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[h=2]Prof Tan Khee Giap: Jobs here should have a “Singapore first” label[/h]Posted by temasektimes on April 28, 2012
Singaporeans should be hired first and employers should only be allowed to recruit foreigners if they are unable to find qualified citizens to fill the vacancies, said Professor Tan Khee Giap of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
After economist professor Lim Chong Yah, Prof Tan is the second member of the academia to express his concern of Singapore’s growing income gap between the rich and the poor.
Implementing a ‘Singaporean First’ policy is one of five recommendations made by Tan Khee Giap of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to help resolve income disparity and the labour market failure in Singapore.
“Singaporeans should have the first bite of the cherry when it comes to jobs here….This model should be incorporated into the work permit application process which should inquire whether locals had been sought first. This would help create more jobs for Singaporeans and raise wages in Singapore, which have been depressed by lower-cost foreign labour,” he said in an interview with Business Times on Friday.
The relentless influx of foreign workers in the last few years has led to stagnant wages and a worrying widening income disparity in Singapore.
In other countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, employers have to show that they are unable to hire locals for a certain period of time before they can recruit foreigners and even then, there are many conditions imposed on their employment.
However in Singapore, companies are allowed to employ foreigners relatively easily which led to them ‘under-cutting’ Singaporeans in terms of cost.
Prof Tan also proposed more proactive and targeted skill matching and upgrading; changing public policy philosophies to pursue a more optimal, inclusive and balanced growth model; redefining key performance indicators, strengthening policy mechanisms and financial budget allocations of government agencies; and continuing to sharpen Singapore’s international competitive edge while plugging further into the globalisation of trade and finance to tackle the problems faced by the economy.
Singaporeans should be hired first and employers should only be allowed to recruit foreigners if they are unable to find qualified citizens to fill the vacancies, said Professor Tan Khee Giap of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.After economist professor Lim Chong Yah, Prof Tan is the second member of the academia to express his concern of Singapore’s growing income gap between the rich and the poor.
Implementing a ‘Singaporean First’ policy is one of five recommendations made by Tan Khee Giap of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to help resolve income disparity and the labour market failure in Singapore.
“Singaporeans should have the first bite of the cherry when it comes to jobs here….This model should be incorporated into the work permit application process which should inquire whether locals had been sought first. This would help create more jobs for Singaporeans and raise wages in Singapore, which have been depressed by lower-cost foreign labour,” he said in an interview with Business Times on Friday.
The relentless influx of foreign workers in the last few years has led to stagnant wages and a worrying widening income disparity in Singapore.
In other countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, employers have to show that they are unable to hire locals for a certain period of time before they can recruit foreigners and even then, there are many conditions imposed on their employment.
However in Singapore, companies are allowed to employ foreigners relatively easily which led to them ‘under-cutting’ Singaporeans in terms of cost.
Prof Tan also proposed more proactive and targeted skill matching and upgrading; changing public policy philosophies to pursue a more optimal, inclusive and balanced growth model; redefining key performance indicators, strengthening policy mechanisms and financial budget allocations of government agencies; and continuing to sharpen Singapore’s international competitive edge while plugging further into the globalisation of trade and finance to tackle the problems faced by the economy.
