Opening the door wider to foreigners

[winnipegjets]

3 groups of foreign workers welcome

riday, Feb 01, 2013

SINGAPORE - The number of foreign workers coming into Singapore is projected to slow substantially from now on, but the Government made it clear in its Population White Paper on Jan 29 that it will keep the door open for three groups of migrant workers.

The first are foreigners to support Singapore's social needs - such as healthcare and eldercare workers, who will be in great demand when one in five Singaporeans is older than 65 in 2030.

The second are foreigners to do the routine, low-skilled jobs in sectors such as construction, retail and food services. If wages are raised enough to attract locals to such jobs, costs will rise sharply. Even then, Singaporeans may still aspire to higher-skilled and more rewarding work, noted the White Paper.

The third group of foreigners whom Singapore will continue to welcome are global talent with cutting-edge skills and abilities.

These foreigners will help "kick-start" new industries in Singapore, said the White Paper, and through the transfer of skills train local workers in these sectors.

Plus, it added, a foreign contingent in the workforce acts as a buffer against local retrenchment in a recession.

In response to Singaporeans' concerns about unfair job competition from foreigners, the White Paper said that incidents of discrimination should be raised with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices.

From now until 2020, the workforce is projected to grow at a pace of 1 per cent to 2 per cent a year. Of this, 0.7 percentage point will be from the entry of locals, while the rest will be from the injection of foreign manpower.

From 2020 to 2030, the workforce is projected to grow at 1 per cent a year, of which the local contribution will shrink to 0.1 percentage point.

These projected growth rates are about half the 3.3 per cent average rate of the last 30 years. It is substantially lower than the pace of recent years.

 

[winnipegjets]

No sane government will let foreigners overwhelm the country and leave locals at the mercy of the foreigners. The PAP is insane.

There is no reason why wages should not be raised for jobs so that locals will do them. Locals need a living wage - one that they can live decently. We are not going to move up the value-add chain if we keep wages low.

We are supposed to be a developed country, yet we are still operating in developing country mindset. The PAP is bankrupt of ideas ...they don't know how to move sinkapore to the next level of development but they give themselves the highest pay in the world for ministers.


There are many countries in the world that face sinkapore's limitation but have chosen the path of letting wages rise and people adapting to it, instead of flooding their land with foreigners. Learn from the Swiss.

How many foreigners have 'kick-start' new industries? So few, if any, to be a job creator. I don't see transfer of skills, rather the hoarding of skills and increased hiring of people from their home countries.

The foreign workforce has never been a buffer against local retrenchment. In fact, the foreign workforce has displaced more locals, pushing more locals into the unemployment line.

Sadly, most sinkees will just take this bs as bible truth.

 

[batman1]

Close down all these unemployment -related aid agencies such as CDCs,NTUC,Caliberlink,TAFEP,e2i and WDA immediately as they have wasted alot of taxpayers' money. They only register job applicants but did not contact job applicants to go for job interviews and after more than 6 months suddenly they will call u and ask have u found a job whether full-time or part-time because they want to close your file ! They also arrange for u to go for retraining and reskilling but no jobs available for u !
All these agencies are setup to provide jobs for MIW cronies !Serious.

 

[Travellor]

Close down all these unemployment -related aid agencies such as CDCs,NTUC,Caliberlink,TAFEP,e2i and WDA immediately as they have wasted alot of taxpayers' money. They only register job applicants but did not contact job applicants to go for job interviews and after more than 6 months suddenly they will call u and ask have u found a job whether full-time or part-time because they want to close your file ! They also arrange for u to go for retraining and reskilling but no jobs available for u !
All these agencies are setup to provide jobs for MIW cronies !Serious.

in the end they are just like the next fucking lazy civl servant, wayang 60%, coffee breaks 10%, toilet and playphone breaks 20%, the balance trying to do work fr last week.... useless shits....

 

[Kinana]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

 

[Travellor]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

you are still alive?!?

 

[winnipegjets]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

Just raise the wages. Nursing is a good paying job in all developed countries, except in sinkapore. The PAP health system is to squeeze the nurses so that the doctors can be paid fatly. Therein is the problem. We have a system that is geared to making the rich richer and the middle class poorer. The end goal is to have only two class - the poor and the rich. The poor shall serve the rich.

 

[DuYunQi]

If all the ministers in the government take a 30%-40% or more pay-cut and the money used to raise wages for all jobs, we may have solved most of our problems.

Instead, we have people trying to reassure the public that the public's real fears of a very possible displacement by adding more foreigners.. instead of doing more to ensure Singaporeans retain their jobs, and also creating more jobs for Singaporeans, so that both the older, as well as the new graduates, have something to live for.

I say, cut their pay or tag their pay to actually be sensitive to Sg citizens employment conditions, so that if more Sg citizens are out of jobs, their pay will be affected. Otherwise, they don't seem to have any fear in shoving their fingers, fists and whatever objects into our asses.

 

[SBFTirak]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

Ya loh, like those FL in geylang, massage palour... Etc

 

[eatshitndie]

basically, it's the same old same old although the "new" message attempts to provide the perception that the policy will be selective and highly focused. bull.

group 1: social needs - health and elder care. pinoy and tiong bu. don't forget sri lankan and burmese "home" care.
group 2: routine, low skilled - construction, retail and f&b. bangla, neh, pinoy and tiong. add thais, laotians, burmese, indons, etc.
group 3: global talent, cutting edge skills - kickstarters, new stuff. angmo and neh.

new pubic relations. same old, same old modus operandi.

