20910329 siti aisyah bagarib - research report final

COMM3001 Case Studies in Communication English Aisyah Bagarib 20910329
Siti and Cultural Studies
Communication Studies
Women’s Studies
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BAGARIB SITI AISYAH BINTE SAAD

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COMM3001 Case Studies in Communication Siti Aisyah Bagarib 20910329

Implications of foreign labour trends and immigration policies on

employment practices and job satisfaction in Singapore

Surname: Bagarib

First name: Siti Aisyah

Student ID: 20910329

Word-count of Research Report: 5,300

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Executive Summary

In order to remain economically competitive, Singapore's relaxed foreign labour policy has resulted

in a large number of foreign workers entering the job market. This study analyzes the effect of the

massive inflow of migrant/transient workers into Singapore on Singapore's labour market. This

study also sought to examine Singaporeans' perspectives on the foreign talent policy and job

satisfaction. Through quantitative and qualitative research, the relationship between the

government's policy on foreign talents and on Singaporean employees' job satisfaction is studied.

The former affects the wages and hiring practices and the latter affects the motivation of

employees and productivity outputs.

A public survey of 45 Singaporean respondents and an interview with 2 respondents were

conducted to establish their perceptions of today’s employment policy. The results found that

discourse on employment policy issues is heavily dominated by economics, and that Singaporeans

prioritize their economic well-being over any demographic changes in the country. This suggests

that government rhetoric’s focus on economic justifications for employment and immigration

policies has prevented a more holistic consideration of policy issues. The findings of this project

contribute to understanding of citizens’ outlook and can be of use in formulating more effective

government policy and also workplace policy.

Keywords: transient workers, Foreign Talent Policy, employee job satisfaction,

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Implications of foreign labour trends and immigration policies on

employment practices and job satisfaction in Singapore

Surname: Bagarib

First name: Siti Aisyah

Student ID: 20910329

University of Western Australia

Word-count of Research Report: 5,300

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Acknowledgements

This research project would not have been possible without the support of many people.

The author wishes to express her gratitude to her lecturer, Prof. Rob Cover who was abundantly

helpful, patient and offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance. Special thanks also to

Bhavani for tutoring sharing the literature and invaluable assistance.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary..............................................................................................................................3
Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................5
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................7
Hypotheses.......................................................................................................................................8
Methodology....................................................................................................................................8
Labour in Singapore.............................................................................................................................9
Labour Trends..................................................................................................................................9
Fair Employment Practices in Singapore ......................................................................................10
Singapore's Foreign Talent Policy .....................................................................................................11
1. Economic Factors......................................................................................................................12
Types of Work Passes ..............................................................................................................12
2. Political Factors.........................................................................................................................13
3. Social Factors.............................................................................................................................14
Employee Satisfaction........................................................................................................................18
Study: Reasons employers hire non-Singaporeans...................................................................18
Employee Satisfaction Survey............................................................................................................19
Profile of Respondents...................................................................................................................19
Survey Duration.............................................................................................................................20
Method of Delivery........................................................................................................................20
Survey Results: Stage 1.................................................................................................................20
Survery results: Stage 2.................................................................................................................22
Employee Satisfaction Interview........................................................................................................26
Profile of Respondents...................................................................................................................26
Method of Delivery........................................................................................................................27
Interview Results...........................................................................................................................27
Stealing Jobs............................................................................................................................27
Job Satisfaction........................................................................................................................28
Work-life Balance....................................................................................................................28
Relevant Skills.........................................................................................................................28
Knowledge-based Economy....................................................................................................29
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................31
References..........................................................................................................................................33

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Introduction
Concerns over fair opportunities for Singaporeans emerged as the top issue for the first time in

2011 . There is increasing dissatisfaction among Singaporeans on the employment policies in

Singapore, which is largely attributed to Singapore's relaxed foreign labour policies. Discussions at

the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) also concluded that Singapore's dependence

on foreign labour is currently the highest among East Asian economies (Yeo Aiqi 2011). Tripartite

Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP), a fair employment watchdog, states in it's annual

reports that the number of complaints received in 2011 was more than double of that of the

previous year. Nationality was one of the top three types of complaints, stating that employers

prefer foreigners over locals.

