FOREIGN WORKERS IN SINGAPORE

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Labour what is the total number of foreign workers in Singapore; what is the percentage of these workers in the workforce; and what are the long term plans to phase out these workers.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Presently, there are more than 200,000 foreign workers in Singapore. This makes up about 12% of our current workforce of 1.6 million.

The Government's foreign worker policy is to allow a limited pool of foreign workers to work in Singapore, to complement as well as act as a buffer for the local workforce.

While we may not be able to completely phase out foreign workers in view of the slower indigenous workforce growth and the rapidly ageing population, our long-term objective is to reduce our dependence on foreign workers. This is achieved through adjusting the dual mechanisms of the foreign worker levy and the dependency ratio.

The dependency ratio limits the number of foreign workers each employer is allowed to employ, depending on the number of local workers they already have. The foreign worker levy serves to dampen the employer's demand for foreign worker by narrowing the wage gap between foreign and Singaporean workers. This reduces the employer's reliance on foreign workers and encourages him to turn to automation and the introduction of labour saving techniques through the wider application of technology in the production process.