Singapore Insurance - A Gig That Does Not Fit

The General Insurance Association of Singapore's (GIA) alternative proposal for insuring gig workers is "not viable" because it would either lead to higher premiums for platform companies or lower work injury compensation for such workers, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon.

“If it was so viable, why didn’t the insurance and platform companies suggest this earlier when there were workers who were injured or suffered death while on the job?” said Dr Koh. 

He was responding to a supplementary question by Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Member of Parliament for Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency on the Government's response to the proposal by GIA, which represents some 40 insurance firms here.

Dr Koh’s comments come a week after the Government accepted several recommendations by the advisory committee on platform workers. These requirements will apply to platform companies, such as food-delivery and ride-hail firms. Taxi companies working on a street-hail model, however, will be exempt.

These recommendations include requiring platform companies to provide the same scope and level of compensation as employees’ under the existing Work Injury Compensation Act (Wica).

For example, if a gig worker works for three food delivery companies and is injured while completing a delivery, the company with whom the worker was doing that delivery for, will have to pay for the worker's total income loss across all three firms.

General Insurance Association - In a statement after the recommendations were announced, GIA chief executive Ho Kai Weng propsed an alternative which he said can be efficiently achieved through existing solutions. Instead of Wica, he suggested platform workers be given prolonged medical leave insurance and group personal accident insurance. 

If platform workers were to tap on their Medishield Life as well, the proposal — taken in its entirety — will ensure workers are protected for medical expenses, medical leave wages, permanent incapacity and death, said Mr Ho. 

Dr Koh pointed out that given that employees are covered for up to S$45,000 medical expenses for work injuries, there is no reason for platform workers to have to rely on Medishield Life, which is paid for using their Central Provident Fund monies or out-of-pocket cash.

The advisory committee’s position is that platform workers should receive the same level of coverage for work injury compensation as employees, he said. 

Self Insured In Disguise - “GIA’s suggestion is essentially asking platform workers to pay for their own medical expenses,” Dr Koh said. He added that GIA’s insurace coverage proposal for gig workers will lead to higher insurance premiums for platform companies given that the scope of coverage for their proposed policy is "much wider on a 24/7 basis". 

This would raise the business cost for companies, especially since they would have to purchase insurance coverage even for workers who do only an hour of work a day, he said. 

Dr Koh said that GIA’s proposal was contrary to what insurers had advised the advisory committee before the recommendations were published. 

“I will suggest that GIA members work closely with platform companies to offer financial protection and compensation for these workers at the level of Wica as soon as possible by the first quarter of next year," he said.

Zoom To Doom

Shares of Zoom Video Communications Inc have tumbled about 90% from their pandemic peak in October 2020 as the former investor darling struggles to adjust to a post-COVID world. The stock was down nearly 10% on Tuesday after the company cut its annual sales forecast and posted its slowest quarterly growth, prompting at least six brokerages to cut their price targets.

The company, which became a household name during lockdowns due to the popularity of its video-conferencing tools, is trying to reinvent itself by focusing on businesses, with products such as cloud-calling service Zoom Phone and conference-hosting offering Zoom Rooms.

Any turnaround in the business is still a few quarters away as growth in its mainstay online unit slows and competition from Microsoft Corp’s Teams and Cisco’s Webex and Salesforce’s Slack gets intense.

Zoom needed to spend heavily to keep hold of market share. Spending to cling onto, rather than grow, market share is never a good place to be and was a sign of trouble ahead. The company’s operating expenses surged 56% in the third quarter as it spent more on product development and marketing. Its adjusted operating margin shrank to 34.6% from 39.1% a year earlier.

Covid 19 - Opportunity Or Curse For Courrier Company

Nationwide Express Courier Services Bhd is set to become the latest last-mile delivery company to cease operations amid a challenging and competitive operating environment in Malaysia. The company said in a statement that it is currently taking steps to gradually cease its business operations, after a winding-up petition was filed against it. The company said it is ceasing its business operations effective Dec 15.

Nationwide Express, founded by the late businessman Tan Sri Basir Ismail, was one of the country’s leading courier service providers. Its roots can be traced back to 1985. 

Nationwide Express has 1,100 dedicated employees, a fleet of more than 300 vehicles, and 500 motorbike couriers. It has a network of 150 branches and agents in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, with the capacity to handle over 40,000 packages per day.

KTM Distribution Sdn Bhd - last month, KTM Distribution terminated its operations effective Nov 1, despite having a 38-year presence in the courier and logistics business. KTM Distribution said that the cessation of its operations was in line with a restructuring exercise.

CJ Century Logistic Holdings Bhd - another company that has exited the last-mile delivery industry is CJ Century Logistics Holdings Bhd, formerly known as Century Logistics, which sold its loss-making courier arm last year for about RM7.5 million.

Other players - such as GDEX Bhd and Pos Malaysia Bhd have suffered consecutive quarters of losses, despite on-steroid growth in demand for courier or last-mile delivery services in the past three years — fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic — with many e-commerce platforms outsourcing their services to delivery companies.

The last-mile delivery sector is facing an extremely competitive operating environment in Malaysia. The country, with a population of 33 million, has granted 122 courier licences. In comparison, Thailand, with a population of 70 million, has granted only half as many courier licences as Malaysia, while Indonesia has 42 for a nation of 273 million.

Managing Group Project Effectively

When it comes to setting project goals, it is essential to keep the following in mind:

• Clear Objectives
• Team Buy-in
• Expectations
• Responsibility
• Tracking
• Positivity

Clear Objectives - Objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). This ensures that everyone is on the same page from the get-go when the team sets out to achieve a goal.

Team Buy-in - It isn’t easy to accomplish anything without buy-in from the team. If team members do not feel invested in a project or goal, achieving success won’t be easy. One way to ensure buy-in is to give employees a voice in decision-making. This could be done through something as simple as a brainstorming session or voting on project objectives.

Expectations - Setting expectations early on will help avoid misunderstandings and frustration down the road. It will also prevent employees or teams from working on projects or tasks that don’t align with the agreed-upon expectations. If expectations are not met, it can lead to conflict within the group. Set realistic expectations and communicate them clearly to avoid this situation.

Responsibility - Assigning responsibility for specific tasks or objectives is important to ensure everyone knows what is expected of them. (We’re looking at you, seat-of-your-pants employee!) In addition, responsibility will help keep the project organized and on track.

Tracking - Tracking progress is essential to ensure the team is heading toward the final goal. This could be done through something as simple as a status update or a daily stand-up meeting. Alongside check-in meetings, you should also track within a project management tool that allows for transparency and collaboration. For example, you can keep track of tasks, deadlines, and assigned roles within each project using Hive, a project management platform. Online project manageent platform provide project clarity and eliminate the need for micromanagement.

Positivity - Last but not least, it is important to maintain a positive attitude throughout the project. This can be difficult when things get tough or challenging, but it is essential to remember that every goal is attainable with hard work and dedication.

Following these six tips, you will be well on your way to set realistic and achievable project goals for whatever is next on your list. With these tips, you can build out a specific project roadmap to success. Then, you will naturally remove the seat of your pants, employee, or team by giving them clear expectations, responsibilities, tasks, and project buy-in.