'We have significant safeguards, frameworks, that are in place to ensure that the jobs are not lost,' minister says
Singaporean Manpower Minister Tan See Leng has assured local workers that foreigners won't be taking away jobs from them thanks to "significant safeguards" implemented.
"Let me reassure all of our fellow citizens that we also have significant safeguards, frameworks, that are in place to ensure that the jobs are not lost or moved away from locals to foreigners," Tan told a CNA938 radio programme earlier this month.
Among these measures are the Fair Consideration Framework, which mandates employers to advertise job openings to the local workforce before tapping on the overseas talent pool.
Singapore also has a Complementarity Assessment Framework, a point-based system that Employment Pass candidates need to pass in addition to meeting the qualifying salary.
Tan offered the reassurance amid mounting fears that foreigners are replacing Singapore's local workforce, following findings that non-residents made up 83,500 of the 88,400 total employment growth in 2023.
There were also employers who previously said they might consider hiring overseas talent after Singapore implemented its recent mandate on flexible work arrangements.
The Ministry of Manpower previously assured that the growth in Singapore's non-resident employment was due to an increase in holders of Work Permits and other Work Passes in sectors such as construction.
In cases of EP and S-Pass holders, Tan said in the recent CNA938 interview that their increase between 2013 and 2023 was only by about 38,000.
This is much less compared to the 380,000 growth in professional, managerial, executive, and technician (PMET) jobs for residents.
"So for every single work pass – EP, S Pass – holder that is working here in Singapore for the last 10 years, it has actually generated 10 job opportunities for our local PMETs," Tan said as quoted by Channel News Asia.
Meanwhile, the minister also noted that they are taking "very seriously" the cases of discrimination against local workers.
According to Tan, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices will investigate cases of discrimination raised to them.
Singapore also recently passed a Workplace Fairness Legislation, which protects employees and jobseekers from discrimination on the grounds of nationality.
"One of the most important hallmarks of this new Bill is to protect and preserve the confidentiality of the person who raised the discrimination complaint, and also at the same time to protect him or her from retaliation from the employer itself ... so that, you know, we can minimise the incidence of underreporting," Tan said.
Cases of discrimination in Singapore against resident jobseekers have been declining since 2018, according to ministry data, with the proportion of those who were discriminated against during job search falling to 23.4% in 2023.
Discrimination cases on resident jobseekers based on nationality, however, saw a slight increase to 4.8% in 2023, up from four per cent in 2022.
On the other hand, the proportion of resident employees who were discriminated against at work fell to six per cent in 2023, down from 8.2% in 2022.
Cases of discrimination against resident employees based on nationality also declined to 1.6% in 2023, down from 2.5% in 2022.