to release their potential while compelling the not engaged to adapt themselves to be engaged, and exclude the actively not engaged to leave the company. More importantly, the leadership and entrepreneurship of managers escalate the engagement of employees of the Handshake. A manager with leadership should hold the spirit of humanism with scrutiny to critically evaluate employees while providing them humanitarian care. Mr. Khoo’s example of their careful investigation of the sudden disappearance of an employee rather than directly judging it as the employee’s fault impressed me. Thus, from an individual company’s perspective, leadership is of paramount importance to keep the company’s growth so as to create more jobs.
From the perspective of employees, we can explore through the process of interaction between Crest Secondary School students. During the interaction, I learned that they are different from normal secondary schools but are more technique-oriented and generally they do not attend polytechnics and universities after a 5-year secondary education but continue to have a technical education. As I am aware of that, they may be a group of minority students in Singapore as analogized with technical education in China and they are likely stereotyped as obtuse students. However, through the interaction, I found they are very smart, and they even have clear objectives about their future and how they going to realize their objectives. They are taking vocational courses in hospitality services, retail services, facility, and mechanical servicing to prepare them for a vocational career. Although the interaction with them is very short, they impressed with their positive career attitude and their supportive and interactive characteristics in the discussion.
In short, I have learned from Clifton’s book that the world economy imperatively needs more good jobs to avoid potential crises and improve citizens’ life qualities. Moreover, job creation is not only about enhancing GDP or acquiring more money but more essentially to cultivate entrepreneurship and leadership in individual firms. The experience of the Handshake indicates that a humanitarian and supportive culture in a company with scrutinized management could facilitate employees’ engagement thus creating more good jobs for society.
September 21, 2020
Jim Clifton boldly claims that prosperous entrepreneurship and creating quality jobs are the world’s most pressing issues, and thus a war over the creation and retention of jobs will ensue.
In this review, I will touch on 4 key aspects of the book - Joblessness, Behavioural Economics, Customer Engagement and Employee Engagement - which I personally find essential to take away, especially as we learn to adapt to the woes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than simply avoiding Joblessness, people desire to have a good job, and as defined by Jim Clifton, this means a job with a salary and steady work that averages 30 hours a week. Having a good job is indeed worth more than a pay-check. If you have a great job – one with limitless opportunities for growth, a superior who invests in your development and gives you a sense of purpose and mission, working is a pleasure and one’s sense of worth increases. This is something money cannot buy. However, as the book mentions, given the current number of good and formal jobs available, it is vastly outnumbered by the number of people of age willing to commit to a job. This would mean global unemployment for those seeking a good job would reach 50%, and hence, such is the backdrop that the coming jobs war will be fought. In the context of Singapore, the government has launched several initiatives to retain and create jobs for Singaporeans, the former through the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and the latter through the Jobs Growth incentive (JGI) to encourage companies to hire local talent. The JSS was initiated at the start of the pandemic, in a bid to reduce labour costs borne by companies, by covering the wages of workers. Moreover, as part of the JGI to capitalise on economic sectors that are doing well – such as the biomedical sciences and ICT services – the government will co-pay the wages of new local hires in these sectors for a year. While this does not guarantee complete protection against retrenchment nor assures someone of finding a job, these measures are directly aimed at securing and creating jobs for as many as possible, further affirming job importance.
Secondly, Behavioural Economics is defined by Jim Clifton as numerical data that monitor what goes through people’s minds before they act upon something. It focuses on the moment a decision is made before the transaction occurs. This includes one’s state of mind such as confidence, optimism, determination and hope, all of which exist before transactions of life are decided upon. In an economic crisis caused by various events beyond our control - such as today’s COVID-19 pandemic – it is not the event that determines the impact on the economy, but the state of the minds of people. Whether one is optimistic or pessimistic (i.e. state of mind) about the future creates a decision, and this decision subsequently creates a behaviour that represents the transactions of life; such as buying a new computer, selling a car, or investing in a company. This is in fact what drove the drastic economic downturn we experience today; it all lies in the decisions of you, and I, and everyone else’s and collectively, they make up the economy. The fear of travelling overseas despite green lanes to other countries, and the cautiousness of the state to limit groups deemed too large to sit at a table in eateries, are examples of these decisions. Given this, how then might people’s decisions be influenced in a desired direction?
This brings me to the third aspect of the book: Customer Engagement. In order to protect and create jobs, as well as influence consumers’ decisions, an enterprise needs to engage and attract new customers and sales. The impact of customer engagement is potentially huge and double-edged. Take for instance a typical dining-in experience: If you were treated poorly and ignored, chances are you will not return back, and possibly tell 7 other people about the bad experience, hence compounding the negative impression and lost of potential sales for the restaurant. The converse holds true, and this is why Jim Clifton emphasises that enterprises need to take Customer Engagement seriously. In the larger context relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have similarly made efforts to practice “customer engagement” with citizens, be it by pacifying citizens that the outbreak in their countries are under-control, or by stimulating domestic expenditure by issuing nationwide vouchers. The former is evident in the US, whereby President Donald Trump has assured Americans that his administration has handed the COVID-19 outbreak well, claiming that the America’s status as highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is “a badge of honour” as it signifies “world-leading” rigorous testing being carried out in America. Stimulating domestic expenditure is seen in Singapore, where the state recently announced that adult Singaporeans will receive “SingapoRediscovers” tourism vouchers to spend on local attractions and staycations, in light of travel restrictions. Ultimately, when engaging communities, leaders should be attentive to their needs, as well as exercise caution if they are to make promises to others, as this is representative of their credibility. Personally, rather than simply engaging an audience, I believe that the trust built between a leader and a community is vital for both parties to work together to reach a mutually desirable outcome.
Last but not least, the book highlights that those working to effect change in the community cannot do so if they are not united, and this reveals the importance of Employee Engagement. Focusing on Employee Engagement boosts the moral and confidence of the workforce, and this will subsequently foster customer engagement which therefore grows and creates jobs. Hence, I believe that leaders of a community must put aside any sense of pride and work in unison with community members, so that both sides can draw on each other’s strengths in times of need. I add on to this with a point Jim Clifton makes in the book: “it’s far better to invest in entrepreneurial people than in great ideas”. Indeed, rather than simply having a workforce, it is crucial to encourage people to put great ideas into motion. A company that epitomises these points would be the ride-hailing company, Grab. From an idea birthed by students from Harvard Business School, to an initial grant of US$25,000 to bring the idea to life, the company expanded from Malaysia, to Singapore, to Southeast Asian countries, and the rest is history. Additionally, both Grab and the Singapore government exemplified how both sides helped one another during challenging times. Despite the challenging period of the COVID-19 outbreak, Grab had even introduced “GrabResponse”, a non-emergency transport service to ferry stable and clinically-well individuals to hospitals, supporting the state’s COVID-19 efforts. The government had also helped the company by setting aside an additional $112 million to help taxi and private-hire operators and drivers. The beneficial and amicable relationship between a leader in any community and the members therefore signifies the important concept of “employee engagement” that Jim Clifton talks about.
To encapsulate the morals from this book review, the issue of Joblessness, the understanding of Behavioural Economics, and the mastery of Customer and Employee engagement must start and be led at the local level by key community leaders. While I do not refute the notion that jobs should be a top priority for global leaders today,I would argue that priorities will change depending on the circumstances a community is facing at a given time, and thus the wisdom to decide on the right priorities and actions to be taken, should be the underlying concern of a community leader. A good read I would recommend to all aspiring community leaders!
In this review, I will touch on 4 key aspects of the book - Joblessness, Behavioural Economics, Customer Engagement and Employee Engagement - which I personally find essential to take away, especially as we learn to adapt to the woes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than simply avoiding Joblessness, people desire to have a good job, and as defined by Jim Clifton, this means a job with a salary and steady work that averages 30 hours a week. Having a good job is indeed worth more than a pay-check. If you have a great job – one with limitless opportunities for growth, a superior who invests in your development and gives you a sense of purpose and mission, working is a pleasure and one’s sense of worth increases. This is something money cannot buy. However, as the book mentions, given the current number of good and formal jobs available, it is vastly outnumbered by the number of people of age willing to commit to a job. This would mean global unemployment for those seeking a good job would reach 50%, and hence, such is the backdrop that the coming jobs war will be fought. In the context of Singapore, the government has launched several initiatives to retain and create jobs for Singaporeans, the former through the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and the latter through the Jobs Growth incentive (JGI) to encourage companies to hire local talent. The JSS was initiated at the start of the pandemic, in a bid to reduce labour costs borne by companies, by covering the wages of workers. Moreover, as part of the JGI to capitalise on economic sectors that are doing well – such as the biomedical sciences and ICT services – the government will co-pay the wages of new local hires in these sectors for a year. While this does not guarantee complete protection against retrenchment nor assures someone of finding a job, these measures are directly aimed at securing and creating jobs for as many as possible, further affirming job importance.
Secondly, Behavioural Economics is defined by Jim Clifton as numerical data that monitor what goes through people’s minds before they act upon something. It focuses on the moment a decision is made before the transaction occurs. This includes one’s state of mind such as confidence, optimism, determination and hope, all of which exist before transactions of life are decided upon. In an economic crisis caused by various events beyond our control - such as today’s COVID-19 pandemic – it is not the event that determines the impact on the economy, but the state of the minds of people. Whether one is optimistic or pessimistic (i.e. state of mind) about the future creates a decision, and this decision subsequently creates a behaviour that represents the transactions of life; such as buying a new computer, selling a car, or investing in a company. This is in fact what drove the drastic economic downturn we experience today; it all lies in the decisions of you, and I, and everyone else’s and collectively, they make up the economy. The fear of travelling overseas despite green lanes to other countries, and the cautiousness of the state to limit groups deemed too large to sit at a table in eateries, are examples of these decisions. Given this, how then might people’s decisions be influenced in a desired direction?
This brings me to the third aspect of the book: Customer Engagement. In order to protect and create jobs, as well as influence consumers’ decisions, an enterprise needs to engage and attract new customers and sales. The impact of customer engagement is potentially huge and double-edged. Take for instance a typical dining-in experience: If you were treated poorly and ignored, chances are you will not return back, and possibly tell 7 other people about the bad experience, hence compounding the negative impression and lost of potential sales for the restaurant. The converse holds true, and this is why Jim Clifton emphasises that enterprises need to take Customer Engagement seriously. In the larger context relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have similarly made efforts to practice “customer engagement” with citizens, be it by pacifying citizens that the outbreak in their countries are under-control, or by stimulating domestic expenditure by issuing nationwide vouchers. The former is evident in the US, whereby President Donald Trump has assured Americans that his administration has handed the COVID-19 outbreak well, claiming that the America’s status as highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is “a badge of honour” as it signifies “world-leading” rigorous testing being carried out in America. Stimulating domestic expenditure is seen in Singapore, where the state recently announced that adult Singaporeans will receive “SingapoRediscovers” tourism vouchers to spend on local attractions and staycations, in light of travel restrictions. Ultimately, when engaging communities, leaders should be attentive to their needs, as well as exercise caution if they are to make promises to others, as this is representative of their credibility. Personally, rather than simply engaging an audience, I believe that the trust built between a leader and a community is vital for both parties to work together to reach a mutually desirable outcome.
