S'poreans should come last
By Goh Chin Lian
Mr Lim believes the way to go in the current downturn is for firms to let the non-Singaporeans go first, by not renewing the contract and work permit of their foreign workers. -- ST PHOTO: STEVEN LEE CT
LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say wants companies to put Singaporeans at the end of the queue when looking at shrinking the number of their rank and file workers.
Mr Lim believes the way to go in the current downturn is for firms to let the non-Singaporeans go first, by not renewing the contract and work permit of their foreign workers.
The secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress held up this approach at a forum yesterday with about 450 employers and 100 unionists.
The one-hour dialogue focused on ways to handle worker issues in the current economic downturn, from wages to dealing with excess manpower.
On foreign workers, Mr Lim said companies that retained Singaporeans will help to minimise unemployment.
But more importantly, they will have a headstart in an upturn, he noted, because they will have enough resident workers to meet the ratio required by the Manpower Ministry to hire foreign workers.
Mr Lim, a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, was one of three leaders who tackled the questions from employers' and unionists.
The other two were Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) president Stephen Lee.
The question that got them talking about foreign workers came from the general secretary of the United Workers of Petroleum Industry, Mr Karthikeyan Krishnamurthy.
He wanted to know if there were any guidelines for employers about shedding foreign workers first, or can they take a free-for-all approach.
Mr Lee noted that some companies already do not renew the permit and the contract of foreign workers when they expire.
To illustrate, Mr Lim gives an example of a factory that has to lay off, say, 10 workers from among 100 workers, half of whom are Singaporeans and 50 foreigners.
It can expand its workforce more swiftly in a future upturn if it sheds 10 foreigners now instead of five Singaporeans and five foreigners.
'When they have to hire another 10 workers, where do they find the 10 workers? While their competitors are competing for Singaporeans in a tighter labour market, they can quickly ramp up with 10 foreign workers.'
'That's because they have the 50 Singaporean workers to meet the required ratio of local to foreign workers.
'For instance, the ratio is 1:1 in the services sector, which means companies can employ one foreign worker for each local worker on their payroll.
'It actually makes business sense for companies to release progressively the foreign workers in times of excess manpower, assuming there is no skills mismatch,' he added.
However, the exception is when a foreign worker has a spcialist skill that cannot be easily replaced with an untrained Singaporean, Mr Lim said.
'But if you are talking about rank and file workers, which are by and large replaceable, our message is to give priority to the Singaporean workers.'
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
By Goh Chin Lian
Mr Lim believes the way to go in the current downturn is for firms to let the non-Singaporeans go first, by not renewing the contract and work permit of their foreign workers. -- ST PHOTO: STEVEN LEE CT
LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say wants companies to put Singaporeans at the end of the queue when looking at shrinking the number of their rank and file workers.
Mr Lim believes the way to go in the current downturn is for firms to let the non-Singaporeans go first, by not renewing the contract and work permit of their foreign workers.
The secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress held up this approach at a forum yesterday with about 450 employers and 100 unionists.
The one-hour dialogue focused on ways to handle worker issues in the current economic downturn, from wages to dealing with excess manpower.
On foreign workers, Mr Lim said companies that retained Singaporeans will help to minimise unemployment.
But more importantly, they will have a headstart in an upturn, he noted, because they will have enough resident workers to meet the ratio required by the Manpower Ministry to hire foreign workers.
Mr Lim, a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, was one of three leaders who tackled the questions from employers' and unionists.
The other two were Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) president Stephen Lee.
The question that got them talking about foreign workers came from the general secretary of the United Workers of Petroleum Industry, Mr Karthikeyan Krishnamurthy.
He wanted to know if there were any guidelines for employers about shedding foreign workers first, or can they take a free-for-all approach.
Mr Lee noted that some companies already do not renew the permit and the contract of foreign workers when they expire.
To illustrate, Mr Lim gives an example of a factory that has to lay off, say, 10 workers from among 100 workers, half of whom are Singaporeans and 50 foreigners.
It can expand its workforce more swiftly in a future upturn if it sheds 10 foreigners now instead of five Singaporeans and five foreigners.
'When they have to hire another 10 workers, where do they find the 10 workers? While their competitors are competing for Singaporeans in a tighter labour market, they can quickly ramp up with 10 foreign workers.'
'That's because they have the 50 Singaporean workers to meet the required ratio of local to foreign workers.
'For instance, the ratio is 1:1 in the services sector, which means companies can employ one foreign worker for each local worker on their payroll.
'It actually makes business sense for companies to release progressively the foreign workers in times of excess manpower, assuming there is no skills mismatch,' he added.
However, the exception is when a foreign worker has a spcialist skill that cannot be easily replaced with an untrained Singaporean, Mr Lim said.
'But if you are talking about rank and file workers, which are by and large replaceable, our message is to give priority to the Singaporean workers.'
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
