- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
[h=2]MOM: Firms continue to hire too many FT PMETs[/h]
March 8th, 2014 |
Author: Editorial
Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin (Photo: ST)
In Parliament on Friday (7 Mar), Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin told the House that at least 50 companies have been found to have recruited too many foreigners since MOM started began investigating such firms at the start of 2014.
These firms have been found to be filling PMET positions with too many non-Singaporeans, Mr Tan said.
At present, there is no quota requirement for Employment Pass (EP) holders, unlike for work permit and S-Pass holders. Technically, a company can recruit 100% foreigners on EP and no Singaporeans. This is as long as the foreigners are paid at least $3,300 a month, the minimum salary for EP.
Mr Tan said these companies have been asked to improve their human resource (HR) practices by hiring more locals.
Mr Tan said however that the issue for some companies was not unfair hiring practices. Rather, they faced difficulties employing Singaporeans because of a “gap in skills” in the local workforce. :kma:
He said the authorities will work closely with employers to explore ways to support more manpower-lean business models, or develop a local pipeline of workers with the relevant skills and experience.
Mr Tan did not reveal which sectors these errant companies are in, but HR experts say these companies are likely to be IT and financial services companies, which are anecdotally known to hire many Filipinos and Indian nationals under EP.
Mr Tan was responding to MPs who asked for an update on rules announced by the government last year to make companies consider Singaporeans first for PMET jobs.
From this August, MOM will be implementing the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) which requires companies to advertise a job in an online job portal for Singaporeans for at least 14 calendar days before they can hire foreigners on EP. Firms with 25 or fewer staff, as well as jobs that pay $12,000 and above a month, are exempted.
Mr Tan said the online job portal will be launched in the middle of this year. He said, “We will refine and improve the jobs bank as we gain more experience and feedback from Singaporeans and employers.”
Singapore Human Resource Institute president Erman Tan said that some companies’ hiring managers may be foreigners who prefer to hire their own kind from their native countries, based on recommendations from friends. He said that Singaporeans should be considered first.
“If the locals do not have the right skills, the firms should look at training them. If that cannot be done, Singaporeans should be hired to support the foreign managers, who can impart skills to the locals,” he said.
Singaporeans being discriminated against by foreign companies or foreign hiring managers is not new. According to a survey conducted by recruitment firm eFinancialCareers last October, a large number of companies in the finance industry blatantly discriminate against Singaporeans. According to the survey, a majority or 52% of the respondents admitted their companies favoured foreigners for some positions (‘Survey confirms rampant job discrimination against SGs‘).
In fact, the situation got so bad that 2 ministers had to have a “friendly chat” with senior members of the finance industry. Mr Tan told Parliament last March that he and Finance Minister Tharman had met senior members of the finance industry to urge them to develop a local talent pipeline.
Mr Tan said, without going into specifics, that there had been complaints of foreign managers preferring to hire their own countrymen over Singaporeans.
In Parliament on Friday (7 Mar), Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin told the House that at least 50 companies have been found to have recruited too many foreigners since MOM started began investigating such firms at the start of 2014.
These firms have been found to be filling PMET positions with too many non-Singaporeans, Mr Tan said.
At present, there is no quota requirement for Employment Pass (EP) holders, unlike for work permit and S-Pass holders. Technically, a company can recruit 100% foreigners on EP and no Singaporeans. This is as long as the foreigners are paid at least $3,300 a month, the minimum salary for EP.
Mr Tan said these companies have been asked to improve their human resource (HR) practices by hiring more locals.
Mr Tan said however that the issue for some companies was not unfair hiring practices. Rather, they faced difficulties employing Singaporeans because of a “gap in skills” in the local workforce. :kma:
He said the authorities will work closely with employers to explore ways to support more manpower-lean business models, or develop a local pipeline of workers with the relevant skills and experience.
Mr Tan did not reveal which sectors these errant companies are in, but HR experts say these companies are likely to be IT and financial services companies, which are anecdotally known to hire many Filipinos and Indian nationals under EP.
Mr Tan was responding to MPs who asked for an update on rules announced by the government last year to make companies consider Singaporeans first for PMET jobs.
From this August, MOM will be implementing the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) which requires companies to advertise a job in an online job portal for Singaporeans for at least 14 calendar days before they can hire foreigners on EP. Firms with 25 or fewer staff, as well as jobs that pay $12,000 and above a month, are exempted.
Mr Tan said the online job portal will be launched in the middle of this year. He said, “We will refine and improve the jobs bank as we gain more experience and feedback from Singaporeans and employers.”
Singapore Human Resource Institute president Erman Tan said that some companies’ hiring managers may be foreigners who prefer to hire their own kind from their native countries, based on recommendations from friends. He said that Singaporeans should be considered first.
“If the locals do not have the right skills, the firms should look at training them. If that cannot be done, Singaporeans should be hired to support the foreign managers, who can impart skills to the locals,” he said.
Singaporeans being discriminated against by foreign companies or foreign hiring managers is not new. According to a survey conducted by recruitment firm eFinancialCareers last October, a large number of companies in the finance industry blatantly discriminate against Singaporeans. According to the survey, a majority or 52% of the respondents admitted their companies favoured foreigners for some positions (‘Survey confirms rampant job discrimination against SGs‘).
In fact, the situation got so bad that 2 ministers had to have a “friendly chat” with senior members of the finance industry. Mr Tan told Parliament last March that he and Finance Minister Tharman had met senior members of the finance industry to urge them to develop a local talent pipeline.
Mr Tan said, without going into specifics, that there had been complaints of foreign managers preferring to hire their own countrymen over Singaporeans.