This paper describes and analyzes Singapore foreign labour trends and how Singapore's

immigration policies affect local employment practices and job satisfaction of Singaporeans. It

examines the economic, political and social shifts that the government has to consider in

formulating policies related to the employment structure. It then analyzes more deeply the current

employment practices in Singapore and how these policies affect job satisfaction among

Singaporeans. It also discusses the challenges ahead for Singapore in it's plight to stay

economically competitive. Finally proposes ways in which the challenges might be overcome.

The significance of this report is to improve public understanding of the role and significance of

having foreigners in Singapore's labour pool. Secondly, it serves to increase awareness of the

current employment issues in Singapore. This report also contributes in improving existing

literature on employment policies in Singapore.

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Hypotheses
1) Actual hiring practices conflicts with fair employment policies.

2) Current labour trends and employment practices are inevitable in order for Singapore to

continue striving economically.

Methodology
This study was conducted in three stages: Firstly, literature reviews was done on the economic,

political and social factors that may affect labour policies in Singapore; Secondly, quantitative

research methods involving a public survey was deployed to study Singaporean employees' level of

job satisfaction. Qualitative research involving individual interviews was also conducted to give

more insights on the topic. Two Singaporeans were interviewed. One of them is a working student

in Australia, giving his personal insights one how Singapore and Australia differ. The second

interviewee works at an IT MNC, giving insights on hiring practices of foreigners in that

organization. The qualitative research method enables a deeper understanding of the issue already

studied using the quantitative methodology (Berg 1998).

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Labour in Singapore

Labour Trends
An ASEAN Community is aimed to be established amongst ASEAN member countries by 2015. A

single market offers many advantages and influences regional labour trends. The community will

narrow developmental gaps between ASEAN countries by increasing integration within the region,

allowing each member country to maximize productivity, individual development potential and

competitiveness while offering security, stability, prosperity and social progress. However success

in achieving these goal would depend on how well governments, employers and workers can work

together to collectively pursue their progress.

Singapore relies on human resources as the engine of economic growth as its small country size

does not produce any natural resources. The demand for foreign labour arises from short-term

needs of the business cycle and the long-term needs of economic growth and restructuring. In

1998, employment of foreign workers increased rapidly and accounted over 20% of the workforce

(Chia 2001). The trend then seem to be towards low-skilled foreign labour. Subsequently Singapore

realized that their dependence on low-skilled foreign workers does not contribute in improving the

profile of it's workforce. Singapore's labour and immigration framework was then amended

towards developing a Knowledge-based Economy (KBE) and designed to attract higher-skilled,

higher-qualified foreign workers to enhance the national workforce (Ministry of Manpower 1999).

Powell and Snellman (2004) defines a knowledge-based economy as “production and services

based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and

scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolesce”.

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The increment of the national labour force with foreign labour remains one out of six key elements

in Singapore's future economic plans and policies as outlined in the county's Manpower 21 Report.

However dependence on low-skilled workers such as those in construction, manufacturing and

domestic helpers are reduced and hired on transient basis to increase labour flexibility, whereby

intake is increased and reduced according to economic expansion or contraction.

Fair Employment Practices in Singapore
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) works in partnership with the

government and unions to promote and facilitate the adoption of the adoption of fair, responsible

and merit-based employment practices among employers, employees and the general public.

TAFEP also provides advisory services and training workshops to help organizations implement fair

employment practices. Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices asserts that while

foreigners play a valuable role in enhancing the workforce, Singaporeans must remain the core of

the workforce. Highlighting one of the six principles of Fair Employment Practices from their

handbook, to provide employees with equal opportunity to be considered for training and

development is one of the key themes of this report.

