NMP Teo Siong Seng: SMEs need to hire more foreign workers
December 9th, 2009 | 
Author: Nominated MP Teo Siong Seng, who is also the president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) said that SMEs are finding it difficult to hire local workers and urge the government to allow SMEs more flexibility to employ foreign workers to help them tide over the difficult period.
A survey conducted by SCCCI in October and November this year reveals that some companies are facing manpower shortage as Singaporeans are not keen to take up jobs offered by them.
328 companies took part in the survey. The companies employed some 37,112 people, including 21,598 foreign workers – making up 58.2 per cent of the surveyed workforce.
Speaking to reporters from Channel News Asia, Mr Teo said:
“It is the same old story where there are some industries which just cannot attract locals to even go for an interview, put aside how much pay they are prepared to offer……Some of my members are in container truck driving, food processes. They need to work odd hours because the lead time for orders is very short. Locals are just not interested to attempt.”
The same survey also shows that Singaporeans are not interested in jobs with no fixed working hours, low wages and in far-flung locations.
The Singapore government has come under fire lately for its foreign worker policies culminating the relentless influx of cheap foreign workers in the last few years into the labor market.
In its defense, government leaders repeated the same old explanation that foreigners are needed to work in sectors shunned by Singaporeans such as the construction and manufacturing industries.
The mainstream media has tried to pin the blame solely on Singaporeans for being too “fussy” with jobs to exonerate the government from any blame.
While it is true that Singaporeans are not keen in certain jobs, more and more foreigners are found holding jobs which can otherwise beinig taken up by locals such as customer service staff, clerks, clinic assistants and teachers.
Instead of over-relying on foreign workers, SMEs should think of ways to attract more locals to work for them and to boost productivity at the same time.
A recently released Singapore Competitiveness Report showed that Singapore’s labour productivity – measured in terms of total output per employee – lags that of developed countries including the United States, France and Norway, as well as Asian neighbours Hong Kong and Taiwan.
An economist who declined to be named suggested the increasing number of foreign workers as a cause for the lower productivity:
“One reason for the lower productivity may be the large influx of foreign workers in recent years. With more workers available, each worker doesn’t have to work as hard,” he said.
Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng said that Singapore’s rapid growth over the last few years has been mostly driven by a massive increase in the workforce.
“Between 2006 and last year, the number of workers in Singapore jumped an average 6.5per cent a year, largely due to liberal immigration policies……But it is clear that growth powered by importing foreign labour is simply not sustainable,” he added.
The ultimate motive of companies is to maximize their profits and they will not care if they are employing locals or foreigners. The government has to do more to safeguard the interests of Singapore workers who are unable to compete with the foreign workers in terms of cost.
Posted in Editorial
IT IS VERY DAMAGING AND DISTRESSING DISCLOSURE if the assertion is correct of economic pressure facing SME.
Why? Lokk look at the objective facts. Obama and Geithner spoke publicly of wanting a “STRONG” US Dollar and Obama fist visit to China pleaded earnestly WITHOUT SUCCESS of wanting the Chinese to allow RMB to float higher.
In simple words, it is “opening the rear end” and telling everyone in the world is smelly like a “rose by any other name” IT IS A MULTITUDE OF LIES!!!
The contradictions is staring at Obama and the world. Rising RMB means he wants a cheaper US dollar. The US dollar is now admitted ( post China trip of Obama) as the support of US economy and Obama is hoping for results because Americans can’t buy US goods, so export them for survival. The slap in the face is falling US dollar means higher-priced imports for all other non-American produced goods killing the US consumers’ budgetary spending capacity. THAT HURTS US GDP AS WELL BUT LESSER.
Obama now talks of saving American employment. That means even MORE CHEAPER US Dollar ahead.
Cheaper US dollar will destroy US offshore MNC in places like Singapore. They will have to move to China to survive as China will NOT revalue its currency.
With massive influx of foreign workers now supporting our SME, IT IS UNCOMPETITIVE EVEN OF NOW.
WHEN US MNC SHIFTS OUT OF SINGAPORE, WHAT IS THE VALUE OF BRINGING IN A FEW MORE HUNDREDS OF CHEAPER, FASTER AND BETTER FOREIGN WORKERS WHEN JOBS ARE ALL GOING TO CHINA IN A FEW MONTHS TIME PERHAPS???
Are we stupid or are we insane??? Or both???
I have a better solution for Nominated MP Teo Siong Seng,
There are at least a billion people out there in our globe who are happy to work for 1 square meal a day and sleep under any of our monsoon drains.Africa & Afgan comes to my mind..So why hunt only for people from PRC?
And perhaps like the movie ‘Soylent Green’ all those who hit the age above 40 are deemed unproductive and a burden to the state could be put to ’sleep’ too..Simple solutions for Mr.Teo .Like the simple solution he advocate.
Unless of course if he is in the receiving end hah!
Cannot find locals to work! Wy not if you pay them the right wages fir a decent living ?I dare ask.Why right wages?Because locals cannot work for 1k a month and yet remit enough money back home like foreigners do.Foreigners come here to give their family back home a comfortable life or why the need to come to SG?..They can at a pay of 1k to 2k a month.But we cannot.Why?—-COST OF LIVING IS HIGH to raise a family here ; that’s why.
Locals must live,pay taxes,raise children,educate them,serve NS and donate our organs even when we die..Foreigners are free from all these obligations.Tell me Mr.Teo,which foreigner would come here to spend more than he earns?
All you want Mr.Teo is cheap sweat labor.Period.Than go and tell your masters to lower the cost of living in tandem with the wages you are willing to pay.
