“Hire Singaporeans First” proposal challenged

Healthy competition still key, asserts senior minister.

Good jobs are getting harder to come by, and many job-seeking Singaporeans are tired of wrestling for limited slots. However, a recent proposal to tighten employment policies and hire Singaporeans first has been countered at yesterday’s Parliament Debate.

Dr. Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, defended current employment policies in a lengthy speech delivered yesterday afternoon.

“Our approach is to maintain a level playing field, and help equip Singaporeans with the skills they need to fill the quality jobs created by the economy. We are in fact putting the interests of Singaporeans first when we say that we want to grow the economy and job opportunities,” said Khor, in response to MP Foo Mee Hang’s call to hire Singaporeans first.

She further stated that compelling employers to employ Singaporeans first may adversely affect the economy in the long run, as this may lead companies to relocate their operations elsewhere.

Here’s more from Khor’s speech:

The Fair Consideration Framework signals our expectation for employers to give Singaporeans a fair chance at available job opportunities, before hiring Employment Pass holders.

In the globalised economy, competition for jobs tends to be between countries and not only within countries.

As a small city-state, we must be able to first compete with other cities for job opportunities by making sure that Singapore remains an attractive place for businesses.

Many companies come to Singapore to serve the region. In doing so, they create quality jobs for Singaporeans. At the same time, companies need to access skills and expertise from overseas to complement the local workforce.