In Singapore, three legislatives regulate the management and deployment of foreign labour. They

are the Immigration Act, Employment of Foreign Workers' Act and the Penal Code. The

Immigration Act are law enforcement guidelines pertaining to immigration violations and

discretion towards both employers and illegal migrant workers. The Employment of Foreign

Workers' Act issues employment passes, work permits and regulates the foreign levy system. The

Penal Code penalizes abuse or non-payment or workers (Kaur 2006). Prison sentences and caning

have controlled migrant workers from overstaying and unauthorized entry.

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Singapore's Foreign Talent Policy

By examining Singapore's unique backdrop, government, and immigration and employment

policies, we will be able to better understand how its finanscape and ideoscape has been affected.

The term immigrant worker in Singapore is separated into foreign workers and foreign talents.

Foreign workers refer to low-skilled workers who largely work in construction, manufacturing or

domestic service sectors. Foreign talent refers to foreigners with specialized skills or good paper

qualifications. The foreign talent policy came about as Singapore heads towards a knowledge-

based economy. Over the years, the PAP Government have used the term foreign talent loosely,

broadly, and interchangeably to formulate 'foreign talent policies'. Often, the term 'foreign talent'

in foreign talent policies lacked definition and includes foreign workers, fresh foreign graduates

and just normal foreign workers. There seems to be certain disconnect with the foreign talent

policies as they contradict the rationale of filling in the shortage of skills in Singapore's talent pool,

such as in healthcare. For example in 2007, The Ministry of Manpower announced a new initiative

called Work Holiday Programme (WHP) to attract foreign talents to work in Singapore. The

initiative was open for 2000 students and university graduates between the ages of 17-30 from

Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and US. The WHP pass is valid

for 6 months. However there were no restrictions made on the type of work allowed or minimum

salary requirements (Ministry of Manpower 2007).

For the purpose of this research project, the term foreign talents refers to skilled and semi-skilled

people who have come to Singapore in order to work or study. These are people who have not

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spent the large part of their lives in Singapore. The term foreign talents excludes low-income job

sectors in construction and domestic maids.

1. Economic Factors
Singapore ranked second in 2012's Global Statistical Report. The report ranks 142 countries based

on the Global Competitive Index of the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) (McArthur

and Sachs 2002), which measures how effective the policies, institutions and factors that affect

economic prosperity are being utilized (World Economic Forum, 2012). Singapore, because of it's

and population size, has always relied on migrant workers to boost it's economic growth since it's

founding in 1819. The British free-trade policy attracted migrants to carry out trade in Singapore

and it's main economic pillar was entrêpot trade. Many also came to work at plantations (Trocki

2001). Migration was brought into focus again in 1980s and the influx of foreign workers in

Singapore continued to increase. In 2011, of the 1.46 million non-resident population (National

Population and Talent Division 2012), 720000 were working foreign talent, excluding Permanent

Residents and the ones in construction and domestic workers, (MOM 2011).

The influx of immigrants has supplied it's labour market with diverse and sufficient manpower to

compete globally and has continued to benefit Singapore economically. Singapore's success in

attracting Foreign Direct investment (FDI) can also be attributed to attractive investment incentives

and low tax rates (Rajan, 2004). To ensure high productivity outputs, job market and wages have to

be kept competitive. New work passes were also introduced to support the influx.

Types of Work Passes
Employment Pass: (1) P—pass: aimed at professional, managerial, knowledge workers

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(2) Q—pass: aimed at skilled workers with a minimum 5 years work

experience. Not subject to levies. Allowed to bring family and apply

for residency or citizenship.

(3) Personalized Employment Pass: aimed at skilled independent

migrant workers such as foreign students from higher learning

institutions in Singapore.

S—pass: aimed at foreign workers with starting pay of S$1800 per month such as degree or

diploma holders in a technical field. Subject to employment quotas and levies. Disallowed

from bringing family along.

