Vigorous debate on foreign manpower policy sees Josephine Teo urging MPs not to ‘miss the woods for the trees’

• A total of 17 MPs spoke on the second day of Parliament reopening, mostly on jobs and the foreign manpower issue
• Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said vilifying firms through a name-and-shame approach would have frustrated their efforts to hire more Singaporeans
• Mrs Teo also responded to MPs’ suggestions, including reining in Employment Pass holders by introducing levies or quotas
• Quotas for high-end foreign professionals is “not unthinkable, but it would be unwise”, she said

SINGAPORE — Just as it was on the first day of the parliamentary debate on the President’s Address, the issue of foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) was high up on the agenda for most of the 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) who spoke on Day Two.

On Tuesday (Sept 1), Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, who is a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), weighed in on the debate — with Mr Ong highlighting statistics to show that Singaporeans are not “getting the short end of the stick” in the financial sector as he warned against an “us versus them” mentality that could affect Singapore’s status as a global financial centre.

On her part, Mrs Teo stressed in her speech that the country’s management of imported labour goes beyond slowing down the growth of work pass holders, and also requires tilting the balance in the favour of Singaporeans.

At one point, she became emotional as she pledged her ministry’s support for Singaporean workers whose livelihoods have been hit by the pandemic. “However long this storm lasts, MOM will walk the journey together with you. However tough it may be, we will help you bounce back,” Mrs Teo said as she choked up.

Mrs Teo also responded to MPs’ suggestions, including reining in Employment Pass holders by introducing levies or quotas.

Cautioning that such moves could ultimately lead to fewer jobs for Singaporeans, Mrs Teo said that employment quotas for high-end foreign professionals is “not unthinkable, but it would be unwise”.

“We must therefore not miss the woods for the trees, by focusing narrowly on keeping foreigners out and missing the larger picture of growing the pie and giving Singaporeans the chance of the best slice.”

Tuesday’s vigorous debate also led to a sharp exchange across the aisle, with Mrs Teo responding to several opposition members on the growth of the foreign workforce as well as new citizens and Singapore permanent residents.

PROTECTING ENTRY-LEVEL PMET JOBS

Over the past two days, several MPs had spoke about residents they met who had faced discrimination against the Singaporean worker at the workplace, as well as businesses and employers who expressed their woes about hiring Singaporeans.

On Tuesday, MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling recalled that a voter told her during the July elections that three levels of bosses above her in a multinational firm were all foreigners.

“She could not understand why even the middle management positions are held by foreigners,” Ms Tin said.

Ms Joan Pereira, MP for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said that one of her residents was retrenched and a foreigner ended up performing the same role as she did before her dismissal.

Across both days, several MPs also expressed concern that there were 1,200 employers on the MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework watchlist since 2016, including 47 new entrants into the list earlier this month.

In response, Mrs Teo sought to clarify remarks by two opposition MPs, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, and Mr Leong Mun Wai, Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) with the Progress Singapore Party. Both of them had both called for stricter regulation of companies that practise discriminatory hiring practices.

Mr Leong said on Monday that the number of firms on the watchlist was evidence that there was discrimination against Singaporeans, while Mr Singh questioned MOM’s enforcement of the Fair Consideration Framework.

Mrs Teo said: “Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Leong Mun Wai might not have realised this — firms that are scrutinised have not flouted any rules yet… Instead, we have identified them through proactive surveillance because of their unusually high reliance on foreigners in their PMET workforce when compared to their industry peers.”

Their work pass applications may be held back or rejected, with help from the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices to improve their hiring practices.

A total of 3,200 Employment Pass applications were rejected or withheld by MOM or by employers, while they were being scrutinised, and during the period, these firms hired more than 4,800 Singaporean PMETs.

“If, instead, we had vilified these firms through a name-and-shame approach, we would have frustrated their efforts to expand local hiring. This is ultimately counter-productive,” she said.

SUGGESTION TO IMPOSE QUOTAS

While increasing salary thresholds for Employment Pass applications can raise hiring quality over time and help control the quotas of foreign professionals at the lower end coming into Singapore, Mrs Teo cautioned against imposing quotas on these pass holders at the higher end.

Several MPs had suggested introducing levies and Employment Pass quotas in their speeches, including Ms Foo Mee Har, West Coast GRC MP, and Mr Patrick Tay, MP for Pioneer constituency.

On Monday, Mr Tay, the assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress had suggested a two-tiered quota system for mid- and high-skilled PMEs to be used to “curb the problem”, especially for sectors with a notably higher proportion of foreign PMEs.

In response, Mrs Teo pointed out that flexibility is needed for government agencies such as the Economic Development Board and MAS to be able to compete for investment and opportunities.

“Many of the top quality investments would have been lost to our competitors and the job opportunities along with them. As several MPs have alluded to it, there’s no shortage of takers ready to eat our lunch.”

Imposing salary requirements will ensure that companies can hire high quality foreigners with firm commitments to build up capabilities among the domestic workforce, she added.

Besides setting a higher bar for Employment Pass holders, it will also “push (pass) holders at the lower-end down to the S Pass level”, which comes with quota and levy obligations for firms.

She said the Government will place more emphasis on whether employers have been responsive to efforts by government agencies to help them recruit and train Singaporean PMETs.

This means supporting skills retraining of Singaporean workers, having more job attachments, as well as schemes such as the Jobs Support Scheme and the recently announced Jobs Growth Initiative.

The Jobs Support Scheme and the Jobs Growth Initiative offer significant salary support for existing Singaporean workers and new Singaporean hires respectively.

OTHER MANPOWER ISSUES RAISED

Other thorny manpower issues were also raised by the MPs, several of whom gave their maiden speeches on Tuesday following the July elections.

On low-wage workers, Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, a first-term MP for Marine Parade GRC, called for a higher Workfare Income Supplement Scheme payout for those in essential services “to acknowledge their social value”.

Mr Derrick Goh, first-term MP for Nee Soon GRC, spoke about the need for better policy implementation, referring to the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme.

He said that he had received negative feedback from his residents whose applications were rejected without any stated reason.

WP’s Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera, who was an NCMP in the previous Parliament, suggested enhancing incentives for firms to hire workers from “sunset” industries likely to face obsolescence.

“Many jobs in delivery and driving will be displaced by autonomous vehicles and drones in the decade to come,” Mr Perera said.