The tightening of foreign workers inflow is already hurting many SMEs. If the flow of foreign workers is freezed as suggested by the Opposition, how many more of them will go belly up?
When SMEs die, many Singaporeans employed by them will also lose their jobs.
This was the point made by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say at the East Coast GRC rally.
He was explaining why the call by the Opposition to freeze the growth of foreign manpower was unrealistic.
He took pains to explain that the Government has had to protect Singapore workers against global economic uncertainties in the last 15 years, citing the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000, the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the SARS epidemic in 2003 as examples.
“The world economy is becoming a lot more volatile. So, we decided we must find ways to provide better protection to our Singaporean workers. Let’s expand our workforce. Any company that comes to us... we allow them to bring in more (foreign) workers.”
The large number of foreign workers acted as a buffer for Singaporeans in a downturn because foreign workers were more likely to be laid off first.
He cited numbers to back this up. During the years from 2001 to 2003, the number of local workers in employment went up by 35,000. In the same period, the number of foreign workers were down by 70,000.
In the global financial crisis between 2008 and 2009, foreign workers dropped by 4,000, while the local workers hired were up by 40,000.
The Government, Mr Lim said, has been committed in the last few years to maintaining the ratio of Singapore to foreign workers at 2:1.
Since the tightening of foreign manpower, the number of foreign PMEs (Professionals, Managers, Executives) on Employment- and S-passes dropped from 45,000 a year to 13,000 last year.
He was explaining why the call by the Opposition to freeze the growth of foreign manpower was unrealistic.
He took pains to explain that the Government has had to protect Singapore workers against global economic uncertainties in the last 15 years, citing the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000, the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the SARS epidemic in 2003 as examples.
“The world economy is becoming a lot more volatile. So, we decided we must find ways to provide better protection to our Singaporean workers. Let’s expand our workforce. Any company that comes to us... we allow them to bring in more (foreign) workers.”
The large number of foreign workers acted as a buffer for Singaporeans in a downturn because foreign workers were more likely to be laid off first.
He cited numbers to back this up. During the years from 2001 to 2003, the number of local workers in employment went up by 35,000. In the same period, the number of foreign workers were down by 70,000.
In the global financial crisis between 2008 and 2009, foreign workers dropped by 4,000, while the local workers hired were up by 40,000.
The Government, Mr Lim said, has been committed in the last few years to maintaining the ratio of Singapore to foreign workers at 2:1.
Since the tightening of foreign manpower, the number of foreign PMEs (Professionals, Managers, Executives) on Employment- and S-passes dropped from 45,000 a year to 13,000 last year.
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