 

[Dreamer1]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

Brother Kinina,there you go again,NO Singapore citizens is complainting about Bangla cooli and Philipines maids,we are talking about faked FTs,pl lah,PM Lee stupid style of twisting and turning is DEAD by now,you know it is time of awakening ,The days have indeed starten to lengthen on your part of the globe, but for many, the nights seem to have become even longer. Let me explain.

As we have talked about in earlier missives, the ”global warming” to call it that of the infusion of light that has been beamed onto your planet lately will have a profound effect on you all. Not only on all of those already sufficiently open to welcome these harbingers of light, but on each and every living being on your planet. And as such, the effects will indeed be manyfold. For not only will they strengthen the resolve in all of those already welcoming the light, but they will in addition trigger the doors in so many others, and this will in turn make them start to open the door into their hearts. In other words, your choir will acquire so many new members in the times ahead, and your voices will start to blend perfectly into a song of freedom. But do not forget that these heavenly messengers of hope will also knock on the doors of all of those still set on hiding behind their walls of fear, and when they hear this sound, they will become even more agitated. Do do not forget that this level of brightness will tear into the sensitive eyes of so many out there already feeling the pressure of change around them, and they will not suffer this in silence. We know that this will not be news to any of you, but it bears repeating at times like this. Never forget, the actions of someone literally hell bent on holding back this flood of light will be very visible indeed. Not only because it will seem very at odds with the prevailing feeling of harmony that is spreading ever so quietly around you, but also because these kinds of actions never go unnoticed by the mass media. And as such, the further into the corners the light is reaching, the harder the fight to keep it back will become in those desperate souls trying to literally hold back time. They are indeed fighting a losing battle, but that will not dampen their resolve, far from it.

So my brother Kinana stop playing the game now,it is over,PAP and its master CCP are both dead,you see the fucking bridge accidents in China,more to come,punishment is here,PAP cannot run,LKY wakes up now also too late,God bless,amen

 

[butoh6050]

Basically telling Singaporeans to bend over, part their butt cheeks and anticipate a shafting.
but like everything else, there will be a percentage who will giddily and eagerly anticipate the shafting tweeting and boasting on their facebook page.

 

[RogerK]

Just raise the wages. Nursing is a good paying job in all developed countries, except in sinkapore. The PAP health system is to squeeze the nurses so that the doctors can be paid fatly. Therein is the problem. We have a system that is geared to making the rich richer and the middle class poorer. The end goal is to have only two class - the poor and the rich. The poor shall serve the rich.

If all the ministers in the government take a 30%-40% or more pay-cut and the money used to raise wages for all jobs, we may have solved most of our problems...

I say, cut their pay or tag their pay to actually be sensitive to Sg citizens employment conditions, so that if more Sg citizens are out of jobs, their pay will be affected. Otherwise, they don't seem to have any fear in shoving their fingers, fists and whatever objects into our asses.

Why can't we have decent minimum wages and a cap on those obscene jiak liau bee minister pay?

 

[RogerK]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

Exactly, to replace you!

 

[tonychat]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

then create more jobs which the local likes lah... simple...

 

[winnipegjets]

Our medical fees are one of the highest in the region, yet our medical facilities are well patronized. We don't complete on cost basis in this sector. So, why do we focus on the lowest wage in other sectors? The PAP are bankrupt of ideas on how to move sinkapore forward. They don't dare to follow the developed countries of the West because it means democratization. With democracy, economic growth is stalled. That's what sinkapore is experiencing.

 

[BlueBrother]

It is good to have foreign talent if they can really contribute, we should pay them for their worth. If you pay peanuts, u get monkey. The point is whether there are good stringent assessment for these foreign talent.

My daughter hv some China scholars in her class. Her ranking at level dropped after they joined her school but I have seen it has really raised her game quite a lot. She now works harder because her competition is very strong. If she doesn't face this competition in school now, she will face them later in life. Better for her to face it now which help to improve herself dramatically than later and not be able to compete globally.

We now live in a global economy and we need good foreign talent to help rasie our game. Just hope the Gov't and companies have good assessment and judgement to choose the right ppl to come. A higher level of Human Resources Management should be developed so that we can develop the right resources. I have interviewed countless of ppl in my career and it's not easy to pick the right ppl. It takes experience and training to do it well. Not many companies provide training on recruitment & interview process. I attended a training on how to assess ppl's behaviour on dealing with issues. Most just conduct interrogation and not communicate expectations properly. A big plus will be to help sell Singapore correctly so that foreigners will try blend in better and contribute more productively. Education Ministry & Mgmt schools shud develop good programs in HR so that we can recruit the right talent across the board.

 

[Chloe]

is it all about competition? Blue brother...u must be a pap ib

 

[minuteman]

the whole idea is to raise the GDP...that about sums up PAP's Tunnel Vision...

 

[BlueBrother]

A case of bad HR process is the recent Chinese bus drivers that go on strike. This is a big failing on the HR department.
1. Did not assess the candidates attitude and behaviour correctly
2. Did not explain policy clearly
3. Did not communicate expectations correctly

The company will require more cost to hire these Chinese workers. They hv to understand that the total cost shud be comparable to hiring local or even M'sian drivers. This is why the take-home pay cannot be the same but still they can earn much more than back home, so there shud be many foreigners that want a job in Singapore. There will also be additional training for Chinese drivers to be able to perform at the same level as locals or M'sian. If they explain clearly and in detail, the Chinese ppl can choose not to come. Not come already and then ignore their grievances. Sloppy HR work and the HR head shud be replaced. Already catching a bus is a problem during rush hour, would you not have these foreign bus drivers and wait longer for buses to go to work or go home at night ?