FOREIGN WORKERS IN WORKFORCE

Column No : 481

FOREIGN WORKERS IN WORKFORCE: 4.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what percentage of our workforce are foreign workers; (b) whether this figure is high by international standards; (c) what is the breakdown of the number and mean wage of foreign workers holding (i) employment passes; (ii) 'S' passes; (iii) work permits for maids; (iv) work permits for construction workers; (v) work permits for non-construction workers; (d) whether availability of foreign workers has helped to depress the wages and take-home pay of our low-end local workers; and (e) whether the Ministry expects the worker's average wage to rise in the next 12 months, and if so, by how much.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Mr Speaker, Sir, flexible labour market policies, including the access to foreign workers, have enabled our economy to remain competitive, because many companies use foreign workers to meet skill shortages or to lower costs to compete for business. This has allowed our economy to capitalise on growth opportunities which, in turn, has created jobs for Singaporeans. Let me give Members the numbers. Last year, the economy created 110,800 jobs, and 61,000 of these jobs, or about 55%, went to locals. 61,000 is the highest annual employment created for locals on record, even surpassing pre-Asian financial crisis levels. I want to remind Members that every year, Singapore only produces about 31,000 new labour entrants. So we have created twice the number of jobs for locals.

Foreigners currently comprise 29% of the workforce, or about 670,000 persons. This percentage is lower than in some previous years.

Mr Steve Chia asked for a comparison. First, it is not meaningful to compare the percentage of foreigners in the workforce, because it depends on factors such as population growth, economic and industry needs. For instance, if you want a comparison, the United Arab Emirates has 90% of foreigners in their workforce. So it is really what your economy needs.

We have about 90,000 Employment Pass holders, including approximately 25,000 S Pass holders. There are about 580,000 Work Permit holders. Of these, 160,000 are foreign domestic workers, and 135,000 in the construction sector.

Mr Chia has asked for wage data for foreign workers. We do not have the specific data, but we have wage data across sectors and occupations which we publish regularly.

Mr Chia has asked whether foreign workers lower the wages of low-wage workers. First, we have to understand that foreign workers, as a composite of flexible labour market policy, have created jobs for Singaporeans. As our economy is largely export-driven, wages in Singapore are also affected by wages of workers in other countries, such as China and India . For example, if we did not have the foreign construction workers, we will not complete our projects on time. The supervisors, safety officers, architects, quantity surveyors and engineers, who are mostly Singaporeans, will not be able to take on new projects. So it is not meaningful to look at the wage equation only as a function of whether they are foreign workers or not. In the first place, as I said, our economy has created jobs and given jobs to Singaporeans. If Singaporean workers continuously upgrade themselves and acquire the skills needed and increase productivity, they will enjoy higher wages. In fact, in 2005, they did enjoy higher wages. It is not true that wages did not rise. Average nominal monthly earnings rose by about 3.5% - real earnings by about 3%, because our CPI index for inflation was 0.5%. With the economy projected to grow by 4%-6% this year, wages of workers are also likely to rise this year.

In summary, our flexible labour market policies have allowed us to be competitive, grow the economy, create jobs for Singaporeans and increase the proportion of Singaporeans as professionals, managers, executives and technicians with good-paying jobs.