Last but not least, the book highlights that those working to effect change in the community cannot do so if they are not united, and this reveals the importance of Employee Engagement. Focusing on Employee Engagement boosts the moral and confidence of the workforce, and this will subsequently foster customer engagement which therefore grows and creates jobs. Hence, I believe that leaders of a community must put aside any sense of pride and work in unison with community members, so that both sides can draw on each other’s strengths in times of need. I add on to this with a point Jim Clifton makes in the book: “it’s far better to invest in entrepreneurial people than in great ideas”. Indeed, rather than simply having a workforce, it is crucial to encourage people to put great ideas into motion. A company that epitomises these points would be the ride-hailing company, Grab. From an idea birthed by students from Harvard Business School, to an initial grant of US$25,000 to bring the idea to life, the company expanded from Malaysia, to Singapore, to Southeast Asian countries, and the rest is history. Additionally, both Grab and the Singapore government exemplified how both sides helped one another during challenging times. Despite the challenging period of the COVID-19 outbreak, Grab had even introduced “GrabResponse”, a non-emergency transport service to ferry stable and clinically-well individuals to hospitals, supporting the state’s COVID-19 efforts. The government had also helped the company by setting aside an additional $112 million to help taxi and private-hire operators and drivers. The beneficial and amicable relationship between a leader in any community and the members therefore signifies the important concept of “employee engagement” that Jim Clifton talks about.
To encapsulate the morals from this book review, the issue of Joblessness, the understanding of Behavioural Economics, and the mastery of Customer and Employee engagement must start and be led at the local level by key community leaders. While I do not refute the notion that jobs should be a top priority for global leaders today,I would argue that priorities will change depending on the circumstances a community is facing at a given time, and thus the wisdom to decide on the right priorities and actions to be taken, should be the underlying concern of a community leader. A good read I would recommend to all aspiring community leaders!
September 27, 2020
Introduction
As CEO of analytics firm Gallup, Clifton boasts the credentials to offer insights into jobs globally. “The Coming Jobs War” highlights the plight faced by societies surrounding jobs. To Clifton, a “good” job is one with a paycheque from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week. Gallup polls reveal that 1.8 billion people desire yet lack such jobs – a potential source of instability and societal stress. Countries are finding it increasingly difficult to create these “good” jobs, and the short supply of good jobs will hurt the country’s economy and social fabric in the long run. I will write about how some lessons within this book can be applied to youth of the world today.
Unemployment – the Chicken and the Egg
Economic growth produces wealth for spending. Spending leads to economic growth. See the problem here? During a crisis like COVID-19, uncertainty rises and consumer spending is cut. Consequently, firms struggle to survive.
There is worrying talk about the “lost generation” whose plans were derailed permanently by COVID-19. The challenge that this generation of young people will face coming out of the crisis will be trouble finding jobs matching their pay expectations, due to their lack of work experience expected of their age group. Without any hiring by employers, their resumes continue to be weak. Their unemployment now could lead to depressed wages and subsequent economic depression.
However, not all hope is lost. Enterprising individuals should take advantage of COVID-19 to improve themselves and level the playing field with their competitors. Idealistic as this sounds, it is one way forward for young job-seeking adults caught up in the chaos of COVID-19. Hopefully, we can escape the vicious cycle of depression that Clifton envisions for today’s America, where depressed wages lead to depressed growth.
The rise of China (and other countries)
China has had a meteoric rise in the recent century. Economic predictions foretell China’s GDP within 30 years shadowing that of the United States. Today, China’s GDP is more than 4x India’s, 3x Russia’s, 2x Brazil’s and beyond Japan. By 2040, China’s GDP would have 35% market share of the world economy, while America will have 15%.
This decline in American economic hegemony is due to loss of American competitiveness. Clifton raised the example of Detroit, once the richest American city owing to its history of car-manufacturing during the auto industry boom of the early 1900s . Business was thriving for the Big Three automakers and Detroit’s population exploded to 1.85 million in 1950, with 296000 manufacturing jobs . Detroit’s fall from grace was partly due to the lack of solid leadership and short-sightedness of the companies and government. Clifton also attributes the loss of competitiveness to overaggressive unions who fought so valiantly for their workers without realising that they were making their own city non-competitive. All it took was one gasoline crisis in 1973 to give foreign automobile makers from Japan and Germany a foothold in America. The rest is history.
With COVID-19, working from home (WFH) has been normalized and the competition for quality jobs has been intensified. If workers abroad can perform locals’ jobs for cheaper, what is stopping firms from hiring overseas? Here, the law forbids firms from doing so. However, such protectionism is dangerous, promoting complacency among the local populace. Coming out of COVID-19, young Singaporeans need to step up their game to compete with foreign talent. With WFH, there also presents an opportunity for our young to reach out abroad to work overseas – from the comforts of their home.
Local leadership
Clifton laments that city leaders in America much-too-often look to Washington (the capital) for legislation and stimulus to solve their job woes. However, the likelihood is that solutions to job creation already exist at home. Entrepreneurs, enterprise energy and leadership all exist within cities – it is a matter of making use of them and cultivating a culture of creativity. Clifton believes that reliance on central leadership makes cities dependent, entitled and more bureaucratic. These stifle individual initiative and meritocracy.
All prosperous cities have a self-organized, unelected group of talented people influencing and guiding them, so-called “tribal leaders”. These people desire the best for their cities and aren’t out to rob the people for personal benefit, unlike “predatory elites”. In a similar vein, companies should look within and not to the central government for handouts during times of crisis like COVID-19. Rather than retrench staff and letting go of talent, companies should strive to survive using creative methods. They should cultivate their “tribal leaders” to lead and innovate to remain competitive. Clifton raised the example of how businesses like IBM and Google cultivate brilliant talents who go on to make their own successful companies like Microsoft and Intel.
The COVID-19 pandemic should highlight workplaces which are able to adapt to a rapidly evolving crisis. With a company which encourages innovation and gives space for development, our youth can realise their fullest potential rather than be stuck in a dead-end job that breeds conformity.
Entrepreneurship versus Innovation
The next key factor in the creation of good jobs is the spirit of entrepreneurship. America, with all its freedoms, has an oversupply of innovation. The reason why many companies do not take off is the lack of a sustainable business model due to its leader’s lack of business acumen. As Clifton accurately notes, “Even the best ideas and inventions in the world have no value until they have a customer”. Although the invention of the TCP/IP protocol by Vinton Cerf was an astounding breakthrough in technology at the time, it wasn’t until Al Gore conceptualising the commercial power of it that the Internet was born, changing the course of humankind as we know it and thrusting us into the Information Age. Another example, Wayne Huizenga founded 3 Fortune 500 companies (Waste Management Inc, Blockbuster Inc and AutoNation Inc), each was far from inspiring in concept but brilliant in execution because of Huizenga’s entrepreneurial spirit making the business model work.
Often we place so much emphasis on cultivating innovation in our youth. However, what we should be working towards is developing entrepreneurial spirit amongst them to make sure that great ideas are followed up with sustainable business models.
Customer Science
Clifton believes that for more good jobs to be created, a country must not only have innovation and entrepreneurship, but also win over customers from across the globe. To quote him, “Jobs occur where new customers appear”. As this book was published in 2011, even someone as astute as Clifton could not have envisioned the entry of a President who so vehemently rejects globalisation and free trade. This problem is further accentuated by COVID-19, where finger-pointing by governments and shutting of borders leads to countries becoming more reclusive.
The challenge facing youth post-COVID is how to win back customers from across the globe. We needs to focus on jobs which can build relationships with its customers to win trust and partnerships. In his book, Clifton brings up several examples where the added cost of working with one company was well worth it due to the non-monetary value said company had to offer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, though the COVID-19 pandemic brought about major disruption to the jobs market across the globe, youth should not wallow in despair over crushed hopes. Instead, they must seize the opportunities presented by this crisis and revitalise our job market.
As CEO of analytics firm Gallup, Clifton boasts the credentials to offer insights into jobs globally. “The Coming Jobs War” highlights the plight faced by societies surrounding jobs. To Clifton, a “good” job is one with a paycheque from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week. Gallup polls reveal that 1.8 billion people desire yet lack such jobs – a potential source of instability and societal stress. Countries are finding it increasingly difficult to create these “good” jobs, and the short supply of good jobs will hurt the country’s economy and social fabric in the long run. I will write about how some lessons within this book can be applied to youth of the world today.
Unemployment – the Chicken and the Egg
Economic growth produces wealth for spending. Spending leads to economic growth. See the problem here? During a crisis like COVID-19, uncertainty rises and consumer spending is cut. Consequently, firms struggle to survive.
There is worrying talk about the “lost generation” whose plans were derailed permanently by COVID-19. The challenge that this generation of young people will face coming out of the crisis will be trouble finding jobs matching their pay expectations, due to their lack of work experience expected of their age group. Without any hiring by employers, their resumes continue to be weak. Their unemployment now could lead to depressed wages and subsequent economic depression.
However, not all hope is lost. Enterprising individuals should take advantage of COVID-19 to improve themselves and level the playing field with their competitors. Idealistic as this sounds, it is one way forward for young job-seeking adults caught up in the chaos of COVID-19. Hopefully, we can escape the vicious cycle of depression that Clifton envisions for today’s America, where depressed wages lead to depressed growth.
The rise of China (and other countries)
China has had a meteoric rise in the recent century. Economic predictions foretell China’s GDP within 30 years shadowing that of the United States. Today, China’s GDP is more than 4x India’s, 3x Russia’s, 2x Brazil’s and beyond Japan. By 2040, China’s GDP would have 35% market share of the world economy, while America will have 15%.
This decline in American economic hegemony is due to loss of American competitiveness. Clifton raised the example of Detroit, once the richest American city owing to its history of car-manufacturing during the auto industry boom of the early 1900s . Business was thriving for the Big Three automakers and Detroit’s population exploded to 1.85 million in 1950, with 296000 manufacturing jobs . Detroit’s fall from grace was partly due to the lack of solid leadership and short-sightedness of the companies and government. Clifton also attributes the loss of competitiveness to overaggressive unions who fought so valiantly for their workers without realising that they were making their own city non-competitive. All it took was one gasoline crisis in 1973 to give foreign automobile makers from Japan and Germany a foothold in America. The rest is history.
