<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>4 in 10 laid off last year were foreigners
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Figure shows S'poreans not bearing brunt of retrenchment </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Zakir Hussain
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOUR out of 10 workers laid off last year were foreigners, according to the latest figures from the Manpower Ministry (MOM).
The proportion is a 10-year high, and analysts say it shows that, contrary to popular belief, Singaporeans have not unfairly borne the brunt of layoffs in the current recession.
'A lot of foreigners are employed in lower-skilled service industries, which slowed down in the later part of last year, so they have been affected,' said Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng.
A total of 16,880 workers lost their jobs last year, double the figure for 2007.
Of these, 13,910 were retrenched and 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
The bulk of those in the latter group - 2,380 - were foreigners.
Of the 13,910 retrenched, 9,770 were locals - Singaporeans and permanent residents - and 4,140 foreigners.
As the MOM pointed out, the proportion of foreigners laid off last year broadly reflects their presence in the workforce.
Foreigners made up 36 per cent of Singapore's workforce last December.
In actual numbers, they formed 1.2 million of Singapore's population in June, driving it to a record 4.84 million.
The number of layoffs last year is the highest since 2003.
But it is still nowhere near the 32,800 during the financial crisis of 1998 or the 27,570 during the 2001 downturn.
Earlier this month, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong assured Singaporean workers that the Government would seek to protect their interests in this recession.
It would also make sure the labour market remained flexible for companies here to compete globally, he said.
He also noted then that the Government's redundancy figures did not include those whose employment contracts or work permits had not been renewed.
This means the number of foreign workers who left Singapore last year could be higher than that in the MOM study, said economists.
The MOM noted that the top reason for last year's layoffs was the recession, which was responsible for 41 per cent of retrenchments.
Business restructuring was next, accounting for 39 per cent of retrenchments.
Other reasons included high labour and operating costs.
These reasons are in sharp contrast to the boom year of 2007, when the top reasons were discontinued production lines and business reorganisation.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Resorts World for an update on its progress, Mr Gan said his ministry would shortly release redundancy figures for the first quarter of this year.
He said they were likely to be worse than in the last quarter of last year, when 9,410 people were laid off.
'Given the slowdown in the economy is going to last for quite a while, the labour market will remain soft for a few more quarters.
'How long it is going to last, or how deep the recession will be, we do not know yet,' he said. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Figure shows S'poreans not bearing brunt of retrenchment </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Zakir Hussain
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOUR out of 10 workers laid off last year were foreigners, according to the latest figures from the Manpower Ministry (MOM).
The proportion is a 10-year high, and analysts say it shows that, contrary to popular belief, Singaporeans have not unfairly borne the brunt of layoffs in the current recession.
'A lot of foreigners are employed in lower-skilled service industries, which slowed down in the later part of last year, so they have been affected,' said Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng.
A total of 16,880 workers lost their jobs last year, double the figure for 2007.
Of these, 13,910 were retrenched and 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
The bulk of those in the latter group - 2,380 - were foreigners.
Of the 13,910 retrenched, 9,770 were locals - Singaporeans and permanent residents - and 4,140 foreigners.
As the MOM pointed out, the proportion of foreigners laid off last year broadly reflects their presence in the workforce.
Foreigners made up 36 per cent of Singapore's workforce last December.
In actual numbers, they formed 1.2 million of Singapore's population in June, driving it to a record 4.84 million.
The number of layoffs last year is the highest since 2003.
But it is still nowhere near the 32,800 during the financial crisis of 1998 or the 27,570 during the 2001 downturn.
Earlier this month, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong assured Singaporean workers that the Government would seek to protect their interests in this recession.
It would also make sure the labour market remained flexible for companies here to compete globally, he said.
He also noted then that the Government's redundancy figures did not include those whose employment contracts or work permits had not been renewed.
This means the number of foreign workers who left Singapore last year could be higher than that in the MOM study, said economists.
The MOM noted that the top reason for last year's layoffs was the recession, which was responsible for 41 per cent of retrenchments.
Business restructuring was next, accounting for 39 per cent of retrenchments.
Other reasons included high labour and operating costs.
These reasons are in sharp contrast to the boom year of 2007, when the top reasons were discontinued production lines and business reorganisation.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Resorts World for an update on its progress, Mr Gan said his ministry would shortly release redundancy figures for the first quarter of this year.
He said they were likely to be worse than in the last quarter of last year, when 9,410 people were laid off.
'Given the slowdown in the economy is going to last for quite a while, the labour market will remain soft for a few more quarters.
'How long it is going to last, or how deep the recession will be, we do not know yet,' he said. [email protected]
