SINGAPORE: While foreigners are essential to Singapore's survival, the government has implemented "significant safeguards" to protect local jobs, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng in a radio interview aired last Thursday (Jan 13).
Dr Tan, who is also second minister for trade and industry, was speaking to Daniel Martin on a CNA938 radio programme about Singapore's foreign manpower policies.
Due to its small size, Singapore lacks the "critical mass" or resources other than its people, said Dr Tan. Foreign investments are crucial as they create jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, he said.
The multinational companies (MNCs) that come in also need a supporting ecosystem of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will hire more workers.
"We all know (that) we are a rapidly ageing population, and our total fertility rate is not something that we can boast about. If you think about it, without all these MNCs coming in to invest, without the foreign workforce, the tax burden will be borne increasingly by a smaller and smaller number of local-born citizens," he pointed out.
Dr Tan said that the numbers bear this out, as about 10 years ago, Singapore had roughly six adult residents, between the ages of 20 and 64, supporting one elderly resident. Today, this has dropped to 3.5 adult residents to one elderly resident. But taking foreign workers into account, that ratio goes back up to about five.
"That tax burden will be borne by fewer and fewer and fewer Singaporeans over time. So for us, it is really about survival," said Dr Tan.
"It is also existential for us ... having these foreign direct investments coming in here, because it lends that added stability and also that added measure of oomph."
However, the government also understands Singaporeans' fears and concerns, Dr Tan said.
"Let me reassure all of our fellow citizens that we also have significant safeguards, frameworks, that are in place to ensure that the jobs are not lost or moved away from locals to foreigners," he said.
From 2013 to 2023, the number of professional, managerial, executive and technician (PMET) jobs for residents grew by 380,000, said Dr Tan. In that same period, the number of Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass holders, who hold jobs with higher salaries, increased by about 38,000.
"So for every single work pass – EP, S Pass – holder that is working here in Singapore for the last 10 years, it has actually generated 10 job opportunities for our local PMETs," Dr Tan said.
And to ensure that the foreign PMETs complement the local workforce, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) has implemented the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS).
The framework, which came into effect in September 2023, is a points system that assesses the suitability of each EP applicant and the firm hiring them based on the applicant's qualifications as well as the firm's nationality diversity and its support for local employment.
This is on top of other measures such as the Fair Consideration Framework, which requires companies to advertise for a local employee before they hire a foreign worker. Additionally, a Bill for workplace fairness legislation was passed in parliament last week and is set to come into force in 2026 or 2027.
Dr Tan also fielded questions from listeners about discrimination against local workers and job insecurity due to the rapid pace of change.
MOM takes every case of discrimination "very seriously", he said. If there are any instances of discrimination brought up, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, or TAFEP, will investigate and act on it. But the number of discrimination complaints has actually dropped in the past few years.
"But that doesn't mean that we're going to rest on our laurels. In fact, one of the most important hallmarks of this new Bill is to protect and preserve the confidentiality of the person who raised the discrimination complaint, and also at the same time to protect him or her from retaliation from the employer itself ... so that, you know, we can minimise the incidence of underreporting," Dr Tan highlighted.
"The fact is that sometimes people get worried when the pace of change is so fast, but it's real. We are connected. We are a global economy. We're connected to the world. We are a very open economy and the fact is that when other places move fast, we move in tandem, otherwise we get left behind," he said.
In some of the sectors Singapore wants to pivot to, there is a period when the expertise is lacking and there will be a higher number of foreign professionals here, while Singaporeans are being trained in those skill sets.
"I think it's actually a very natural sort of phenomenon ... What we try to do as a government is to make sure that we invest significantly in reassuring our local residents and ... educating them, giving them the means, the wherewithal to upskill, to train, to reskill themselves, so that they are ever-ready," said Dr Tan.
"I think the key thing is to make sure that they have the confidence that the government is with them every single step of the way."
Another listener asked whether Singapore should reduce its reliance on foreign labour.
"It is a balance, and a very delicate balance," he said.
While the government has offered grants and incentives for companies to rely less on foreign labour, this transformation can be difficult. Ultimately, a business model that relies on low labour costs is not sustainable, as living costs in the workers' home countries are also rising, Dr Tan said.
"In fact, now many of the foreign workers that work here for a while, after a while, they leave for the Middle East. They leave for other countries, for greener pastures," said the Manpower Minister.
The government has rolled out schemes, grants and incentives to incentivise companies towards greater productivity, and also started an Alliance for Action on business competitiveness.
"There will be some measures that we've adopted to see how we can help, particularly our SMEs, to improve their competitiveness," said Dr Tan.