With COVID-19, working from home (WFH) has been normalized and the competition for quality jobs has been intensified. If workers abroad can perform locals’ jobs for cheaper, what is stopping firms from hiring overseas? Here, the law forbids firms from doing so. However, such protectionism is dangerous, promoting complacency among the local populace. Coming out of COVID-19, young Singaporeans need to step up their game to compete with foreign talent. With WFH, there also presents an opportunity for our young to reach out abroad to work overseas – from the comforts of their home.
Local leadership
Clifton laments that city leaders in America much-too-often look to Washington (the capital) for legislation and stimulus to solve their job woes. However, the likelihood is that solutions to job creation already exist at home. Entrepreneurs, enterprise energy and leadership all exist within cities – it is a matter of making use of them and cultivating a culture of creativity. Clifton believes that reliance on central leadership makes cities dependent, entitled and more bureaucratic. These stifle individual initiative and meritocracy.
All prosperous cities have a self-organized, unelected group of talented people influencing and guiding them, so-called “tribal leaders”. These people desire the best for their cities and aren’t out to rob the people for personal benefit, unlike “predatory elites”. In a similar vein, companies should look within and not to the central government for handouts during times of crisis like COVID-19. Rather than retrench staff and letting go of talent, companies should strive to survive using creative methods. They should cultivate their “tribal leaders” to lead and innovate to remain competitive. Clifton raised the example of how businesses like IBM and Google cultivate brilliant talents who go on to make their own successful companies like Microsoft and Intel.
The COVID-19 pandemic should highlight workplaces which are able to adapt to a rapidly evolving crisis. With a company which encourages innovation and gives space for development, our youth can realise their fullest potential rather than be stuck in a dead-end job that breeds conformity.
Entrepreneurship versus Innovation
The next key factor in the creation of good jobs is the spirit of entrepreneurship. America, with all its freedoms, has an oversupply of innovation. The reason why many companies do not take off is the lack of a sustainable business model due to its leader’s lack of business acumen. As Clifton accurately notes, “Even the best ideas and inventions in the world have no value until they have a customer”. Although the invention of the TCP/IP protocol by Vinton Cerf was an astounding breakthrough in technology at the time, it wasn’t until Al Gore conceptualising the commercial power of it that the Internet was born, changing the course of humankind as we know it and thrusting us into the Information Age. Another example, Wayne Huizenga founded 3 Fortune 500 companies (Waste Management Inc, Blockbuster Inc and AutoNation Inc), each was far from inspiring in concept but brilliant in execution because of Huizenga’s entrepreneurial spirit making the business model work.
Often we place so much emphasis on cultivating innovation in our youth. However, what we should be working towards is developing entrepreneurial spirit amongst them to make sure that great ideas are followed up with sustainable business models.
Customer Science
Clifton believes that for more good jobs to be created, a country must not only have innovation and entrepreneurship, but also win over customers from across the globe. To quote him, “Jobs occur where new customers appear”. As this book was published in 2011, even someone as astute as Clifton could not have envisioned the entry of a President who so vehemently rejects globalisation and free trade. This problem is further accentuated by COVID-19, where finger-pointing by governments and shutting of borders leads to countries becoming more reclusive.
The challenge facing youth post-COVID is how to win back customers from across the globe. We needs to focus on jobs which can build relationships with its customers to win trust and partnerships. In his book, Clifton brings up several examples where the added cost of working with one company was well worth it due to the non-monetary value said company had to offer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, though the COVID-19 pandemic brought about major disruption to the jobs market across the globe, youth should not wallow in despair over crushed hopes. Instead, they must seize the opportunities presented by this crisis and revitalise our job market.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2017
“The Coming Jobs War”, written by Jim Clifton, expounds the issues that many countries faced in attaining economic growth and stability. To achieve sustainable growth, overcoming the relentless competition for good jobs – jobs that entail security as well as offer opportunities for growth and development – remains inevitable. In Singapore, the rise in competition for good jobs has become particularly relevant to the youths, bringing challenges as well as opportunities when seeking future employment. Through my engagement with students of Crest Secondary School (CSS), I will elaborate on three issues regarding employment that are prominent to them as well as to youths in general.
Firstly, youths might not be successful in getting their desired jobs. While good jobs form the pillar for growth and success, Jim champions that one of the challenges most societies face is that the demand for good jobs far exceed its supply (p. 5). As a consequence, some people might end up having to settle for the next viable alternative.
In Singapore, the ability to get a good job stems from an individual’s merits – one’s ability, performance and achievement rather than social class or privilege. As a result of meritocracy, the society has become highly competitive such that students are academically streamed into various classes (Special, Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical) and differentiated into various learning tracks. NSS students are from the Normal Technical stream and are henceforth “subscribed” to an academic route where students are taught more technical skills to prepare them for early employment. While it may seem that those students are on a level-playing field to pursue their desired jobs, I realised that they are actually limited to jobs within the specialisation of Hospitality Services, Retail Services, Facility Services and Mechanical Servicing. Here we see that most of their future jobs are in the service sector. During the ice-breaking sessions, majority of the boys was interested in aerospace or robotics. They appeared to be more interested in the construction process (i.e. engineering) of structures rather than its servicing. This would, however, mean that they have to pursue further education (minimally in a Polytechnic) before they are qualified to get their desired job. In other words, they have to perform exceptionally well in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in order to enrol in the Polytechnic. In my opinion, while it seems that they are not denied opportunities to get employment, they are in fact disadvantaged and restricted in their choices of jobs (especially for those who prefer engineering to servicing-related work). Therefore, they should recognise the importance of securing a stable job first rather than narrowing their choices to solely the one they desire.
Secondly, youths should have a clear sense of their strengths and limitations when seeking employment. In the book, Jim espouses the importance of acknowledging one’s differences in character and social background so as to seek the best fitted employment. “The Gallup Path” – to maximise human involvement and efficiency in an organisation – always begins with identifying the strengths of individuals to find the right fit (p. 108).
Majority of the CSS students that I have engaged in belonged to the athletics group, while some were from the service group. What I have noticed about the athletics group students were that they were very dominant and vocal when it comes to games (e.g. sandwich-making competition, constructing egg structure). On the flip side, students belonging to the service group tended to be more cooperative and soft-spoken. Recognising that every individual has his own distinct strengths and limitations, the question herein lies how we exemplify each other’s strengths and melt our differences. This would be paramount when it comes to seeking future employment, where youths need to understand how they could contribute productively to the organisation and work amicably with one another – that is by knowing oneself and leveraging on one’s strengths and competence. I believed that such soft skills could and should be further cultivated through more teamwork-based activity interwoven in the school curriculum.
Thirdly, youths need to develop leadership qualities in order to seize opportunities in gaining employment. Using the example of Wayne Huizenga, an entrepreneur and a developer of Waste Management Inc, Jim illustrated how leadership is key to establishing connection with people around you. Hence, Wayne succeeded in starting a multibillion-dollar worldwide environmental organisation with just a simple trash collecting ideology (p. 91).
During the games, it was heartening to see different CSS students stepped up to take charge of various activities, albeit being unsure of what to expect. By taking charge, the students emerged out of their comfort zones and were actively involved as leaders and planners. I felt extremely encouraged when students proactively initiated ideas without any prompting by facilitators. This enthusiasm generates positivity within the group which motivated other people to contribute as well, making the entire process more enjoyable. Similarly, in seeking employment, one has to seize opportunities at the right time and “impress” the employer with one’s capabilities and qualities. As such, it would be beneficial if the youths start developing themselves holistically by partaking in and even leading a wide range of activities. Moreover, I have realised that good ideas often come from simple ones, albeit with some alterations and improvisations, which could originate from any individual. Thus, I tried to encourage my group to show respect to those who are sharing ideas and to build on ideas constructively rather than to tear them down.
To conclude, in a global war for good jobs, there are bound to be “winners” and “losers”. Youths in general face huge competition to get desirable jobs. This is even so for the CSS students, where getting good jobs may not be a question of choice, but a test of determination and competence. Recognising that every individual can contribute to the success of the global economy, what we should do now is not to isolate and out-compete individuals but to tap on each other’s strengths so that the so-called “losers” have their fair chance of employment as well.
Firstly, youths might not be successful in getting their desired jobs. While good jobs form the pillar for growth and success, Jim champions that one of the challenges most societies face is that the demand for good jobs far exceed its supply (p. 5). As a consequence, some people might end up having to settle for the next viable alternative.
In Singapore, the ability to get a good job stems from an individual’s merits – one’s ability, performance and achievement rather than social class or privilege. As a result of meritocracy, the society has become highly competitive such that students are academically streamed into various classes (Special, Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical) and differentiated into various learning tracks. NSS students are from the Normal Technical stream and are henceforth “subscribed” to an academic route where students are taught more technical skills to prepare them for early employment. While it may seem that those students are on a level-playing field to pursue their desired jobs, I realised that they are actually limited to jobs within the specialisation of Hospitality Services, Retail Services, Facility Services and Mechanical Servicing. Here we see that most of their future jobs are in the service sector. During the ice-breaking sessions, majority of the boys was interested in aerospace or robotics. They appeared to be more interested in the construction process (i.e. engineering) of structures rather than its servicing. This would, however, mean that they have to pursue further education (minimally in a Polytechnic) before they are qualified to get their desired job. In other words, they have to perform exceptionally well in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in order to enrol in the Polytechnic. In my opinion, while it seems that they are not denied opportunities to get employment, they are in fact disadvantaged and restricted in their choices of jobs (especially for those who prefer engineering to servicing-related work). Therefore, they should recognise the importance of securing a stable job first rather than narrowing their choices to solely the one they desire.
Secondly, youths should have a clear sense of their strengths and limitations when seeking employment. In the book, Jim espouses the importance of acknowledging one’s differences in character and social background so as to seek the best fitted employment. “The Gallup Path” – to maximise human involvement and efficiency in an organisation – always begins with identifying the strengths of individuals to find the right fit (p. 108).
Majority of the CSS students that I have engaged in belonged to the athletics group, while some were from the service group. What I have noticed about the athletics group students were that they were very dominant and vocal when it comes to games (e.g. sandwich-making competition, constructing egg structure). On the flip side, students belonging to the service group tended to be more cooperative and soft-spoken. Recognising that every individual has his own distinct strengths and limitations, the question herein lies how we exemplify each other’s strengths and melt our differences. This would be paramount when it comes to seeking future employment, where youths need to understand how they could contribute productively to the organisation and work amicably with one another – that is by knowing oneself and leveraging on one’s strengths and competence. I believed that such soft skills could and should be further cultivated through more teamwork-based activity interwoven in the school curriculum.