Work Permit: or R—pass, aimed at semi-skilled or low-skilled workers. Subject to

employment quotas and levies. Disallowed from bringing family along.

2. Political Factors
The People's Action Party (PAP) has been the dominant ruling party in Singapore Since its

independence. The PAP has been criticized for it's authoritative governance, building on the

Leninist model, which believes that politics should be handled by a small elite group. Lee Kwan

Yew, the founding political leader of Singapore created policies based on Confucian or 'Asian

values'. The Confucian value system have rigorously been used in promoting moral and social

values and legitimizing the authoritative governance and interests of the state (Chua 1995). An

instance of this is the government’s emphasis on placing society above self such as encouraging

women to take on more economically productive role, increasing the retirement age and is also

used to justify not being a welfare state to ensure the young to look after their old (Kuah 1990).

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3. Social Factors
Singapore faces a vicious cycle of an ageing population, declining birthrates, shrinking workforce.

Ageing Populations

The proportion of Singapore residents aged 45 years and above expanded over time.

Mortality rates means people live longer. Singapore can't sustain an aging yet shrinking

population.

Chart 1: Age Pyramid of Resident Population

Population Trends 2011 Department of Statistics Singapore

Declining Birth Rates

It is common for developed countries to have a total fertility rate (TFR) below the

replacement level of 2.1. However, Singapore currently has a TFR severely below

replacement level. Singapore is ranked last on the list of an Independent US Government

Agency (Central Intelligence Agency 2012).

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There is a continued decline in births of almost 5% across all ethnic groups since 2009

(Singapore Department of Statistics 2011). Malays producing more babies still. However the

overall decline has continued to drop from a 2.1 replacement rate in 1975 to just 1.2 in

2012 (National Population and Talent Division 2012)

Table1: Total Fertility Rates (TFR)

Year Total Chinese Malays Indians
2000 1.60 1.43 2.54 1.59

2005 1.26 1.10 2.03 1.29

2006 1.28 1.11 2.02 1.27

2007 1.29 1.14 1.94 1.25

2008 1.28 1.14 1.91 1.19

2009 1.22 1.08 1.82 1.14

2010 1.15 1.02 1.65 1.13
per 1,000 Population Trends 2011 Department of Statistics Singapore

The decline in births is also attributed to residents postponing marriages, declining

marriage rates and also not having as many children as before. There was a steady decline

in registered marriages in Singapore since 2003, with divorce rates rising (Singapore

Department of Statistics 2011). Most Singaporeans are choosing to get married at a later

age around 30-34.

The government has been trying to encourage Singaporeans to have more babies by

increasing benefits. These benefits include baby bonus cash incentive of up to S$6,000, tax

rebate, paid maternity leave and child-related leave (National Population and Talent

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Division 2012). However, there are other factors that contribute to the declining birthrates

such as work stress, overtime, expensive education and people are staying in school longer

in order to get better qualifications for better jobs are all interlinked factors that (Ramesh,

2011).

Overcrowding

Singapore's population has increased from 3.04 million to 5.18 million within the past

decade. It's population density of 7,257 persons per/km² places it in the top three highest

in the world (Department of Statistics 2012).

Low Wages and Income Gap

High immigration rate increases competition with the resident population for jobs,

inadvertently lowering wages and increasing the income gap for Singaporeans. The income

gap between it's rich and poor is one of the widest in the world (Wah 2012). Mr Manu

Bhaskaran, senior research fellow at the Singapore Prespectives 2012 Conference,

expressed that the rising influx of foreign workers “almost certainly impacted wage growth

at parts of the income distribution and thereby worsened inequality” (Wah 2012). While

higher income groups saw their income grow annually the lower income groups suffered

income recession. The foreign labour policy aggravated the circumstances of the dislocated

lower-income wage earners. Business owners and employers benefit because they increase

profit by cutting labour cost.