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Dr Tan, who is also second minister for trade and industry, was speaking to Daniel Martin on a CNA938 radio programme about Singapore's foreign manpower policies.
Due to its small size, Singapore lacks the "critical mass" or resources other than its people, said Dr Tan. Foreign investments are crucial as they create jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, he said.
The multinational companies (MNCs) that come in also need a supporting ecosystem of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will hire more workers.
"We all know (that) we are a rapidly ageing population, and our total fertility rate is not something that we can boast about. If you think about it, without all these MNCs coming in to invest, without the foreign workforce, the tax burden will be borne increasingly by a smaller and smaller number of local-born citizens," he pointed out.
Dr Tan said that the numbers bear this out, as about 10 years ago, Singapore had roughly six adult residents, between the ages of 20 and 64, supporting one elderly resident. Today, this has dropped to 3.5 adult residents to one elderly resident. But taking foreign workers into account, that ratio goes back up to about five.
"That tax burden will be borne by fewer and fewer and fewer Singaporeans over time. So for us, it is really about survival," said Dr Tan.
"It is also existential for us ... having these foreign direct investments coming in here, because it lends that added stability and also that added measure of oomph."
Related:
However, the government also understands Singaporeans' fears and concerns, Dr Tan said.
"Let me reassure all of our fellow citizens that we also have significant safeguards, frameworks, that are in place to ensure that the jobs are not lost or moved away from locals to foreigners," he said.
From 2013 to 2023, the number of professional, managerial, executive and technician (PMET) jobs for residents grew by 380,000, said Dr Tan. In that same period, the number of Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass holders, who hold jobs with higher salaries, increased by about 38,000.
"So for every single work pass – EP, S Pass – holder that is working here in Singapore for the last 10 years, it has actually generated 10 job opportunities for our local PMETs," Dr Tan said.
And to ensure that the foreign PMETs complement the local workforce, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) has implemented the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS).
The framework, which came into effect in September 2023, is a points system that assesses the suitability of each EP applicant and the firm hiring them based on the applicant's qualifications as well as the firm's nationality diversity and its support for local employment.
Related:
This is on top of other measures such as the Fair Consideration Framework, which requires companies to advertise for a local employee before they hire a foreign worker. Additionally, a Bill for workplace fairness legislation was passed in parliament last week and is set to come into force in 2026 or 2027.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LOCAL WORKERS
Dr Tan also fielded questions from listeners about discrimination against local workers and job insecurity due to the rapid pace of change.
MOM takes every case of discrimination "very seriously", he said. If there are any instances of discrimination brought up, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, or TAFEP, will investigate and act on it. But the number of discrimination complaints has actually dropped in the past few years.
"But that doesn't mean that we're going to rest on our laurels. In fact, one of the most important hallmarks of this new Bill is to protect and preserve the confidentiality of the person who raised the discrimination complaint, and also at the same time to protect him or her from retaliation from the employer itself ... so that, you know, we can minimise the incidence of underreporting," Dr Tan highlighted.
Related:
"The fact is that sometimes people get worried when the pace of change is so fast, but it's real. We are connected. We are a global economy. We're connected to the world. We are a very open economy and the fact is that when other places move fast, we move in tandem, otherwise we get left behind," he said.
In some of the sectors Singapore wants to pivot to, there is a period when the expertise is lacking and there will be a higher number of foreign professionals here, while Singaporeans are being trained in those skill sets.
"I think it's actually a very natural sort of phenomenon ... What we try to do as a government is to make sure that we invest significantly in reassuring our local residents and ... educating them, giving them the means, the wherewithal to upskill, to train, to reskill themselves, so that they are ever-ready," said Dr Tan.
"I think the key thing is to make sure that they have the confidence that the government is with them every single step of the way."
Another listener asked whether Singapore should reduce its reliance on foreign labour.
"It is a balance, and a very delicate balance," he said.
While the government has offered grants and incentives for companies to rely less on foreign labour, this transformation can be difficult. Ultimately, a business model that relies on low labour costs is not sustainable, as living costs in the workers' home countries are also rising, Dr Tan said.
"In fact, now many of the foreign workers that work here for a while, after a while, they leave for the Middle East. They leave for other countries, for greener pastures," said the Manpower Minister.
The government has rolled out schemes, grants and incentives to incentivise companies towards greater productivity, and also started an Alliance for Action on business competitiveness.
"There will be some measures that we've adopted to see how we can help, particularly our SMEs, to improve their competitiveness," said Dr Tan.
Continue reading...