Thirdly, youths need to develop leadership qualities in order to seize opportunities in gaining employment. Using the example of Wayne Huizenga, an entrepreneur and a developer of Waste Management Inc, Jim illustrated how leadership is key to establishing connection with people around you. Hence, Wayne succeeded in starting a multibillion-dollar worldwide environmental organisation with just a simple trash collecting ideology (p. 91).
During the games, it was heartening to see different CSS students stepped up to take charge of various activities, albeit being unsure of what to expect. By taking charge, the students emerged out of their comfort zones and were actively involved as leaders and planners. I felt extremely encouraged when students proactively initiated ideas without any prompting by facilitators. This enthusiasm generates positivity within the group which motivated other people to contribute as well, making the entire process more enjoyable. Similarly, in seeking employment, one has to seize opportunities at the right time and “impress” the employer with one’s capabilities and qualities. As such, it would be beneficial if the youths start developing themselves holistically by partaking in and even leading a wide range of activities. Moreover, I have realised that good ideas often come from simple ones, albeit with some alterations and improvisations, which could originate from any individual. Thus, I tried to encourage my group to show respect to those who are sharing ideas and to build on ideas constructively rather than to tear them down.
To conclude, in a global war for good jobs, there are bound to be “winners” and “losers”. Youths in general face huge competition to get desirable jobs. This is even so for the CSS students, where getting good jobs may not be a question of choice, but a test of determination and competence. Recognising that every individual can contribute to the success of the global economy, what we should do now is not to isolate and out-compete individuals but to tap on each other’s strengths so that the so-called “losers” have their fair chance of employment as well.
November 14, 2016
Jim Clifton’s ‘The Coming Jobs War’ is about how America can avoid an economic downfall by creating more good jobs and preventing their citizens from fighting for good jobs. Contrary to popular belief, this cannot be done by the government alone, but has to be a collective effort from the entire nation. Both large companies and small businesses have to make the constant effort to create more good jobs and groom their employees. In fact, small businesses have an equally important, or larger, part to play when compared to large companies. This brings in the idea of teamwork and taught me a lot about how diversity and community involvement can prepare youths for the working society. It was definitely a very insightful read as I have learnt a lot about working successfully in a team, even though it was a book meant to encourage Americans to create jobs for one another. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about teamwork.
October 13, 2016
In The Coming Jobs War, Jim Clifton discusses the upcoming economic crunch which the US is going to face with growth falling behind China's. Clifton postulates that the world will be led by economic forces, forces which are primarily driven by job creation and quality GDP growth. Clifton also talks about how engaged employees, being the creative force of an organisation, is one of the solutions to revitalize the US economy. The Coming Jobs War is a thought-provoking book which outlines what we need to do to keep up with the forces of globalization.
December 6, 2011
A seriously disturbing look into the erosion of our economy in the immediate future. The Coming Job Wars depicts competition for good jobs, on a global scale while exposing why America is unprepared. Recommended.
January 8, 2012
While the overall point is solid, it is weird that someone with access to so much data uses little of it to support his argument. Feels biased at times and doesn't recognize the interconnectedness of issues.
April 26, 2012
Excellent quick read from the chairmen of Gallup on what the US needs to do to be competitive.
June 21, 2012
Excellent - clear, concise economic development perspectives.
April 18, 2021
Another book suggested by a legislator friend. I sometimes read those books and return for a tutorial. These book discussions are part of our personal and professional relationship. I love connecting with books!!
2011 -- so some of the information and predictions may need to be adjusted...but Clifton, who was Chairman of Gallup, the gold-standard of polls, tells us we are losing the GDP battle, and by 2030, China will be the world's leader, meaning we in the US will face any number of hardships funding our government.
Clifton uses information from various Gallup polls (there is ALWAYS a poll!) to show how we're slipping, and what changes need to be made, what adjustments, to continue to grow our GDP...and win this war.
It's all about jobs. Good jobs. Full-time jobs, with job satisfaction (my question: does this not argue for a higher minimum wage?) He says joblessness is one of the strongest core drives of what he calls, "national hopelessness." Reading as we are hopefully coming out of Covid issues makes this more poignant. Many were thrown into joblessness suddenly, with no knowledge of when the jobs will return.
Clifton talks about the fact that small and medium sized businesses are the major driver of GDP...I find that intriguing. These businesses invest in their companies, reinvest in their companies, and drive the need for goods and services. So, it makes sense we need to nurture them.
Behavioral economics drives the Gallup polls, and Clifton shows how our decisions about where to buy products, and decisions about how engaged to be at our workplace are extremely important. That poll that you get thru email after visiting a store, or buying something online, are Gallup questions! They measure our behavior and consumer engagement. They are important in this chain of information that will improve engagement and job satisfaction. Engaged customers inspire engaged workers, inspire growth, raise GDP. His goal in all this information gathering is not necessarily making happier workers...but how happy workers can drive the entire economy.
His discussion of behavioral economics and what drives our consumer decisions reminded me of Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind, and his metaphor of the elephant and the rider. While we *think* we are making conscious, rational decisions, most often, we're making emotional decisions, even about the products we buy...I wonder what Clifton and Haidt would think of my connection...
Clifton says job growth must happen at the city/local level...with cities, universities, and influential 'tribal leaders' helping create the conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship (Oh, does he love this word!). And speaking of innovation and entrepreneurship...Clifton says we need more of each, but innovators are not the key to growing the GDP...Entrepreneurs are. A good idea means nothing unless there's a business model to nurture it. I'm still mulling all of this.
Clifton talks about adjustments needed in the workplace...make just a few more workers were satisfied and engaged and businesses will be more successful. Oh, and there's a Gallup poll to analyze job satisfaction and engagement. I like his focus on finding the sweet spots and working these small adjustments.
His chapter on education started talking about tests and scores and falling behind...and I felt my anger growing. Then he shifted...His stats show 30% of our students drop out of school...he says the major reason? Hopelessness. And with the help of another Gallup poll, he shows what's necessary to reach students, not to raise test scores, but to raise engagement, connection, hope. He uses those behavioral questions to give us a new paradigm. "Hope predicts academic success and graduation better than grades or test scores." I want to see current research, but this could be huge. And the changed it could begin in schools could be exciting. We should be building community, connections. We should be creating relationships. He says if we can reduce by half the number of students who drop out, we could create more engaged workers...and we could raise GDP.
Healthcare! He talks about that too...reducing the costs would add more funding to the economy and could raise...you get it! The GDP!
Clifton ends with a study of wellbeing...The domains he identifies are very similar to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs...it's not a perfect match, but enough to make me think.
Good jobs is our major problem...which can only be created in cities. Entrepreneurship is vital...healthcare costs could sink the US. We attack dropout issues one child at at time.
NOW I need to go find more recent data.
Lots to talk about!
2011 -- so some of the information and predictions may need to be adjusted...but Clifton, who was Chairman of Gallup, the gold-standard of polls, tells us we are losing the GDP battle, and by 2030, China will be the world's leader, meaning we in the US will face any number of hardships funding our government.
Clifton uses information from various Gallup polls (there is ALWAYS a poll!) to show how we're slipping, and what changes need to be made, what adjustments, to continue to grow our GDP...and win this war.
It's all about jobs. Good jobs. Full-time jobs, with job satisfaction (my question: does this not argue for a higher minimum wage?) He says joblessness is one of the strongest core drives of what he calls, "national hopelessness." Reading as we are hopefully coming out of Covid issues makes this more poignant. Many were thrown into joblessness suddenly, with no knowledge of when the jobs will return.
Clifton talks about the fact that small and medium sized businesses are the major driver of GDP...I find that intriguing. These businesses invest in their companies, reinvest in their companies, and drive the need for goods and services. So, it makes sense we need to nurture them.
Behavioral economics drives the Gallup polls, and Clifton shows how our decisions about where to buy products, and decisions about how engaged to be at our workplace are extremely important. That poll that you get thru email after visiting a store, or buying something online, are Gallup questions! They measure our behavior and consumer engagement. They are important in this chain of information that will improve engagement and job satisfaction. Engaged customers inspire engaged workers, inspire growth, raise GDP. His goal in all this information gathering is not necessarily making happier workers...but how happy workers can drive the entire economy.
His discussion of behavioral economics and what drives our consumer decisions reminded me of Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind, and his metaphor of the elephant and the rider. While we *think* we are making conscious, rational decisions, most often, we're making emotional decisions, even about the products we buy...I wonder what Clifton and Haidt would think of my connection...
Clifton says job growth must happen at the city/local level...with cities, universities, and influential 'tribal leaders' helping create the conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship (Oh, does he love this word!). And speaking of innovation and entrepreneurship...Clifton says we need more of each, but innovators are not the key to growing the GDP...Entrepreneurs are. A good idea means nothing unless there's a business model to nurture it. I'm still mulling all of this.
Clifton talks about adjustments needed in the workplace...make just a few more workers were satisfied and engaged and businesses will be more successful. Oh, and there's a Gallup poll to analyze job satisfaction and engagement. I like his focus on finding the sweet spots and working these small adjustments.
His chapter on education started talking about tests and scores and falling behind...and I felt my anger growing. Then he shifted...His stats show 30% of our students drop out of school...he says the major reason? Hopelessness. And with the help of another Gallup poll, he shows what's necessary to reach students, not to raise test scores, but to raise engagement, connection, hope. He uses those behavioral questions to give us a new paradigm. "Hope predicts academic success and graduation better than grades or test scores." I want to see current research, but this could be huge. And the changed it could begin in schools could be exciting. We should be building community, connections. We should be creating relationships. He says if we can reduce by half the number of students who drop out, we could create more engaged workers...and we could raise GDP.
Healthcare! He talks about that too...reducing the costs would add more funding to the economy and could raise...you get it! The GDP!
Clifton ends with a study of wellbeing...The domains he identifies are very similar to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs...it's not a perfect match, but enough to make me think.
Good jobs is our major problem...which can only be created in cities. Entrepreneurship is vital...healthcare costs could sink the US. We attack dropout issues one child at at time.
NOW I need to go find more recent data.
Lots to talk about!
November 7, 2017
Context: I am a Singaporean university student and thus I will correlate Clifton's points in the context of Singapore's economy and social geographic.
“The Coming Jobs War” is a book written by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, a company well known for the Gallup World Poll that collates opinions on every issue in the world’s adult population. In this book, Clifton stated that “the coming world war is an all-out global war for good jobs.” (Clifton, 2011), where a good job is defined as “a job with a pay check from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week.” (Clifton, 2011) Clifton talks about the problems with American employment and economy and suggested means that corporate leaders should take to boost job prospects. There are many issues raised by Clifton which are applicable to Singaporean youths and perhaps the most pertinent one is the decreasing job prospects.
