Daily Briefing: Number of foreign workers to decline; Malaysia looks into SG tourism bubble

And Foreign workers may find it harder to in seek employment in Singapore in the future.

From ChannelNewsAsia

Economists forsee continued difficulty in employing foreign workers. This comes at the heels of the latest Labour Market Report from the Ministry of Manpower, recording the sharpest decline in total employment in more than 20 years. Foreign workers were among the most vulnerable to layoffs.

"Stricter foreign worker measures and border controls will likely impede the hiring of foreign workers, even for the skilled segment. There is a structural element, not just cyclical, as policies shift towards reducing the reliance on foreign labour," Maybank Kim Eng’s regional co-head of macro research, Chua Hak Bin said.

Country manager for the Robert Walters recruitment agency, Monty Sujanani, added that companies have exercised caution when it comes to hiring during the pandemic.

"Even before COVID-19, companies have always been focused on hiring Singaporeans first due to the TAFEP regulations though there is now greater opportunity to support local hires, particularly Singaporeans who have been made redundant or retrenched," Sujanani said.

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From e27

Singapore-based M Capital Management has ended its maiden round of the M Venture Partners (MVP) at $30.85m.

The venture capital firm is set to invest in 40 early-stage ventures, particularly in seed and pre-Series A technology-enabled B2B or B2B2C business model companies, with an average of $500,000.

"We intend to remain sector agnostic in this maiden fund. However, we are extremely focused on investing in seasoned talent," MVP founder Mayank Parekh said.

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From Human Resources Online

The Malaysian Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) is looking into establishing a tourism bubble with Singapore should international borders be reopened for liesure travel.

"The activities we're targetting to reopen to foreign tourists include golf and outdoor activities such as snorkeling and diving," said Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

Other countries considered for this travel bubble include Korea, Japan, Vietnam, China and Brunei. This is subject to the reopening of international borders by the federal government.

Read more here.