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Government has introduced these measures to counter problems:

Amidst increasing dissatisfaction from Singaporeans regarding effectiveness of foreign

employment and immigration policies, political leaders have continued to defend the

foreign talent policies as a matter of economic necessity. Nevertheless, the government has

responded to public pressure and will moderate demand for foreign manpower. Singapore's

Ministry of Manpower has had to alter the inflow of foreigners into the workforce. The bar

was raised for foreign workers wishing to attain Singapore work Visa. Measures such as

increased qualifying salaries, tightened educational qualifications and Dependency Ratio

Ceilings (DRC) for employment pass workers, has resulted in a 30% rejection of foreign work

pass applications in the first 7 months of 2012. This is an increase from the 26% total

rejected applications in 2011 (Ministry of Manpower 2012).

The NPTD is also seeking feedback from the public on tackling marriage, parenthood,

immigration and integration issues (National Population and Talent Division 2012).

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Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is commonly measured by anonymous employee satisfaction surveys

administered to gauge employee satisfaction. The common facets of job satisfaction are

satisfaction with salary, promotion opportunities, relations with co-workers and supervisors and

the work itself (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969). Employee attitudes is positively associated with

organizational ethics and financial performance (Koh and El'fred). Employees would be more

committed to an organization that satisfiy their needs (Steers 1977).

Study: Reasons employers hire non-Singaporeans
A survey done by JobStreet revealed that Singaporean employers prefer to hire non-

Singaporeans because of their flexibility. Of the 200 employers surveyed, 40% said their

main reason for hiring foreigners was because they are less particular with regards to time,

job scope and location of workplace. This is the reason business owners like Wei Chan, who

is the owner of a bakery, hires the maximum quota of foreigners that Singapore Labour law

allows. 20% of employers surveyed also said that they thought foreigners were more skilled

in certain areas of expertise. However, the vice president of Conrad and Ottess Private

Asset Management Limited, a private asset management firm, responded that if other

factors such qualifications, experience and attitude are taken into consideration, preference

would be in favour of Singaporeans (Choo 2012).

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Employee Satisfaction Survey

The employment satisfaction survey provides an preliminary examination on job satisfaction of

Singaporean employees. The purpose of the survey is to determine the existing levels and factors

affecting job satisfaction among Singaporeans. In light of recent increased dissatisfaction and

complains lodged by employees, it is worth taking a look into the issue to find out the underlying

causes.

In Stage 1 of the survey, respondents were asked to rate work attributes that are important to

them. They were asked to choose as many attributes as they found applicable from a list of 10 pre-

listed attributes. Attributes listed in the questionnaire were mostly selected based on a 2011 Work

Happiness Indicator Report done by JobsCentral. A total of 2,384 working adults participated in the

2011 Work Happiness Indicator Report, therefore results regarding the work attributes that are

important is highly significant (JobsCentral 2011). The list of desirable work attributes used in this

survey are advancement opportunities, appreciation of work done, bonus, challenge, interesting

work, job security, medical benefits, positive impact to society, good relations with colleagues,

salary, work recognition, work-life balance.

In Stage 2, a series of questions and statements was presented and respondents were asked to rate

items answered on a 5-point answer scale.

Profile of Respondents
45 anonymous respondents was needed for the survey. Respondents had to be Singaporean

citizens with some working experience. A minimum working experience criteria of three months is

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sufficient for this research as an average duration of temporary employment as well as 'probation

period' before a confirmed employment in Singapore is three months. Respondents were not

informed of the study hypotheses.

Survey Duration
The survey was conducted from 16th August 2012 for over a period of 3 weeks.

Method of Delivery
The survey was conducted online.

Survey Results: Stage 1
The first few questions in the survey questionnaire was to ensure that response eligibility criteria

were met. Those sampled were 17-49 years old inclusive, as typical work age fall in this age group.

Almost all of the respondents (87%) were in their twenties. At 17, a typical Singaporean would

have graduated secondary school with an O-level or A-level certificate. This proved to be accurate

as all the survey respondents held a formal educational qualification of some type: 15% held N-

level or O-level passes, 49% held diploma qualifications, and 29% held university degrees. 7% had

done their masters.

