THERE was consensus amongst all the panellists at the recent Keep It Going discussion on The Biz Behind The Sharing Economy regarding job creation.
The sharing economy will result in loss of jobs. While some new jobs will be created, there will be those who will just not be able to make the cut for a variety of reasons.
How will the government treat the fallout from this?
A $300 handout is not going to help.
Asst Prof Ben Choi of the Nanyang Business School, NTU stated it clearly.
“There is no way to create new jobs if we don’t push up the value proposition. The top-down approach Singapore has adopted means it will be more information, technology and data driven rather than labour-driven jobs.
Is Singapore Ready For The Sharing Economy?
Prof Choi reckons his students are prepared for what’s coming. They are well-travelled and expect uncertainty.
He also believes the general population would be interested in the sharing economy, e.g. room sharing.
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However, he notes that the regulatory measures can sometimes tip the apple cart, as it did with the bike sharing problems.
Vikram Kumar, CEO of Yuwee, felt that Singapore’s healthy global reputation and tax structure makes it an attractive proposition.
As in any generation which has seen dramatic change, there will be jobs lost and new jobs formed.
While in the past, much of the changes resulted from new thinking and a more organised method of operation, there was time to let the changes sink in, allowing for the ground to settle and a new order to emerge.
But it’s a different story today. In just 25 years we have seen huge changes to in the way things were done, thanks to the Internet and its ability to connect people around the world.
Change today is ongoing, and there’s no time to settle. Finding new jobs in a certain discipline may not be feasible and you would have to break away fro the old thinking and find your place in the world.
