INTAKE OF FOREIGN WORKERS

INTAKE OF FOREIGN WORKERS

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14.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Acting Minister for Manpower in light of the economic recession and foreign workers not having proper jobs and accommodation (a) whether there are plans to reduce the intake of foreign workers and the number of work permits to be issued; and (b) whether the reduction will be a possible consideration for the next one to two years with a plan to pick up again gradually during recovery and upturn in the economic climate.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: With the economic downturn, the inflow of foreign workers will also slow down. However, even in a slow down, our economy still needs foreign workers. Many of them take on jobs that Singaporeans may not want to do or are unable to fill, like in Construction and Marine. Foreign workers also help to keep our companies competitive against global competitors and keep jobs within Singapore. If companies become uncompetitive in Singapore, they may decide to relocate to other countries and we will lose more jobs. This will be a lose-lose outcome.

The Government will continue to monitor closely the employment situation. What is more important is to help local workers become more employable and more resilient. This will be a win-win outcome. Win for companies and win for our workers. For this reason, we institutionalised the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme to help the lower income and older workers. More recently, MOM together with our tripartite partners, launched the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) on 1st December 2008 to help companies cut costs and save jobs, as well as build up our workforce capabilities. SPUR provides enhanced course fee funding and absentee payroll, but these benefits are only for local workers, therefore making it worthwhile for employers to send their local workers for training during the downturn and save costs at the same time.

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