Clifton starts off by stating “America’s most pressing current problem, according to Gallup, is a lack of good jobs.” (Clifton, 2011), which will cause a decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Wellbeing (GNW), which is “driven primarily by hopefulness or hopelessness” (Clifton, 2011) Thus when people cannot obtain good jobs, they will be in poorer health and wellbeing state and need more healthcare in general. And these people might not fully recover to work again, which creates a larger national debt for the shrinking working population to shoulder through taxes. Ultimately, this lead to failure in institutions, infrastructures and governments and the collapse of the country.
This issue is pertinent to not just American solely, but economically well-developed countries including Singapore. Unemployment rate has climbed to 2.3% in the first quarter of 2017 as announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at his May Day Rally due to pressures faced in mature economies such as ageing workforce, technological changes and a global economy that has not fully recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis. Even though this problem is not as serious as other nations as they see much higher unemployment rates of 5-10%, youths are finding it more challenging to secure good jobs, with a 10% decrease in job vacancies open to fresh graduates in 2016.
Students in Normal (Technical) stream are more at risk of being negatively affected by the phenomenon as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) courses available to these students are those easier to get into, less popular and lead to lower-skilled jobs where many students perceive as not good jobs. Their mobility in the job market to obtain their desired good jobs are very limited by their qualifications. However, the rise of specialised schools for Normal (Technical) (SSNT) such as Crest Secondary School that integrates academic and vocational learning in the students have scored a hit in Singapore’s education landscape. Students can specialize in one of four industry areas: Hospitality, retail, facility or mechanical services, so that they are better equipped with skills for their future jobs. During their visit to CAPT, one of the Crest Secondary School Students told me that the school has interesting facilities like a kitchen, restaurant, supermarket and hotel room for greater simulation of their jobs. I believe that graduates from SSNTs will possess specific skills that boost their chances of landing their “good jobs” in addition to their academic success.
In general, I feel that Clifton comes off as an arrogant person (Which is understandable given his status as Gallup's CEO) and very negative of America's future. Indeed he has raised salient points but unfortunately they are not supplied by statistics (which is an irony given his company's reputation as a statistics organisation). Furthermore he does not consider any positive sides of the upcoming economic developments and also his ideas do not correlate well into other countries like Singapore, where there are already policies in place to counteract such situations from happening. Pardon me for saying this, but I feel that Clifton is "all talk but no action". Sure he emphasizes on the impending "Jobs War" but he does not give recommendations for institutions to prevent such a "crisis" from happening.
“The Coming Jobs War” is a book written by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, a company well known for the Gallup World Poll that collates opinions on every issue in the world’s adult population. In this book, Clifton stated that “the coming world war is an all-out global war for good jobs.” (Clifton, 2011), where a good job is defined as “a job with a pay check from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week.” (Clifton, 2011) Clifton talks about the problems with American employment and economy and suggested means that corporate leaders should take to boost job prospects. There are many issues raised by Clifton which are applicable to Singaporean youths and perhaps the most pertinent one is the decreasing job prospects.
Clifton starts off by stating “America’s most pressing current problem, according to Gallup, is a lack of good jobs.” (Clifton, 2011), which will cause a decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Wellbeing (GNW), which is “driven primarily by hopefulness or hopelessness” (Clifton, 2011) Thus when people cannot obtain good jobs, they will be in poorer health and wellbeing state and need more healthcare in general. And these people might not fully recover to work again, which creates a larger national debt for the shrinking working population to shoulder through taxes. Ultimately, this lead to failure in institutions, infrastructures and governments and the collapse of the country.
This issue is pertinent to not just American solely, but economically well-developed countries including Singapore. Unemployment rate has climbed to 2.3% in the first quarter of 2017 as announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at his May Day Rally due to pressures faced in mature economies such as ageing workforce, technological changes and a global economy that has not fully recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis. Even though this problem is not as serious as other nations as they see much higher unemployment rates of 5-10%, youths are finding it more challenging to secure good jobs, with a 10% decrease in job vacancies open to fresh graduates in 2016.
Students in Normal (Technical) stream are more at risk of being negatively affected by the phenomenon as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) courses available to these students are those easier to get into, less popular and lead to lower-skilled jobs where many students perceive as not good jobs. Their mobility in the job market to obtain their desired good jobs are very limited by their qualifications. However, the rise of specialised schools for Normal (Technical) (SSNT) such as Crest Secondary School that integrates academic and vocational learning in the students have scored a hit in Singapore’s education landscape. Students can specialize in one of four industry areas: Hospitality, retail, facility or mechanical services, so that they are better equipped with skills for their future jobs. During their visit to CAPT, one of the Crest Secondary School Students told me that the school has interesting facilities like a kitchen, restaurant, supermarket and hotel room for greater simulation of their jobs. I believe that graduates from SSNTs will possess specific skills that boost their chances of landing their “good jobs” in addition to their academic success.
In general, I feel that Clifton comes off as an arrogant person (Which is understandable given his status as Gallup's CEO) and very negative of America's future. Indeed he has raised salient points but unfortunately they are not supplied by statistics (which is an irony given his company's reputation as a statistics organisation). Furthermore he does not consider any positive sides of the upcoming economic developments and also his ideas do not correlate well into other countries like Singapore, where there are already policies in place to counteract such situations from happening. Pardon me for saying this, but I feel that Clifton is "all talk but no action". Sure he emphasizes on the impending "Jobs War" but he does not give recommendations for institutions to prevent such a "crisis" from happening.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2020
At the heart of the book ‘The Coming Jobs War’ is the direct correlation between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which represents a country’s economy and job which Jim Clifton describes are like chicken and egg; that they are ‘cause and effect’ of one another. Joblessness and poor economy will have huge social implications like instability and unrest and is also the root cause of almost all world problems countries face (Clifton, 2011). This is because Clifton believes that there is a huge ‘sociological shift’ in human priorities from valuing freedom, peace, safety, family over anything else to having a ‘good job’ being the utmost priority. The Global War of Jobs is essentially World War 3 and whichever country that has the ‘know-how’ to create good jobs and generate the highest job growth will essentially be the next world leader as jobs become the sole deciding factor and reason to justify anything (Clifton, 2011).
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted global economic activity, and has led to both demand- and supply-side shocks to the economy of most countries, negatively affecting many businesses and jobs in the country. This book, thus, gives invaluable insight into the strategies countries can adopt to generate job growth and how to create an environment that allows these strategies to flourish.
One of the strategy heavily emphasised by Clifton in the book that’s key to job creation is entrepreneurship and innovation. Countries not only need to create jobs but look to create higher-skilled good sustainable knowledge jobs as the global economy shifts towards a knowledge-based economy where the jobs war will be won by knowledge jobs (Clifton, 2011). They key to this is creating an environment/culture that cultivates and encourage entrepreneurism and innovation and is especially important as entrepreneurs are game-changers who have a direct impact on both supply and demand helping to break the cycle of low GDP (demand) causing low job growth (supply) and vice-versa. By bringing something new to the game, entrepreneurship creates new demand for something which increases overall demand (customers) and spending while building new jobs (supply), altering the supply-and-demand equilibrium.
The most important strategy mentioned in the book that underlines all is the importance of global well-being, building an optimal environment/’state-of-mind’ measured by Clifton using the Gallup 7 steps path to Global Wellbeing: Law & Order (An absence of fear, where businesses can safely do business and be protected by a stable government and robust legal system), Food & Shelter, Key Institutions, Mobility & Communication, Youth Development, Job Climate, Job Enhancement. Well-Being is the most crucial role human nature and behavioural economics play in job creation, where a country putting emphasis on Gross National Wellbeing is critical to GDP growth (Clifton,2011). All the other strategies will be irrelevant if the country does not have a good foundation for the creation of good jobs where people have a sense of hope and feel protected, supported, motivated. To generate job growth and attract talents and companies, a country must be seen as job friendly and work ready. Talented explorers which are at the core of entrepreneurship will look to migrate to cities that are most likely to maximise innovation and entrepreneurial talents and skill (Clifton,2011) which is why it is so crucial to create an environment that focuses on well-being and is attractive to them. Talents will then attract even more talents.
Jim Clifton concluded that to create this optimal environment grounded in meritocracy and promotes capitalism, entrepreneurship that’s attractive to even the best talents, there has to be strong community leadership. Community leaders include tribal leaders, super mentors that can connect and bring people together and guide, advise, instill confidence, and light fires in potential entrepreneurs.
Overall, this book is an insightful read providing interesting perspectives on the current world state and economy in times of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted global economic activity, and has led to both demand- and supply-side shocks to the economy of most countries, negatively affecting many businesses and jobs in the country. This book, thus, gives invaluable insight into the strategies countries can adopt to generate job growth and how to create an environment that allows these strategies to flourish.
One of the strategy heavily emphasised by Clifton in the book that’s key to job creation is entrepreneurship and innovation. Countries not only need to create jobs but look to create higher-skilled good sustainable knowledge jobs as the global economy shifts towards a knowledge-based economy where the jobs war will be won by knowledge jobs (Clifton, 2011). They key to this is creating an environment/culture that cultivates and encourage entrepreneurism and innovation and is especially important as entrepreneurs are game-changers who have a direct impact on both supply and demand helping to break the cycle of low GDP (demand) causing low job growth (supply) and vice-versa. By bringing something new to the game, entrepreneurship creates new demand for something which increases overall demand (customers) and spending while building new jobs (supply), altering the supply-and-demand equilibrium.
The most important strategy mentioned in the book that underlines all is the importance of global well-being, building an optimal environment/’state-of-mind’ measured by Clifton using the Gallup 7 steps path to Global Wellbeing: Law & Order (An absence of fear, where businesses can safely do business and be protected by a stable government and robust legal system), Food & Shelter, Key Institutions, Mobility & Communication, Youth Development, Job Climate, Job Enhancement. Well-Being is the most crucial role human nature and behavioural economics play in job creation, where a country putting emphasis on Gross National Wellbeing is critical to GDP growth (Clifton,2011). All the other strategies will be irrelevant if the country does not have a good foundation for the creation of good jobs where people have a sense of hope and feel protected, supported, motivated. To generate job growth and attract talents and companies, a country must be seen as job friendly and work ready. Talented explorers which are at the core of entrepreneurship will look to migrate to cities that are most likely to maximise innovation and entrepreneurial talents and skill (Clifton,2011) which is why it is so crucial to create an environment that focuses on well-being and is attractive to them. Talents will then attract even more talents.
Jim Clifton concluded that to create this optimal environment grounded in meritocracy and promotes capitalism, entrepreneurship that’s attractive to even the best talents, there has to be strong community leadership. Community leaders include tribal leaders, super mentors that can connect and bring people together and guide, advise, instill confidence, and light fires in potential entrepreneurs.
