Conflicting signals from Government over foreign manpower po
-
Conflicting signals from Government over foreign manpower policy
February 11, 2010
This article was originally written for The Online Citizen.
Written by Ng E-Jay
9 Feb 2010The government appears to be sending out conflicting signals over its foreign manpower policy, a possible indication that rising concerns over the liberal import of foreign workers in recent years are starting to overwhelm decision makers in the PAP cabinet.
Last Sunday, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told the media during a visit to Nee Soon Central that when scaling down our dependence on foreign workers, we have to take into account business cycles. [1]
Mr Gan said that when the economy is doing very well, we need to allow it (the import of foreign labour) to expand a little bit within some limits.
In his own words as quoted by Channel News Asia: “In a recession, we have to monitor the situation and allow the foreign worker population to come down, but when the economy recovers, we have to be very careful, (and) calibrate our response carefully, otherwise you may stifle the economic recovery.”
The Manpower Minister appears to be articulating the point that the government will adjust the inflow of foreign workers according to economic conditions so as to balance the supply and demand of labour.
As Singapore is currently embarking on an economic recovery after being severely hit by the global recession in 2008, is Mr Gan suggesting that more foreign workers will be allowed in at this point in time, in response to our new-found economic expansion?
If so, then Mr Gan’s remarks could be in contradiction with the position taken by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), as well as the views expressed by the Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and Minister Mentor, who in the past couple of weeks went all out in assuring Singaporeans that the inflow of foreign workers will be moderated.
Speaking at the sidelines of a community function on 24 Jan, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said that “If you want to grow fast, it means a larger foreign workforce, which I don’t think is advisable because already, we have too huge a presence (of such workers) and we’re not emphasizing productivity.” [2]
A day later, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong added on to SM Goh’s remarks, saying that “we cannot indefinitely expand our workforce by importing more and more workers from abroad,” and that Singapore is to adopt a new economic growth strategy focused more on improving productivity than pursuing growth at all costs, as we are faced with physical constraints such as limited land. [3]
Assurance that there would be fewer foreign workers in five years also came from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who was the first minister to put a time line on the Government’s pledge since last year to reduce the inflow of foreign workers. Speaking at an event to mark the Housing and Development Board’s 50th anniversary, MM Lee said that “The next five years, we have decided we will tier down our need for foreign workers“. [4]
The suggestion for Singapore to cut back its dependence on, and moderate the inflow foreign labour, with a renewed emphasis on raising productivity in place of mere expansion of the pool of workers, was formally articulated by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) which released its report in early February.
The ESC report, taken in conjunction with the statements made by the Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and Minister Mentor, clearly indicate that the government is committed to reducing the inflow of foreign labour as the current rate of import cannot be sustained.
Although the ESC had based its report solely on economic considerations, it does not take a genius to figure out that the government, in deciding to fine-tune its foreign manpower policy, must have also taken into consideration rising concerns on the ground concerning foreign workers depriving Singaporeans of jobs or suppressing wages at the lower end of the income spectrum.
Given that the deadline for the next general election is fast approaching, it would be politically foolhardy for the ruling party to ignore the rising groundswell and the legitimate concerns voters have over the impact of the government’s foreign manpower policy on their livelihoods as well as on the social fabric.
Yet, the Manpower Minister has made remarks which suggest that the inflow of foreign workers will be raised if economic conditions warrant it.
This seems to call into doubt the government’s sincerity in reducing the reliance on foreign workers in a five year time-frame.
To add to the confusion, Mr Gan also said that foreigners “abroad” are the real competition, not foreigners who work within our shores. [5]
The Straits Times quoted Mr Gan as saying that everyone working and living here — be they citizens or foreigners — should be considered the “in-group” who are contributing to the country, competing against the real “out-group”, who are those (foreigners) working outside Singapore.
Is Mr Gan therefore suggesting that foreigners working here are to be considered on equal footing with born and bred citizens, by mere virtue of the fact that both groups are collectively competing against the rest of the world?
How can that ever be a realistic or reasonable notion?
The government’s clumsy attempts at addressing voters’ concerns over its foreign manpower policy has created more confusion than clarity.
If this is not cleared up in time, voters may well express their dissatisfaction over the way the government has handled the foreign labour issue at the ballot box.
http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3825
Measures to encourage low-wage workers to take up training expected during Budget
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 07 February 2010 1719 hrsSINGAPORE : Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong has hinted that issues such as making it easier for low-wage workers to continue to upgrade themselves, and making the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme more accessible, will be tackled in the Budget later this month.
Mr Gan's visit to Nee Soon Central on Sunday comes hot on the heels of the Economic Strategies Committee's recommendations.
Among them are enhancing productivity levels in Singapore and scaling down dependence on foreign workers.
Mr Gan said: "We also have to bear in mind that we have to take into account business cycles, so when the economy is doing very well, you need to allow it to expand a little bit within some limits. As the economy comes down, you have to allow the foreign worker population to come down.
"In a recession, we have to monitor the situation and allow the foreign worker population to come down, but when the economy recovers, we have to be very careful, (and) calibrate our response carefully, otherwise you may stifle the economic recovery."
For now, an immediate priority for the tripartite partners is to improve the well-being of low-wage workers.
Mr Gan noted that low-wage workers do face some obstacles to go for training, and this was discovered from a survey of a group of such workers.
He said: "Some of the feedback that we get includes for example (the fact that) some of the older low-wage workers...do not have literacy or basic numeracy. Their language ability is low and so they are unable to absorb many of the training programmes.
"One of the key areas we have to focus on is how to improve the literacy and numeracy of these low-wage workers, so that they would be able to benefit from the higher level training that would give them really usable skills."
Mr Gan added: "Many of these low-wage workers depend a lot on overtime pay; some of them take part-time jobs and that means that if they go to study and (go for) training, they would have to stop work and forego some of the income.
"So the cost to them can be quite significant. So for these older low-wage workers, we have got to find a way to encourage them to help them to cope with a potential income loss if they were to give up their part-time job and concentrate on training.
"Some of them are unable to sustain their training programme. Sometimes, their training may last two or three weeks and sometimes one month. And it is not just one programme. They may have to go back for multiple modules so that they can continue to upgrade themselves. These low-wage workers sometimes...have a good job offer and they will decide to take up the job and will stop their training.
"By the time they come back to their training programme again, they have to start all over again. So we have to look at how we can help these low-wage workers pursue sustained training efforts, encourage them to go for the programme and complete the programme and also encourage them to upgrade regularly and consistently, not just once in a while whenever they are free."
The Manpower Minister also emphasised that employers are important players in encouraging low-wage workers to go for training and upgrading.
Mr Gan said that some employers find it challenging to send their workers for training. That is because employers need them to work and hence are less willing to send them for training.
Singaporeans also want to know if the payout for the Workfare Income Supplement can be tweaked.
Jeffrey Tong, a grassroots leader from Nee Soon Central, asked: "Is there a possibility that you can look into it, to fine tune it to give it out maybe on a more frequent basis, maybe monthly or twice monthly?"
Mr Gan said his Ministry is studying if the qualifying period for Workfare should be shortened.
To qualify, low-wage workers must have worked for at least three months in a six-month period during a calendar year, or at least six months in a year.
Mr Gan said: "Having discussed this at length with our tripartite partners, we feel that an important objective of Workfare is to encourage regular work.
"As part of the Workfare qualifying criteria, we will still require a minimum qualifying period and hopefully we encourage our Workfare recipients to go for regular work all the time, so that they can receive Workfare on a regular basis."
Mr Gan said a decision on this will be announced during the Budget session. - CNA/mshttp://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1035944/1/.html