Table 2: Demographic profile of survey respondents
Variable Percentage
Age
17-20 years 4%
21-29 years 87%
30-39 years 7%

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40-49 years 2%
Education
N-levels/ O-levels 15%
Diploma 49%
Degree 29%
Masters

The major findings of the survey are as follows. The interview data reveal that salary plays the

most important role for Singaporean employees. Having a job that is interesting came as second

most important attribute, work recognition and bonus were rated equally in third place. Task

significance (Hackman and Oldham 1975), otherwise known in this survey as “positive impact to

society”, is the degree to which the job impacts external environment or the immediate

organization was ranked important by only 15 respondents. Job challenge was ranked the least

important.

Chart 2: Job Attributes Important to Singaporean Workers

Although the monetary aspect is widely believed to be a leading factor in job satisfaction, intrinsic

psychological rewards provides job satisfaction too (Timmreck, 2001). As derived from the survey,

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results show that employees placed about the same weightage on having a job that interests them

(85%) with salary (91%). This demonstrates that job engagement is important to Singaporeans as it

makes tasks more fulfilling and enjoyable. However, of 1000 Singaporean employees surveyed in

Towers Watson's 2012 Global Workforce Study, 72% we found to be less engaged in their work

(Towers Watson 2012).

Survery results: Stage 2
Respondents were asked to rate their response to a series of questions and statements on a 5-

point answer scale which is: very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neither dissatisfied nor satisfied,

satisfied and very satisfied. The first set of questions is regarding the level of satisfaction of work-

related facets. Chart 3 below excludes 'neither dissatisfied nor satisfied' responses because it does

not contribute to the analysis. However it was important to have 'neither dissatisfied nor satisfied'

option in the questionnaire so as to avoid inaccurate results by compelling respondents to choose

a positive or negative response to statements they have a neutral stance on.

A set of 9 questions beginning with “How satisfied are you with:” was asked in regards to; (1) their

salary; (2) job training; (3) recognition they get for their work; (4) overall job security; (5) the

professional growth from tasks are assigned to them; (6) the working environment; (7) working

practices; (8)employee benefits; and (9)employment hiring practices in Singapore?

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Chart 3: Job Satisfaction Survey

In general, responses regarding workplace satisfaction is positive (60%). Singaporeans seem to be

most satisfied with their current working environments. The only two questions that received

higher dissatisfied responses than satisfied ones is regarding salary and professional growth. 58%

responded that they were not satisfied with the salary they receive.

From this set of questions, salary is again highlighted as the factor that employees are most

dissatisfied with. This might inter-relate with the results in the first survey where respondents'

answer reflects on what they desire in future jobs.

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52% did not think that the tasks assigned to them at work contributed to their professional growth,

16% responded that they are very dissatisfied. When asked about satisfaction of hiring practises in

Singapore only 51% responded positively, with 11% being very dissatisfied.

In the second set of questions, respondents were asked whether they agreed that (1) Their

education in Singapore gives leverage over foreign talents working in Singapore; (2) Their

workplace hires foreign talents; (3) The company they work for care about it's employees; (4)

Employers prefer foreign talents over its indigenous worker; (5) There is ample opportunity to get a

job promotion; and (6) Foreign talents and Singapore's indigenous workers are provided with equal

career opportunities.

Chart 4: Opinion Survey

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Regarding promotion, 27 respondents did not have opinions on being promoted (60%). Education

and age range can provide an explanation to this. Almost 90% of the respondents were relatively

young, below 30 years old, and usually not at an age where they have decided to make the current

job their career.

Working with foreign talents are common in the workplace, however a staggering 84% believe that

the education in Singapore does not give them any advantage over foreign employees. This is a

worrying figure as Singapore prides itself for having top-notch education syllabus but that

knowledge provides no application leverage in future work-life.

