A Singaporean recently took to fuckwarezone to share his story on how he was retrenched during the Covid-19 period and now he would have to fight with foreigners for jobs.
Here was what he stated in his post.
This might feel like a long rant so bear with me. I was recently retrenched by my company and the official reason given was restructuring due to market uncertainty. Was on no pay leave after CB period for one month and saw this coming but of course when the news finally came, it is still a shock to me. I am currently in my 40s and this is the worst age to lose a job, too old to re-hire and train. And even if I do find a new job, my salary will be substantially lower. This Covid19 economic downturn will probably stretch through end of 2020 or early 2021. So I am not optimistic about the job market at all.
Not only do we Singaporeans have to worry about our rice bowls but we have to fight with the army of foreigners who are working in Singapore or coming to find jobs in near future. As far back as 10 years ago or longer, I remember this was already a hotly debated topic among Singaporeans. PAP opened the floodgates wide open to attract practically every other country in the name of GDP growth. Many of us, including myself, knew that this is a time bomb waiting to blow. If the economy is doing well everyone gets paid and happy, but it is in times of crisis like now, that the impact of the open door policy will hurt us Singaporeans the most. Before we already had Malaysians, Indonesians, Indians, Thais, Filipinos and Chinese nationals coming to our tiny island to work, earning our high SGD. Today I can see more people from Taiwan, Burma, Vietnam and Eastern Europe working in Singapore. Even my current neighbor are Burmese tenants working as Draftsman (I can see their PC when I pass by their unit). And they are now not just working in low level unskilled jobs like construction or service F&B. Many are creeping into mid to high level positions that were once mostly done by locals. And worse of all, they don’t mind getting paid lower just to work here. In fact I was having a conversation with this Vietnamese girl and she told me that she is paid lower than locals, but she don’t mind it one bit cos it’s still more than what she earns back home. She claims she is a graduate.
When I saw that message I really very DL! I can only imagine how many more Singaporeans are displaced from their jobs due to this unfair competition from foreigners. We all know most of them come here to send money back so it’s an advantage for them, or they will apply for PR or use SG as a platform to seek employment in other countries for better pay. Singapore companies only care about their bottom line so naturally when the time comes we are the first target. I seriously wonder if the foreign worker quota is actually enforced by MOM. I do not have the data to support but at this rate, our local unemployment rate will be much higher with most of the jobs going to foreigners, especially those in their middle age.
As much as I hate Trump, he did do one thing right and that is to restrict work visas during this time to save jobs for Americans. We are now undergoing our own election but I don’t hear anything from our politicians that can help protect jobs for Singaporeans. I have been actively sending out resumes and making calls to companies for the last three weeks and only gone for one interview. I am now seriously considering signing up to be food delivery to tide things through for now, or maybe even as a long term option until such I manage to find something permanent.
Here was what he stated in his post.
This might feel like a long rant so bear with me. I was recently retrenched by my company and the official reason given was restructuring due to market uncertainty. Was on no pay leave after CB period for one month and saw this coming but of course when the news finally came, it is still a shock to me. I am currently in my 40s and this is the worst age to lose a job, too old to re-hire and train. And even if I do find a new job, my salary will be substantially lower. This Covid19 economic downturn will probably stretch through end of 2020 or early 2021. So I am not optimistic about the job market at all.
Not only do we Singaporeans have to worry about our rice bowls but we have to fight with the army of foreigners who are working in Singapore or coming to find jobs in near future. As far back as 10 years ago or longer, I remember this was already a hotly debated topic among Singaporeans. PAP opened the floodgates wide open to attract practically every other country in the name of GDP growth. Many of us, including myself, knew that this is a time bomb waiting to blow. If the economy is doing well everyone gets paid and happy, but it is in times of crisis like now, that the impact of the open door policy will hurt us Singaporeans the most. Before we already had Malaysians, Indonesians, Indians, Thais, Filipinos and Chinese nationals coming to our tiny island to work, earning our high SGD. Today I can see more people from Taiwan, Burma, Vietnam and Eastern Europe working in Singapore. Even my current neighbor are Burmese tenants working as Draftsman (I can see their PC when I pass by their unit). And they are now not just working in low level unskilled jobs like construction or service F&B. Many are creeping into mid to high level positions that were once mostly done by locals. And worse of all, they don’t mind getting paid lower just to work here. In fact I was having a conversation with this Vietnamese girl and she told me that she is paid lower than locals, but she don’t mind it one bit cos it’s still more than what she earns back home. She claims she is a graduate.
When I saw that message I really very DL! I can only imagine how many more Singaporeans are displaced from their jobs due to this unfair competition from foreigners. We all know most of them come here to send money back so it’s an advantage for them, or they will apply for PR or use SG as a platform to seek employment in other countries for better pay. Singapore companies only care about their bottom line so naturally when the time comes we are the first target. I seriously wonder if the foreign worker quota is actually enforced by MOM. I do not have the data to support but at this rate, our local unemployment rate will be much higher with most of the jobs going to foreigners, especially those in their middle age.
As much as I hate Trump, he did do one thing right and that is to restrict work visas during this time to save jobs for Americans. We are now undergoing our own election but I don’t hear anything from our politicians that can help protect jobs for Singaporeans. I have been actively sending out resumes and making calls to companies for the last three weeks and only gone for one interview. I am now seriously considering signing up to be food delivery to tide things through for now, or maybe even as a long term option until such I manage to find something permanent.