Overall, this book is an insightful read providing interesting perspectives on the current world state and economy in times of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2019
A good job defined by Jim Clifton is more than 30 hours of steady work per week with a salary from the employer. The first steps of The Gallup Path stated in the book is “Identifying Strengths” and “The Right Fit"(51). Different jobs in society require different qualifications. However, there are limited jobs in each industry. The CSS students’ poor results for Primary School Leaving Examinations(PSLE) shows they are not as academically inclined as their peers. Diverting the attention from academics which are not the kids’ strengths helps them realize their talents in areas outside of academics. The school’s curriculum provides an opportunity to obtain particular skillsets, thus preparing them for specific jobs in the future which increases their employability. With shorter attention spans, a more hands-on approach the school adopts works better for these students. Having a curriculum that fits the needs and aptitudes of these students is more beneficial than forcing them through the typical academically rigorous curriculum in Singapore. This differentiates their skills from a general certification like an A level certificate. They are more at advantage in technical schools than if they were to be put in mainstream schools as it’s a curriculum more tailored to their strengths, giving them better chances to secure jobs to feed themselves.
Specialized school also helps to meet the demands of the Singapore economy. The fields taught in CSS- facility services, mechanical services, retail services, and hospitality services are jobs that are in demand in Singapore (CSS, n.d.). The author talked about the challenge to increase brain gain and attracting talent to cities in America(84). However, I feel that attracting talent is not a problem in Singapore. Rather the issue is about nurturing talents to have our pool of talent rather than outsourcing. Having specialized school helps in the development of needed talent. Mainstream schools cannot justify the spending of money on resources and infrastructure for specific skills like cooking, mechanical workshops as it is not a very significant part of their curriculum. Little of their students would use such specialized labs beyond the usual design and technology and home economics lessons. Schools like CSS and ITE, on the other hand, can pool their resources to purchase more specialized equipment as they aim to provide a good training ground for students to practice their skills. Within their curriculum, students also get the opportunity to go for 200 hours of industrial attachment. I think it is great for them to be exposed to the real world. They not only apply the skills learnt in school, but also learn soft skills such as communication and professionalism. These specialized skills and experiences differentiate these students as work-ready. Employers then can localize their search to these schools, saving their energy in outsourcing and looking for employees. It is also easier for employers to give feedback to schools for them to update their curriculum to meet current job market demands, making what the students learn in school even more relevant to the real world, making them more employable. Thus it is beneficial for the economy and society to have such specialized school as it helps meet the workforce demands of Singapore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2018
In his book 'The Coming Jobs War', Jim Clifton explains how every citizen in a country would like to have a good job. He defines “a good job” as working more than 30 hours a week and earning a salary from his/her employer. Using the US as his main basis of reasoning, he explained how the problem of not having enough good jobs for everyone will pose problems to the country’s GDP and create social and cultural issues. Thus, to mitigate this problem, he suggests numerous possible measures that the US can adopt, such as cutting down on the budget allocated to healthcare, promote and support small and medium-sized businesses, developing entrepreneurship more than promoting innovation, etc. In this book review, I will discuss on Clifton’s claims and ideas and relate them to students from Crest Secondary School.
Crest Secondary School houses students who struggle in academics. Instead of forcing them to study in a normal secondary school, they are, therefore, taught more practical soft skills through their vocational curriculum, such as hospitality, retail, facility services and mechanical servicing, which are ITE Skills Certificate (ISC) courses. Furthermore, industrial attachment of a total of 200 hours is compulsory. These are intended to ensure that they will be able to get employment after graduation. We had a chance to interact with these students on a field trip to Pulau Hantu, Singapore.
One of the main objectives of the Pulau Hantu field trip, I believe, is to indirectly persuade the students from Crest Secondary School to continue their education so that they get a good job. Using a research done by Gallup, Clifton claims in Chapter Ten that students will most likely drop out of school when they do not have the hope and confidence that they will graduate. This happens when students do not have any exciting future to look forward to and to work hard for. From my interaction with Crest Secondary School’s students, I realised that they knew they would be going to ITE after finishing their N Levels. It sounded as if their future had already been written for them right from the start they entered Crest Secondary School, which was to study in Crest Secondary School, and then study in ITE and then get a decent job. Getting into university may seem very far-fetched. By exposing them to university students, especially those from NUS which is known to be one of the top universities in Singapore, it was hoped it could at least change their perspective of those in the other end of the spectrum. Hopefully, they could see that university students were not all extremely brilliant people and that they are just ordinary students without exceptionally high intelligence persevering through the process of learning. They are not that far different from Crest Secondary School students. From this, it was wished that they could remove the limiting belief that their future had been pre-determined and perceive university students as their inspiration to work hard for. Therefore, this aspiration will lower the number of drop-outs and they would be able to get good jobs through their hard work.
Crest Secondary School houses students who struggle in academics. Instead of forcing them to study in a normal secondary school, they are, therefore, taught more practical soft skills through their vocational curriculum, such as hospitality, retail, facility services and mechanical servicing, which are ITE Skills Certificate (ISC) courses. Furthermore, industrial attachment of a total of 200 hours is compulsory. These are intended to ensure that they will be able to get employment after graduation. We had a chance to interact with these students on a field trip to Pulau Hantu, Singapore.
One of the main objectives of the Pulau Hantu field trip, I believe, is to indirectly persuade the students from Crest Secondary School to continue their education so that they get a good job. Using a research done by Gallup, Clifton claims in Chapter Ten that students will most likely drop out of school when they do not have the hope and confidence that they will graduate. This happens when students do not have any exciting future to look forward to and to work hard for. From my interaction with Crest Secondary School’s students, I realised that they knew they would be going to ITE after finishing their N Levels. It sounded as if their future had already been written for them right from the start they entered Crest Secondary School, which was to study in Crest Secondary School, and then study in ITE and then get a decent job. Getting into university may seem very far-fetched. By exposing them to university students, especially those from NUS which is known to be one of the top universities in Singapore, it was hoped it could at least change their perspective of those in the other end of the spectrum. Hopefully, they could see that university students were not all extremely brilliant people and that they are just ordinary students without exceptionally high intelligence persevering through the process of learning. They are not that far different from Crest Secondary School students. From this, it was wished that they could remove the limiting belief that their future had been pre-determined and perceive university students as their inspiration to work hard for. Therefore, this aspiration will lower the number of drop-outs and they would be able to get good jobs through their hard work.
April 6, 2018
In The Coming Jobs War, Clifton (2011) states that what everyone wants is a good job, one that provides a paycheck and steady work. What determines the outcome of this ‘coming jobs war’ is mastery of job creation through entrepreneurship and innovation, and the social issues and development that can affect job growth. However, he does not mention job creation that comes from vocational education, giving people, especially those who may be less academically inclined, the ability to be employed in a specific industry . This begs the question whether this style of job ‘creation’ will give this particular group of people what they want.
This means that those receiving vocational education graduate with highly specialised knowledge, and there is not much mobility once they enter the workforce. Despite the fact that vocational education would provide them with a ‘good job’, this lack of mobility would negatively impact their wellbeing (Clifton, 2011). Moreover, we could question the sustainability of such vocational education with the possibility of technological advances making low-skilled jobs obsolete. Many vocational education students I know are on track to become retail assistants or cooks. Although these are defined as ‘good jobs’, it seems discouraging that they would likely be stuck in that industry for all if not a large part of their working lives. Especially since many of them possess other dreams to do something different with their lives. Clifton (2011) claims that joblessness leads to individual and social problems. Individuals “won’t meet their lifetime productivity and are likely to drift away from highly valuable community activities” (p. 29). However, limiting their choices and in a way restricting them to certain industries would not lead to fulfilment of their potential and lifetime productivity either. Thus, while I do acknowledge Clifton's point of the need for a stable income and employment, I would like to propose that ‘good employment’ is more than just a one with a paycheck and steady work, but also one that fulfils emotionally and spiritually.
In order to give the students the opportunity to live up to their full potential and have more than a ‘good job’, we must instil hope and confidence. Hope predicts academic success and graduation, while confidence enables one to grow and start something (Clifton, 2011). However, there is often a start contrast between one's dreams and what one plans to do after post-education, a difference between practicality and doing something that you would really want to do. This is impacting our students greatly and perhaps it comes with what we as a community tell them. The job war plan includes not waiting for the government but to get the whole community involved (Clifton, 2011, p. 84- 86). If we as a community lose hope in these youth, they would lose hope in themselves too. Thus, we need to change our mindset and empower them through confidence and hope.
Thus, Clifton does make several good points about the need for everyone to be involved in this 'Jobs War'. However, perhaps there is too narrow a view about what constitutes a 'good job'.
This means that those receiving vocational education graduate with highly specialised knowledge, and there is not much mobility once they enter the workforce. Despite the fact that vocational education would provide them with a ‘good job’, this lack of mobility would negatively impact their wellbeing (Clifton, 2011). Moreover, we could question the sustainability of such vocational education with the possibility of technological advances making low-skilled jobs obsolete. Many vocational education students I know are on track to become retail assistants or cooks. Although these are defined as ‘good jobs’, it seems discouraging that they would likely be stuck in that industry for all if not a large part of their working lives. Especially since many of them possess other dreams to do something different with their lives. Clifton (2011) claims that joblessness leads to individual and social problems. Individuals “won’t meet their lifetime productivity and are likely to drift away from highly valuable community activities” (p. 29). However, limiting their choices and in a way restricting them to certain industries would not lead to fulfilment of their potential and lifetime productivity either. Thus, while I do acknowledge Clifton's point of the need for a stable income and employment, I would like to propose that ‘good employment’ is more than just a one with a paycheck and steady work, but also one that fulfils emotionally and spiritually.
In order to give the students the opportunity to live up to their full potential and have more than a ‘good job’, we must instil hope and confidence. Hope predicts academic success and graduation, while confidence enables one to grow and start something (Clifton, 2011). However, there is often a start contrast between one's dreams and what one plans to do after post-education, a difference between practicality and doing something that you would really want to do. This is impacting our students greatly and perhaps it comes with what we as a community tell them. The job war plan includes not waiting for the government but to get the whole community involved (Clifton, 2011, p. 84- 86). If we as a community lose hope in these youth, they would lose hope in themselves too. Thus, we need to change our mindset and empower them through confidence and hope.