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Employee Satisfaction Interview

Qualitative research enables a deeper understanding of the issue already studied using the

quantitative methodology (Berg 1998). The interview questions consisted of how respondents

view the foreign talent policy in Singapore; the efficiency of foreign talents in affecting

competitiveness and economic growth; Singaporean work attitudes and whether there is an

association between the job happiness and the foreign talent policy.

Profile of Respondents
Three interviewees were selected for the interview stage. Respondents had to meet the same

criteria as in the survey. Respondents had to be Singaporean citizens with work experience. One

male and female were interviewed. Both were diploma holders pursuing a university degree. There

is a bias towards Singaporeans with higher education for this interview. This bias is useful as

higher-educated individuals are generally more aware of current affair issues and can provide a

better insight on the issue at large.

Table 3: Profile of interview respondents

Respondent Gender Age Education
Ismail Male 25 Diploma
Aggy Female 24 Diploma & Degree

undergraduate

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Method of Delivery
Interviews were done face-to-face. Interviewees were ensured of anonymity. Each person

interviewed were asked different sets of questions based on their different backgrounds.

Interview Results
Ismail has been living in Melbourne, Australia for two years. He is there to further his

studies and at the same time works to support himself. The interview gives insights of how

it is like to be a foreign worker in Australia. The second interviewee,Aggy, has worked at a

major IT MNC in Singapore for two years. She is currently working while pursuing her

degree. She gives her account on the hiring practices at her workplace.

Stealing Jobs
When Ismail was asked if his Australian colleagues has shown adversity towards foreign workers or

if he feels that he is stealing their jobs, he replied that he has never encountered racism or

xenophobia at the workplace. As for stealing jobs from Australians, he responded that the

minimum wage system ensures that workers are paid fairly and not shorthanded. The minimum

wage applies to both the locals and foreign workers thus Australians do not face problems with

foreign talents lowering or compromising wages for the locals.

“The unemployed here also receive money from welfare every month. In Singapore if

you are unemployed, you're on your own. Not only do Singaporeans have to

compete with foreigners on jobs, they also have to compete with them for housing.

It's almost as if there is no incentive of being a citizen and a foreigner, so maybe

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that’s why Singaporeans are more unhappy with the presence of foreign talents.”

Job Satisfaction
Asked whether Ismail thought Melbourne is a better place to work as compared to Singapore?

“Personally, I would say yes. The work culture here is different. My employers here

constantly give out rewards for good work. You won't have to wait till mid or end-

year to be appraised and I feel more appreciated than when I was working in

Singapore. Wages are more attractive here than in Singapore.

Work-life Balance
When asked about work-life balance, he mentions about the plight of middle class in Singapore,

which is where most Singaporeans belong to.

“At the end of the day, work is work. You have to earn a living. No matter where

you choose to work and live, there are always pros and cons. In Singapore, the

government is more proactive in developing policies rather than reactive to

citizen's feedback. Transport, healthcare and services are more efficient. It is

relatively safer to walk around at night in Singapore. However, the middle-class

workers, are generally overworked, underpaid and under-appreciated. In

Melbourne the transport system and services are not as efficient and cost of living

is high. However, salaries are better, the government is more reactive to public

feedback and most importantly there is a better work-life balance.”

Relevant Skills
PAP's liberal pro-foreigner policies can partly be blamed for causing decline in productivity in 2012

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because recruiters face challenges in finding the right manpower(Grosse 2012). The criteria

needed to apply for work visa in Singapore is too low thus does not target what the market needs.

Having a more selective requirement criteria would be beneficial. Ismail revealed that unlike PR

application in Singapore, application criteria for Permanent Residence in Australia is more

stringent. It includes an English language proficiency test, having a job listed in the Skilled

Occupancy List, acquiring enough years of job experience and necessary qualifications and

character requirements (Department of Immigration and Citizenship). Unlike in Singapore where

there is no minimum residency period for Singapore PRs. According to a Straits Times report,

Chinese national Zhang Yuanyuan, obtained her Singapore PR within 2 months of application

(Straits Times 2010). Neither do applicants need to pass an English proficiency test. This poses

problems in communication and efficiency especially in service and sales sectors. English is the

unifying language of business, government and education, although there are 4 four official

languages in Singapore, (Chia 2011).

