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04-03-13, 11:26
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/monday/premium/top-stories/foreign-labour-not-same-foreign-talent-asme-20130225
Published February 25, 2013
Foreign labour not the same as foreign talent: ASME
It warns against cutting foreign labour growth to nil
By ong chor hao
[SINGAPORE] Both the Workers' Party (WP) and the government have not addressed a "very real problem" of lumping foreign labour and foreign talent into one big basket, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) said.
Responding yesterday to the WP's population policy paper, ASME called it "another blow to the local SME community".
It said that SMEs have painfully learnt to accept that there will be no U-turn in the government's tightening of the foreign workforce only to hear about the "even more drastic deceleration" put forth by WP.
WP's paper proposed improving the total fertility rate (TFR) and the labour force participation rate to increase the resident workforce over time, criticising the "immigration-driven growth" presented in the government's population white paper.
Taking issue with the reliance on increasing the labour force participation rate in WP's paper, ASME said: "This is easier said than done as there is an element of mismatch between available jobs and workers' expectations."
The association believes the WP is treating foreign labour and foreign talent as the same, similar to the government in its foreign worker reduction policy changes.
"The void in the workforce cannot be filled by Singapore PMEs (professionals, managers, and executives) who wish for higher level, higher paying, and higher comfort jobs," ASME said.
For example, it pointed to the difficulty that the construction industry, the food and beverage industry, and others in the service sector have in recruiting Singaporeans.
As these SMEs throw in the towel, there will be knock-on effects, ASME believes, as there will be fewer staff to manage, as well as fewer companies to serve, to audit, and to provide financial services to.
"This inevitably leads to reduction in PME jobs for the growing number of Singapore PMEs and hence impacting the overall quality of living of Singaporeans."
While supporting the view that the government should encourage resident workforce growth, ASME cautioned against simply cutting foreign workforce growth to zero.
There is still a need to allow SMEs to adjust and make the transition, it said, noting a loss of income and jobs already facing some Singaporeans as companies close down or relocate following the recent tightening of foreign labour.
Published February 25, 2013
Foreign labour not the same as foreign talent: ASME
It warns against cutting foreign labour growth to nil
By ong chor hao
[SINGAPORE] Both the Workers' Party (WP) and the government have not addressed a "very real problem" of lumping foreign labour and foreign talent into one big basket, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) said.
Responding yesterday to the WP's population policy paper, ASME called it "another blow to the local SME community".
It said that SMEs have painfully learnt to accept that there will be no U-turn in the government's tightening of the foreign workforce only to hear about the "even more drastic deceleration" put forth by WP.
WP's paper proposed improving the total fertility rate (TFR) and the labour force participation rate to increase the resident workforce over time, criticising the "immigration-driven growth" presented in the government's population white paper.
Taking issue with the reliance on increasing the labour force participation rate in WP's paper, ASME said: "This is easier said than done as there is an element of mismatch between available jobs and workers' expectations."
The association believes the WP is treating foreign labour and foreign talent as the same, similar to the government in its foreign worker reduction policy changes.
"The void in the workforce cannot be filled by Singapore PMEs (professionals, managers, and executives) who wish for higher level, higher paying, and higher comfort jobs," ASME said.
For example, it pointed to the difficulty that the construction industry, the food and beverage industry, and others in the service sector have in recruiting Singaporeans.
As these SMEs throw in the towel, there will be knock-on effects, ASME believes, as there will be fewer staff to manage, as well as fewer companies to serve, to audit, and to provide financial services to.
"This inevitably leads to reduction in PME jobs for the growing number of Singapore PMEs and hence impacting the overall quality of living of Singaporeans."
While supporting the view that the government should encourage resident workforce growth, ASME cautioned against simply cutting foreign workforce growth to zero.
There is still a need to allow SMEs to adjust and make the transition, it said, noting a loss of income and jobs already facing some Singaporeans as companies close down or relocate following the recent tightening of foreign labour.