Thus, Clifton does make several good points about the need for everyone to be involved in this 'Jobs War'. However, perhaps there is too narrow a view about what constitutes a 'good job'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2019
In “The Coming Jobs War”, author Jim Clifton expounds on the importance of job creation, and explores the ways in which the multiple stakeholders in the US economy, including the government, corporations, startups, and educational systems, need to work towards cultivating the right conditions and constructing appropriate goals to produce good and sustainable jobs. It is a strongly worded book, with definite (and purely capitalist in nature) solutions slapped down confidently by Clifton, the chairman of Gallup, an American consulting company. However, these solutions and recommendations need to be appropriately contextualised. Afterall, it has been written with an American economy and audience in mind.
These are some ideas I found potentially note-worthy or ideas that I thought could be challenged further according to various contexts. In Chapter Five of “The Coming Jobs War”, Clifton ascribes the phenomenon of sustainable job creation to human nature - as he states it, “authentic job creation rises out of human spirit, out of human behavioural economics”. He breaks down the concept of human spirit and explains it as “simple states of mind” that embody traits such as “confidence, optimism, determination, creativity, hope and drive” (Clifton, 2011). Ultimately, in Clifton’s opinion, these intangible traits are key in generating jobs and leading to GDP growth.
In Chapter Six, Clifton asserts that “great universities are the origin of most highly successful startups” and that they have the “best ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation” (2011). However, Clifton’s staunch assertion rubs the wrong way when placed in the context of Singapore’s highly diverse tertiary education system. We do not merely depend on our universities for our talent pool - we have polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
In the same chapter, Clifton establishes the importance of “super mentors” in cultivating entrepreneurial minds (2011). Clifton goes on to claim that “super mentors”, or people who are capable of guiding, advising and mentoring, are often found in universities in the form of “university leaders, chancellors, presidents and deans” (2011).
I believe that if we were to follow Clifton’s rigid definition of “super mentors”, we would surely face a challenge in creating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Conversely, I think that super mentors are to be found in all schools.
In Chapter Seven, Clifton prioritizes entrepreneurship over innovation, since “innovation has no value until it creates something a customer wants” (2011). I agree with Clifton on this point, but would like to see greater emphasis being placed on entrepreneurship in other academic pathways as well. The onus of entrepreneurship and innovation should not be placed on university students alone.
In conclusion, Clifton raises valid points as to how to enable sustainable job creation. However, his ideals do need to be contextualised and adapted to the contexts of various countries, especially if we wish to create more employment opportunities for youth.
These are some ideas I found potentially note-worthy or ideas that I thought could be challenged further according to various contexts. In Chapter Five of “The Coming Jobs War”, Clifton ascribes the phenomenon of sustainable job creation to human nature - as he states it, “authentic job creation rises out of human spirit, out of human behavioural economics”. He breaks down the concept of human spirit and explains it as “simple states of mind” that embody traits such as “confidence, optimism, determination, creativity, hope and drive” (Clifton, 2011). Ultimately, in Clifton’s opinion, these intangible traits are key in generating jobs and leading to GDP growth.
In Chapter Six, Clifton asserts that “great universities are the origin of most highly successful startups” and that they have the “best ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation” (2011). However, Clifton’s staunch assertion rubs the wrong way when placed in the context of Singapore’s highly diverse tertiary education system. We do not merely depend on our universities for our talent pool - we have polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
In the same chapter, Clifton establishes the importance of “super mentors” in cultivating entrepreneurial minds (2011). Clifton goes on to claim that “super mentors”, or people who are capable of guiding, advising and mentoring, are often found in universities in the form of “university leaders, chancellors, presidents and deans” (2011).
I believe that if we were to follow Clifton’s rigid definition of “super mentors”, we would surely face a challenge in creating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Conversely, I think that super mentors are to be found in all schools.
In Chapter Seven, Clifton prioritizes entrepreneurship over innovation, since “innovation has no value until it creates something a customer wants” (2011). I agree with Clifton on this point, but would like to see greater emphasis being placed on entrepreneurship in other academic pathways as well. The onus of entrepreneurship and innovation should not be placed on university students alone.
In conclusion, Clifton raises valid points as to how to enable sustainable job creation. However, his ideals do need to be contextualised and adapted to the contexts of various countries, especially if we wish to create more employment opportunities for youth.
Read
June 23, 2020For February’s book club I chose to read “The Coming Job Wars” by Jim Clifton on the recommendation of my supervisor. The first sentence of the book is “the coming world war is an all-out global war for good jobs.” In 2005, Gallup started the World Poll and they plan on doing it for the next 100 years. I won’t go into how they dealt with the validity of the study, but what they found was that the number one priority people had on their mind is to get a good job. The term “good” is important because it means a job that is at least 30 hours a week with an official company.
Jim Clifton argues throughout the book that the world’s next global leader will be its economic leader, the country that has the most job growth and thus the largest piece of the global GDP. Right now, the US has $14.62 trillion of the GDP, China has $5.745 trillion and Japan has $5.391 trillion. The US is still the global economic leader, but our economy is growing only 2% a year, while China is growing 10% a year. This means that, although most Americans believe that China is currently closer to us than it really is, it will surpass us in less than 30 years and become the new leader of the world.
I had never really thought about the fallibility of the US as a global power. Sure, our economy isn’t great right now (huge understatement!) but I, and other Americans, kind of believe that because we are America we’ll pull through. I don’t mean that to sound like a chauvinistic American, but there is always some underlying pride in how American’s are creative, build businesses from the ground up and manage to pull through. And this book provides overwhelming evidence that if we cannot create jobs and foster an environment that is conducive to job creation our entire way of life will change in less than 30 years.
But, Clifton does bring up a story that many people have forgotten about. In the 1970s economists said that Japan and Germany would surpass the United States as global leaders in 30 years, which they did in car manufacturing leading to Detroit’s decline from a bustling city of innovation to the wa. But, we had the technology revolution that jump started our economy and we pulled through to maintain our global leadership. There is not guarantee that this will happen again, but there is hope in knowing that we’ve done it before.
Clifton argues that job creation should be every single elected leader’s number one priority, above global warming, healthcare costs, runaway government spending and global terrorism because, although these are all pressing problems, not having enough jobs means that the United States is going to go broke. And it is companies that have the money in this country, not the government. So it is the job of the government to help foster a job creation environment, but the actual job creation will be the work of private citizens and the public sector.
This is a fantastic book that looks at the power of the economy in global power and how we as a country can work together to create jobs and power GDP growth. I highly recommend it to every CTEP member!
Jim Clifton argues throughout the book that the world’s next global leader will be its economic leader, the country that has the most job growth and thus the largest piece of the global GDP. Right now, the US has $14.62 trillion of the GDP, China has $5.745 trillion and Japan has $5.391 trillion. The US is still the global economic leader, but our economy is growing only 2% a year, while China is growing 10% a year. This means that, although most Americans believe that China is currently closer to us than it really is, it will surpass us in less than 30 years and become the new leader of the world.
I had never really thought about the fallibility of the US as a global power. Sure, our economy isn’t great right now (huge understatement!) but I, and other Americans, kind of believe that because we are America we’ll pull through. I don’t mean that to sound like a chauvinistic American, but there is always some underlying pride in how American’s are creative, build businesses from the ground up and manage to pull through. And this book provides overwhelming evidence that if we cannot create jobs and foster an environment that is conducive to job creation our entire way of life will change in less than 30 years.
But, Clifton does bring up a story that many people have forgotten about. In the 1970s economists said that Japan and Germany would surpass the United States as global leaders in 30 years, which they did in car manufacturing leading to Detroit’s decline from a bustling city of innovation to the wa. But, we had the technology revolution that jump started our economy and we pulled through to maintain our global leadership. There is not guarantee that this will happen again, but there is hope in knowing that we’ve done it before.
Clifton argues that job creation should be every single elected leader’s number one priority, above global warming, healthcare costs, runaway government spending and global terrorism because, although these are all pressing problems, not having enough jobs means that the United States is going to go broke. And it is companies that have the money in this country, not the government. So it is the job of the government to help foster a job creation environment, but the actual job creation will be the work of private citizens and the public sector.
This is a fantastic book that looks at the power of the economy in global power and how we as a country can work together to create jobs and power GDP growth. I highly recommend it to every CTEP member!
October 23, 2018
The Coming Jobs War is an informative and interesting book that highlights the (potential) issues which countries and economies are facing or going to face. The title of the book itself encapsulates the gist of the book-a war for jobs is coming (and we may not be prepared for it). By employing an analogy of a war, Clifton gives us a perspective and imagery into how the imminent social force is going to take over society. I really like this analogy gives a visualisation into the (potential) widespread chaos and social problems. While the book mostly makes references to America, the book also utilises examples from a variety of countries such as China and Japan in order to emulate the discussion points which Clifton talks about. Personally, I really like how the book make use of a range of example as it weaves the books into a narrative that illustrates the global situation.
Although some chapters such as “Fix Healthcare or destroy job creation” may not be as relevant in the Singaporean context as it is in the American context, such chapters are still a reminder of and serves to highlight the importance of social institutions in the coming jobs war. One of the most important lessons which I think Singapore can draw from the book is one of the entrepreneurial spirit. As many Singaporean students have been socialised to work within the given margins (and many have learnt to blossom within the said margins), many of us do not tend to favour taking risks. For us, such a system has led to a disciplined society which has learnt to play by the rules and within pre-demarcated boundaries. While we should not discount governmental efforts, such as Enterprise Singapore and SPRING Singapore, in championing entrepreneurship and innovation, such efforts are perhaps not as effective as it hopes to be due to the system which many of us grew up in. However, I would like to argue that despite being in a system that is not the most conducive for entrepreneurship, we could all still take the effort to personally develop our entrepreneurial spirit. In cases like this, there would be governmental efforts that would support our entrepreneurial endeavours. I think we should take the first step to break out of the system, rather than waiting for the system to change. Moreover, recent governmental efforts such as taking away examinations could also be the start of new spaces for creativity and entrepreneurial efforts.
For Singaporeans reading this, perhaps we could all learn something about speaking out and not fearing risk from the Americans. We can do so in small steps such as by first critiquing (not criticising) our own society through a balanced and objective lens. By critiquing and not criticising, we are better able to separate our emotions from our misgivings about society, allow us to better understand ourselves and the place we live in objectively. This may seem like a brave, big step for most of us who know how to play by the rules so well, but perhaps this brave endeavour is exactly what Clifton is telling us to do.
