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By Victoria Barker
my paper
Monday, Oct 01, 2012
Singapore is on the right track in its efforts to reduce dependency on foreign labour, but to shrink our foreign workforce altogether would be quite dire, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin said yesterday.
In a blog post yesterday, Mr Tan said that the growth in foreign manpower, excluding foreign domestic workers, slowed to 34,100 workers in the first half of the year.
This is lower than the comparative increase of 36,800 workers registered for the same period last year.
There was also a drop in Employment Pass holders, but a rise in S Passes registered. Mr Tan said this is likely because companies are using S Passes to bring in more junior-level professionals, managers and executives, after Employment Pass requirements were tightened from January.
Mr Tan said the Government is "taking a close look at this group".
He added that Singapore cannot grow its foreign workforce "without limits", given its land, infrastructure and social constraints.
But shrinking the foreign workforce altogether would have "dire" consequences.
Mr Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for National Development, said: "Many of our companies may close, relocate and, with that, a sharp rise in retrenchments and possibly higher unemployment among Singaporeans.
"We must therefore rein in the pace of foreign-workforce growth, but at a pace that businesses can adjust (to)."
Mr Tan's comments come as "some Singaporeans have expressed concern" over the latest population figures released by the Government last Friday.
The biggest population rise noted was among non-residents.
This includes foreign workers, their dependants, and foreign students.
There were 1.49 million non-residents in Singapore in June, up by 7.2 per cent from 1.39 million a year before.
The report attributed this increase to strong manpower demand in a tight domestic labour environment.
However, this was significantly lower than the double-digit percentage increases of 14.9 per cent seen in 2007 and 19 per cent in 2008.
Mr Tan said yesterday that efforts to raise productivity must "continue aggressively".
But, while productivity growth must be a "key driver" of sustainable wage growth, low labour costs make it less urgent for companies to invest in technology and innovation.
He said: "This is simply not sustainable."
Among Mr Tan's "top-line objectives and concerns" is generating enough quality jobs for Singaporeans, in line with increasing education and expectations.
The Government also needs to generate sufficient income to fund various expenditures for Singaporeans, he said.
Mr Tan also stressed that the Government will increase its infrastructural support to ease congestion even as it continues to find the right balance for the labour market.
"If needed, we will tighten foreign-workforce controls further," he said.
my paper
Monday, Oct 01, 2012
Singapore is on the right track in its efforts to reduce dependency on foreign labour, but to shrink our foreign workforce altogether would be quite dire, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin said yesterday.
In a blog post yesterday, Mr Tan said that the growth in foreign manpower, excluding foreign domestic workers, slowed to 34,100 workers in the first half of the year.
This is lower than the comparative increase of 36,800 workers registered for the same period last year.
There was also a drop in Employment Pass holders, but a rise in S Passes registered. Mr Tan said this is likely because companies are using S Passes to bring in more junior-level professionals, managers and executives, after Employment Pass requirements were tightened from January.
Mr Tan said the Government is "taking a close look at this group".
He added that Singapore cannot grow its foreign workforce "without limits", given its land, infrastructure and social constraints.
But shrinking the foreign workforce altogether would have "dire" consequences.
Mr Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for National Development, said: "Many of our companies may close, relocate and, with that, a sharp rise in retrenchments and possibly higher unemployment among Singaporeans.
"We must therefore rein in the pace of foreign-workforce growth, but at a pace that businesses can adjust (to)."
Mr Tan's comments come as "some Singaporeans have expressed concern" over the latest population figures released by the Government last Friday.
The biggest population rise noted was among non-residents.
This includes foreign workers, their dependants, and foreign students.
There were 1.49 million non-residents in Singapore in June, up by 7.2 per cent from 1.39 million a year before.
The report attributed this increase to strong manpower demand in a tight domestic labour environment.
However, this was significantly lower than the double-digit percentage increases of 14.9 per cent seen in 2007 and 19 per cent in 2008.
Mr Tan said yesterday that efforts to raise productivity must "continue aggressively".
But, while productivity growth must be a "key driver" of sustainable wage growth, low labour costs make it less urgent for companies to invest in technology and innovation.
He said: "This is simply not sustainable."
Among Mr Tan's "top-line objectives and concerns" is generating enough quality jobs for Singaporeans, in line with increasing education and expectations.
The Government also needs to generate sufficient income to fund various expenditures for Singaporeans, he said.
Mr Tan also stressed that the Government will increase its infrastructural support to ease congestion even as it continues to find the right balance for the labour market.
"If needed, we will tighten foreign-workforce controls further," he said.