Knowledge-based Economy
There was skepticism when asked whether the foreign talent policy helping Singapore move into a

successful Knowledge-based economy. Aggy described her experience with the multinational

corporation that she works at.

“There was a sudden influx of foreign talents from India, Myanmar and Philippines

hired by the company last year. This year, most of them have gone and there are a

lot of vacant cubicles in the office. Foreign workers are dispensable, they are

always the first to go. Though the dismissed foreign workers were from a different

department, the company has now started to dismiss Singaporeans too. Most of

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the jobs are being outsourced to India. I have had to train them myself and I

wouldn't say they are more skilled or capable or productive than Singaporean

workers. They work longer hours and it costs less to hire them.

It's very worrying that companies value Singapore labour for its low costs rather

than the skills of the workers. The government has emphasized on upgrading skills

and education but the workers themselves are not being valued that way. I do not

blame these companies for their search for cheaper labour, but I think it is the job

of the government to implement policies that help protect its citizens, not exploit

them.”

An analysis made by the Economic Strategies Committee in 2010 in Monetary Authority of

Singapore's annual report predicts that a lower productivity growth and a lower labour force

growth per annum supported by much higher quality of labour, produces higher quality growth in

10 years. In detail:

“The expected labour productivity growth rate of between 2% and 3% p.a.,

combined with the projection of an average 1-2% p.a. labour force growth by the

Economic Strategies Committee, produces a medium-term potential GDP growth

rate of 3-5% p.a. for the Singapore economy over 2010 – 2019.” (Monetary

Authority of Singapore 2010)

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Conclusion

The presence of foreign labour in Singapore is important and beneficial to the economy. It plays a

role in increasing size of the national workforce, increasing the output capacity and thus improving

it's economic growth. However, economic benefits should be weighed against social costs that now

has become very prominent in Singapore. High-income foreign talents benefit most from the

Foreign Talent Policies and higher-income Singaporean may not be affected by it's disadvantages.

The high saturation of middle to lower-skilled foreigners in the job market compromises wages for

Singaporeans. Majority of Singaporeans are in the middle-income group. They and the lower-

income Singaporeans are most affected by depressing wages.

From the survey done, job salary is the most important factor chosen that affect Singaporean's

attitude towards the job. However this is not the only factor that is important. Being engaged in

the work that they do is also important to them. Almost half of the respondents expressed that

they did not think that the tasks they are assigned contributes to their professional growth. It can

be deduced that majority of diploma and young degree holders in Singapore are being underpaid

or hired for jobs where they are undervalued and not utilized fully for their skills.

When there is demand, there will be supply. More higher-skill requirement jobs have to be created

to truly move Singapore into a knowledge-based economy. While most locals do not have a

problem working with foreigners, there needs to be more screening in place to bring in more

specific and qualified foreign talents to augment the indigenous workforce. A minimum-wage

system should also be implemented to ensure that employers don’t cut back on pay, and that

31 Of 39


middle and and lower-income workers do not drift further back resulting in an even bigger income

gap.

From the hypothesis that was set out in the beginning of this study, it can be concluded that:

1. Actual hiring practices conflict with fair employment policies in terms of tendency to

employ workers based on lower labour cost rather than purely by merit. However this is

not actually against the law as long as employers keep hiring foreign labour within the

quota set by Singapore labour laws.

2. Singapore can continue to strive economically if it chooses to cut down on low-cost labour

and focus on providing high skill jobs and hiring quality workers. Economic growth would

move at a slower pace for the first ten years, but the benefits are are more rewarding after

that.

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