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When firms can retain foreign workers for longer
SINGAPORE - The Government will take up two proposals brought up during the Budget debate earlier this month to give more breathing room for employers when it comes to hiring foreign workers.
This comes after the ratio ceiling for hiring foreign workers was lowered in this year's Budget - to the dismay of employers, some of whom felt the move was too harsh in a time of economic uncertainty and a tight labour market.
From July, the maximum period of employment (POE) for unskilled Work Permit Holders from China and non-traditional source countries - such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand - will be extended from the current six years to 10 years for all sectors, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a statement yesterday.
It will also carry out a pilot in the hotel industry in the second half of this year to allow businesses more flexibility in deploying their existing foreign workers across job duties.
During the Budget debate, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said the Government would be reviewing policies on the deployment of foreign workers as there had been requests for "flexibility" from employers.
Suggested by Members of Parliament Ang Wei Neng and Tin Pei Ling during the Budget debate, the extension in POE will allow employers to retain workers who are well-trained and experienced and spare them the expense and effort of training a new worker from scratch.
"It also has a positive impact on safety and socialisation considerations," said Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin in a blog post on the announcements yesterday.
The MOM stressed the extension will not lead to an increase in WP holders in Singapore as businesses are still required to keep within their sectoral Dependency Ratio Ceilings.
As for letting foreign workers move between job functions, while the MOM has been "strict" about doing so, it noted that, in industries like hotels and F&B, the staff could be used for other functions when there is the capacity to do so, which could "translate into a meaningful boost in efficiency". If successful, the pilot could be later extended to other service industries.
While effective governance includes gathering feedback from all quarters and, where possible, making adjustments to ensure policies are flexible and responsive to the changing business landscape, Mr Tan said the Government strives to keep Singaporeans at the core of our workforce, local businesses at the core of our policies, and help them upgrade and improve their productivity.
Calling on Singaporeans to continue sharing views with the Government, Mr Tan said: "Co-creating our policies can take place in many forms. While we may not always be able to adopt all ideas, we will definitely consider ideas which will improve the quality of life for Singaporeans."
SINGAPORE - The Government will take up two proposals brought up during the Budget debate earlier this month to give more breathing room for employers when it comes to hiring foreign workers.
This comes after the ratio ceiling for hiring foreign workers was lowered in this year's Budget - to the dismay of employers, some of whom felt the move was too harsh in a time of economic uncertainty and a tight labour market.
From July, the maximum period of employment (POE) for unskilled Work Permit Holders from China and non-traditional source countries - such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand - will be extended from the current six years to 10 years for all sectors, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a statement yesterday.
It will also carry out a pilot in the hotel industry in the second half of this year to allow businesses more flexibility in deploying their existing foreign workers across job duties.
During the Budget debate, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said the Government would be reviewing policies on the deployment of foreign workers as there had been requests for "flexibility" from employers.
Suggested by Members of Parliament Ang Wei Neng and Tin Pei Ling during the Budget debate, the extension in POE will allow employers to retain workers who are well-trained and experienced and spare them the expense and effort of training a new worker from scratch.
"It also has a positive impact on safety and socialisation considerations," said Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin in a blog post on the announcements yesterday.
The MOM stressed the extension will not lead to an increase in WP holders in Singapore as businesses are still required to keep within their sectoral Dependency Ratio Ceilings.
As for letting foreign workers move between job functions, while the MOM has been "strict" about doing so, it noted that, in industries like hotels and F&B, the staff could be used for other functions when there is the capacity to do so, which could "translate into a meaningful boost in efficiency". If successful, the pilot could be later extended to other service industries.
While effective governance includes gathering feedback from all quarters and, where possible, making adjustments to ensure policies are flexible and responsive to the changing business landscape, Mr Tan said the Government strives to keep Singaporeans at the core of our workforce, local businesses at the core of our policies, and help them upgrade and improve their productivity.
Calling on Singaporeans to continue sharing views with the Government, Mr Tan said: "Co-creating our policies can take place in many forms. While we may not always be able to adopt all ideas, we will definitely consider ideas which will improve the quality of life for Singaporeans."
