With workforce growth expected to remain slow in the coming years, the Government has been engaging the laundry industry to help raise productivity and reduce manpower requirements in the sector, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on Wednesday (Nov 9).

Speaking at laundry industry event Texcare Forum Singapore 2016, Mr Lim emphasised the need to make jobs “easier, safer and smarter” using technology and automation.

For instance, local firms have tapped on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to improve the accuracy when tracking laundry, Mr Lim said.

One of these companies, Zero Spot Laundry Service, installed an automated sorting system that helped it double its output gain and reach manpower savings of 20 per cent. Another local firm highlighted by the Manpower Minister in his speech was Systematic Laundry, which has reduced its rental and operational costs by 60 per cent by using self-help laundry services.

According to a survey by the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), there are more than 350 companies in the laundry industry employing more than 13,000 workers, of which one-third are foreigners. About 70 per cent of local workers in the industry is above 50, it added.

The agency said it has helped to fund 35 projects related to laundry job redesign and automation since 2011 and is spearheading tripartite efforts to develop manpower and productivity solutions.