Although some chapters such as “Fix Healthcare or destroy job creation” may not be as relevant in the Singaporean context as it is in the American context, such chapters are still a reminder of and serves to highlight the importance of social institutions in the coming jobs war. One of the most important lessons which I think Singapore can draw from the book is one of the entrepreneurial spirit. As many Singaporean students have been socialised to work within the given margins (and many have learnt to blossom within the said margins), many of us do not tend to favour taking risks. For us, such a system has led to a disciplined society which has learnt to play by the rules and within pre-demarcated boundaries. While we should not discount governmental efforts, such as Enterprise Singapore and SPRING Singapore, in championing entrepreneurship and innovation, such efforts are perhaps not as effective as it hopes to be due to the system which many of us grew up in. However, I would like to argue that despite being in a system that is not the most conducive for entrepreneurship, we could all still take the effort to personally develop our entrepreneurial spirit. In cases like this, there would be governmental efforts that would support our entrepreneurial endeavours. I think we should take the first step to break out of the system, rather than waiting for the system to change. Moreover, recent governmental efforts such as taking away examinations could also be the start of new spaces for creativity and entrepreneurial efforts.
For Singaporeans reading this, perhaps we could all learn something about speaking out and not fearing risk from the Americans. We can do so in small steps such as by first critiquing (not criticising) our own society through a balanced and objective lens. By critiquing and not criticising, we are better able to separate our emotions from our misgivings about society, allow us to better understand ourselves and the place we live in objectively. This may seem like a brave, big step for most of us who know how to play by the rules so well, but perhaps this brave endeavour is exactly what Clifton is telling us to do.
November 8, 2017
The Coming Jobs War by Jim Clifton is indeed a book that is worth the read for many. It certainly gives us an idea of how important jobs have grown to become in today's world. In this review, I will be drawing certain highlights from this book to illustrate what Clifton meant by 'What the whole world wants is a good job' and one or two cents of my reflection.
A Gallup research mentioned by Clifton, indicated an astonishing fact that the whole world now long for good employment, which suggests that a good career gives them the ideal work that they yearn for (Clifton 10). Certainly, while people aspire for satisfactory jobs, there will be others who do not have such opportunities to find good employment. This may be attributed to the low academic performance and the stigma that comes from being recognised as the bottom of the education system.
In Clifton’s context, some of these students habouring the social stigma may submissively accept the labelling of themselves as weaker students. Thus, knowing that they would not win, they have lost the energy and dropped out of the battle for jobs. To a greater extent, they have dropped out of life altogether (Clifton, 17). Undeniably, multiple pathways have been created over the years to increase students’ choices and institutions have done respectably well in equipping them with the necessary skills sets for employment. However, more can certainly be done to remove such stigma in students.
In the chapter of classical versus behavioral economics, Clifton mentioned that individuals are the global economy. He raised the point about every individual being an economic engine and the choices that people make daily are the economy (Clifton 40). Essentially, this means that individuals are no doubt the most important entity in society for they have the ability to contribute to the country's economy, and give back to the local community. Hence, empowerment of students with the responsibilities and encouragements to explore new horizons remains crucial for future employment opportunities.
Clifton mentioned the ideas of leadership and its role in influencing changes. In particular, he discussed the idea of “super mentors” (Clifton 58) which drives the engine for confidence and action. As a mentor, it is important that they play a supporting role which, by virtue of it, will be one that seeks to understand an individual to increase opportunities for them in areas of employment.
In conclusion, this book has provided me with an insight to employment challenges and opportunities which could serve as a thought on how a good job is considered a social value that provides career and community wellbeing to people. This all begins with youth development in the country.
References:
Clifton, Jim. The Coming Jobs War: What Every Leader Must Know about the Future of Job Creation. New York, NY: Gallup, 2011. Print.
A Gallup research mentioned by Clifton, indicated an astonishing fact that the whole world now long for good employment, which suggests that a good career gives them the ideal work that they yearn for (Clifton 10). Certainly, while people aspire for satisfactory jobs, there will be others who do not have such opportunities to find good employment. This may be attributed to the low academic performance and the stigma that comes from being recognised as the bottom of the education system.
In Clifton’s context, some of these students habouring the social stigma may submissively accept the labelling of themselves as weaker students. Thus, knowing that they would not win, they have lost the energy and dropped out of the battle for jobs. To a greater extent, they have dropped out of life altogether (Clifton, 17). Undeniably, multiple pathways have been created over the years to increase students’ choices and institutions have done respectably well in equipping them with the necessary skills sets for employment. However, more can certainly be done to remove such stigma in students.
In the chapter of classical versus behavioral economics, Clifton mentioned that individuals are the global economy. He raised the point about every individual being an economic engine and the choices that people make daily are the economy (Clifton 40). Essentially, this means that individuals are no doubt the most important entity in society for they have the ability to contribute to the country's economy, and give back to the local community. Hence, empowerment of students with the responsibilities and encouragements to explore new horizons remains crucial for future employment opportunities.
Clifton mentioned the ideas of leadership and its role in influencing changes. In particular, he discussed the idea of “super mentors” (Clifton 58) which drives the engine for confidence and action. As a mentor, it is important that they play a supporting role which, by virtue of it, will be one that seeks to understand an individual to increase opportunities for them in areas of employment.
In conclusion, this book has provided me with an insight to employment challenges and opportunities which could serve as a thought on how a good job is considered a social value that provides career and community wellbeing to people. This all begins with youth development in the country.
References:
Clifton, Jim. The Coming Jobs War: What Every Leader Must Know about the Future of Job Creation. New York, NY: Gallup, 2011. Print.
March 24, 2018
“The coming world war is an all-out global war for good jobs” (p. 1). This statement accurately expresses the concerns of the current generation. With 3 billion people vying for 1.2 billion jobs (p. 2), which translates to almost 2 in 3 failing to obtain employment, the hunt for jobs becomes a battlefield. Students, myself included, become increasingly aware of such realities as we move towards the end of our education. In relation to “The Coming Jobs War” , I will elaborate on three aspects that poses as challenges or opportunities youths faces in getting good employment.
Firstly, the importance of super mentors. Super mentors are individuals who “light fires under the innovators and entrepreneurs” (p. 74), they “guide, advise, encourage and mentor” (p. 73). When a brilliant innovator or entrepreneur fails, oftentimes, it is not due to a bad idea, but it is their lack of experience and confidence that impeded their ability to achieve success. What they need is a mentor; a mentor who will guide and nurture them towards success.
In our lives’, how often are there such mentors who would “take a risk for an individual (p. 74)? Our parents might be the closest thing to the super mentors described in the book, but still not quite. In Singapore, there is definitely a lack of super mentors. Which I believe is due to the lack of awareness of what the job of a mentor entails. Before we focus on mentoring, perhaps we should start with training mentors. The lack of mentors poses a challenge for youths, who possess the ability but lacks the confidence to pursue a promising career.
Next, the importance of entrepreneurship. The world has an “oversupply of innovation” and what is really needed is entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is responsible for creating “more customers, more demand…and authentic job growth” (p. 86) and are the “most value people” (p. 91) in regards to job creation.
Lastly, the importance of an all-inclusive education system. Oftentimes, a student who is not able to cope or conform to the traditional education system might choose to drop out of it entirely. This happens when they “lose hope to graduate” (p. 133). However, the reason why these students are not able to conform to the traditional education system is not simply because they are less intelligent, but simply because their talent is elsewhere. A good education system has to be inclusive – understanding and tapping on the different strengths of individuals.
In conclusion, the book highlighted three aspects of job creation – super mentors, entrepreneurship and an inclusive education system. These three aspects play pivotal roles in the creation of jobs. Super mentors are needed to nurture future business owners who will create jobs. Entrepreneurs start their own businesses that create jobs. An inclusive education system ensures that everyone has the necessary skills to get a job.
November 3, 2019
In “The Coming Jobs War”, Clifton highlights the challenges that global leaders face in the creation of good jobs, especially with the intensification of competition worldwide. Economic growth has always been a yardstick of a government’s success. As Clifton astutely suggests, employment provides more than the bread and butter for people. Jobs bring about prosperity, peace, wellbeing and human development. Yet, many governments struggle to create sufficient good jobs for their citizens, where a good job defined to be “a job with a paycheck from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week”. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report, which measures competitiveness on factors such as infrastructure; health; macroeconomic stability; labour market and the financial system, Singapore is ranked as the world’s most competitive economy (Schwab, 2019). Despite our economic competitiveness, we continue to face challenges in the creation of jobs.
Clifton shares about behavioural economics in schools, which is also an issue that Singapore faces. Behaviour economics is related to the mindsets, attitudes and values involved in making choices. Clifton contends that the high dropout rates and the high rates of failing to graduate on schedule intensify the problem of employment in the United States. This occurs because youths ‘lose hope’ in graduating and in their future. They lack excitement and are unsure of what their future will hold. Resultantly, the workforce will be unable to meet the demands of the jobs.
Clifton also identifies entrepreneurship as a key to job creation and employment opportunities. A Kauffman Foundation study found that over 90% of American technology companies founders hold at least a bachelor’s degree and those with MBAs establish their companies more quickly (Wadhwa, Freeman & Rissing, 2008). The results of this study reveal a correlation between academic excellence and entrepreneurship, implying that Crest students may not be able to compete in entrepreneurship and innovation. Extending this to Singapore, it is worthy to note that we will not be able to create our own Silicon Valley because of the small talent pool and human resource that we have. While there has been much government support for start-ups, it is only realistic to realise that by focusing on entrepreneurship, we will be putting all our eggs into one basket. Singapore should diversify its economy (Heng, 2019) and develop a talented workforce in every area.
In conclusion, “The Coming Jobs War” has provided useful insights about the creation of good jobs, which are relevant to Singapore. While the future remains uncertain, I am heartened to see efforts to increase job prospects and social mobility for those who bear the brunt of inequalities.
Clifton shares about behavioural economics in schools, which is also an issue that Singapore faces. Behaviour economics is related to the mindsets, attitudes and values involved in making choices. Clifton contends that the high dropout rates and the high rates of failing to graduate on schedule intensify the problem of employment in the United States. This occurs because youths ‘lose hope’ in graduating and in their future. They lack excitement and are unsure of what their future will hold. Resultantly, the workforce will be unable to meet the demands of the jobs.
Clifton also identifies entrepreneurship as a key to job creation and employment opportunities. A Kauffman Foundation study found that over 90% of American technology companies founders hold at least a bachelor’s degree and those with MBAs establish their companies more quickly (Wadhwa, Freeman & Rissing, 2008). The results of this study reveal a correlation between academic excellence and entrepreneurship, implying that Crest students may not be able to compete in entrepreneurship and innovation. Extending this to Singapore, it is worthy to note that we will not be able to create our own Silicon Valley because of the small talent pool and human resource that we have. While there has been much government support for start-ups, it is only realistic to realise that by focusing on entrepreneurship, we will be putting all our eggs into one basket. Singapore should diversify its economy (Heng, 2019) and develop a talented workforce in every area.
In conclusion, “The Coming Jobs War” has provided useful insights about the creation of good jobs, which are relevant to Singapore. While the future remains uncertain, I am heartened to see efforts to increase job prospects and social mobility for those who bear the brunt of inequalities.
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