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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Foreign workers may have wrong skills
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LAST Saturday's letter by the Singapore Contractors Association, 'Foreign construction workers unskilled? That's unfair', was in response to the report, 'Call to tweak foreign worker policy' (Aug 7), which questioned the productivity of foreign construction workers.
To obtain a work permit, a foreign worker must be qualified in at least one certified skill. This can be achieved by passing a trade test, which is invigilated and certified by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in the worker's country of origin.
Most workers opt for a trade that is easy to pass, such as painting or welding, to qualify as a certified skill worker, to enable them to get the work permit.
In other trades, such as carpentry or plumbing, you can hardly find certified skill workers. This is perhaps due to the higher cost and difficulty in conducting tests in such trades. Because it is less profitable and more difficult to conduct such tests, the testing body focuses on trades that are more profitable and cheaper to test. Perhaps the BCA could monitor this to ensure a balance of skilled workers in all trades.
Contractors must employ only available workers, who may have the wrong skills. For example, if a plumbing contractor employs a painter or a welder to do plumbing installation, how much productivity can one expect? The answer is negative productivity, in the first two years at least, after which the worker may be able to carry out simple installation.
Although the regulatory policy is that all foreign workers must be skilled, how can this be achieved when you are putting a square peg in a round hole?
The call to tweak the foreign worker policy is understated. The Ministry of Manpower should review not only the policy of single skill certification but also the worker levy, as well as the policy on allocation of foreign workers to subcontractors which impacts construction costs considerably.
Chia Wai Chon
Operations Manager
Singapore Plumbing Society
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LAST Saturday's letter by the Singapore Contractors Association, 'Foreign construction workers unskilled? That's unfair', was in response to the report, 'Call to tweak foreign worker policy' (Aug 7), which questioned the productivity of foreign construction workers.
To obtain a work permit, a foreign worker must be qualified in at least one certified skill. This can be achieved by passing a trade test, which is invigilated and certified by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in the worker's country of origin.
Most workers opt for a trade that is easy to pass, such as painting or welding, to qualify as a certified skill worker, to enable them to get the work permit.
In other trades, such as carpentry or plumbing, you can hardly find certified skill workers. This is perhaps due to the higher cost and difficulty in conducting tests in such trades. Because it is less profitable and more difficult to conduct such tests, the testing body focuses on trades that are more profitable and cheaper to test. Perhaps the BCA could monitor this to ensure a balance of skilled workers in all trades.
Contractors must employ only available workers, who may have the wrong skills. For example, if a plumbing contractor employs a painter or a welder to do plumbing installation, how much productivity can one expect? The answer is negative productivity, in the first two years at least, after which the worker may be able to carry out simple installation.
Although the regulatory policy is that all foreign workers must be skilled, how can this be achieved when you are putting a square peg in a round hole?
The call to tweak the foreign worker policy is understated. The Ministry of Manpower should review not only the policy of single skill certification but also the worker levy, as well as the policy on allocation of foreign workers to subcontractors which impacts construction costs considerably.
Chia Wai Chon
Operations Manager
Singapore Plumbing Society
