The degree of employment fell considerably in connection with the crisis years and has only partially recovered since then. Moreover, since the 1990s crisis, many of those who lost their jobs have not returned to the labour market at all. This is ominous, given that economic growth in the past decade has nevertheless been relatively high in a historical perspective. To some extent, the drop in the labour force percentage can be explained by education factors. In connection with the 1990s crisis there was a significant decline in labour force participation among younger age groups, which was connected to tougher competition for jobs and many young people choosing to improve their qualifications instead of entering the labour market. Since then, there have been changes aimed at raising the level of education in society in general, for instance by lengthening upper-secondary school programmes and expanding university colleges. These education initiatives are highly justifiable in themselves, but they also entail a lower participation in the labour force and thereby an increased dependency burden for the active part of the population. Although some of the decline in labour force participation can be attributed to education factors, this is not the full explanation. Calculations for 2003 show that close to 30 per cent of the group remaining outside the labour force were studying. The others remained outside the labour force for other reasons, with early retirement for health reasons, now known as sickness benefit, as one of the most common causes.
MAS and key industry associations such as ACI Singapore, the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), are committed to equip our financial workforce with the necessary skills and knowledge through seminars and other training programmes. MAS will also continue to collaborate with financial institutions, the tripartite partners, and institutes of higher learning to build a strong local pipeline of specialised talent, particularly in areas such as information technology, computing, data analytics. 25 If we can do well in these two key areas, it will position our FX market and participants to capture growth opportunities and serve the needs of the Asian markets. Conclusion 26 Promoting and embedding the Code within the global FX market and in Singapore, is a journey that we have committed to. We hope that you can support these efforts, from your firms and in your individual capacity as market participants. 27 We have also co-created our medium term business strategies with market participants like yourselves, and we are committed to making them work, and bringing more innovation into the market place. 28 With this, I hope that you will have a productive and rewarding conference ahead. 5/5  BIS central bankers' speeches