You want cheap labor.The ruling party wants high GST, high HDB prices,high transportation rates,high PUB & Water bills and wants to increase prices every 6 months.How do you reconcile this?
We locals cannot pack our bags and quit the country like foreign workers you know.
“…SMEs are finding it difficult to hire local workers and urge the government to allow SMEs more flexibility to employ foreign workers to help them tide over the difficult period.”
This sounds like daejavu!
Since so long ago, the policies were already very flexible and allowed numerous fw to come here and work. All the construction companies hire so many fw already!
thats it man.
i have had it.
Don’t want Singapore workers even at the same pay or… ???
I do know that some Singaporeans are somewhat “soft” at middle age (about 45) and above. Because they can’t stand the working alongside younger and physically stronger SINGLE FWs who also do not have family commitments???…
Also… the pappy government’s UNWITTINGLY relentless championing of FTs,Fws and foreign ‘anything’ for the economy also PUT AN ADVERSE “LABEL” ON Singaporeans???…
And so… AS UNWITTINGLY TOO… BRAND FTs, FWs AS… CHEAPER_ BETTER_FASTER workers THAN Singaporeans???…
Pappy’s Corporate Authoritarian “Architecture” over Singapore’s Economic ‘Well-Being”… Has it dealt an UNDENIABLE-BLOW IN ADVERSE PUBLICITY Against Singaporeans in and to JUSTIFY ‘their’ actions FALLIBLE???… The Problem AND Trouble with ‘their thing’ it BECOMES “The DIVIDE And RULE” blame game which IS NOT Tenable of ANY Nation’s ELECTED-RULERS!!!… NOR is it sustainable!!!
HOPE you understand my meaning!!!
I fully agree with True Singaporean on Wed, 9th Dec 2009 10:04 am.
Once MP Teo mentioned“…put aside how much pay they are prepared to offer…”, the rest of his words are nonsense, for it showed how DISTACHED, how FAR FAR AWAY is he on the grassroots, hearing ONLY the voice of the companies.
WITHOUT minimium wage and proper social security net for Singaporeans, those $1K jobs that hire-and-fire easily will continue to bring down our living standards against a high cost society.
Mr teo from what i can see u are think of make big money only.
Pls remember mr teo, We have all the family in singapore and this foreign don’t. We spend all our earn in singpore and this foreign don’t…. i don’t believe that singapore can’t do not want to work all the company u mention maye u can’t pay them cause if u get froiegnu will save alot
Actually I just spoke to my friend who runs a SME…
It is true that they are facing severe manpower shortage – they do contract manufacturing and some of the jobs are quite low end (<S$800 to do visual inspection of stamped metal parts) and because they are located in Tuas, they can't find Singaporeans who want to work there…
SME towkays not willing to pay decent wages should be the HEADLINER!
Let’s be honest,it’s more about costs and bottom lines.
i still think and feel by my mere guts that locals are still
better workers in so many aspects except that “they are asking
for higher wages”?
gahmen and bosses cannot merely look at it this narrow way and keep blmaing workers!!!it;s utterly unfair.
if you must,there are plentiful ways of cuttong costs,really!
look at the top honchos’ own salaries,they are really burdensome to the companies!
look at the LANDLORDS’ demand for rentals,they are painfully
unbearably exhorbitant adding a great burden to the cost equation…they are getting the bulk of the “salaries”.
there are countless reasons like taxation and unfair wage competition like i mention before;so please,please stop
shooting arrows at our own local workers for they too need to
give “costly” shelters to their families,expensive foods and other basic neccessities bought with added GST and have to fork
out lots and lots of money for their medical fees and ’school fees’ besides having to send their kids for expensive tuitions
in order to learn as “school teachers only teach ’soft skills’”.
DON’T LUMP ALL THE BLAME ONTO OUR OWN LOCAL WORKERS,THEY ARE
HELPLESS BYSTANDERS IN THE GREEDY BOSSES’S RACE FOR CHEAPER
LABOUR WHCIH ARE NEITEHR FASTER OR BETTER!!!
please SINCERELY DO A BETTER JOB,MR MANPOWER MINISTER!!!
THANK YOU!
“..The same survey also shows that Singaporeans are not interested in jobs with NO FIXED WORKING HOURS, LOW WAGES and IN FAR FLUNG LOCATIONS.”
I wonder why is that the case. Sounds like a great deal to me.
When a bus driver earns as much as an office worker, or more, then it will truly become an equal society. Why should a bus-driver, providing services to hundreds of people, be less compensated than a secretary who only services one manager/boss?
Go figure.
this shows the lack of wisdom in the appointment of NMPs.
instead of encouraging these SMEs’ bosses to pay decent salaries to his fellow sinagporean workers,he chides at us and
sided the foreigners.
small wonder our economy cannot pick up steam.
these foreigners remit most of their salaries(exchanged at multiples as we have a strong currency)back home and save and scringe on their expenses here.how will this churn the domestic
economy?
guess it’s really high time we put more think-out-the-box OPPOSITION MPs into Parliament or our country would continuously slide into recession with such stupid ideas.
Pay people more than enough you BAS*ARDS! Dont come up with excuses to get more FTs! A few years ago I was working a risky job opening up ATM machines for repairs. My basic salary was $650! yup you saw right $650. this was in 2006. I received 2 several allowances and did lots and lots of OT to get $1500 gross a month. Very smart organization this – OT calculated against basic salary and company reserved the right to repeal any allowances. My bank balance was always in deficit.
My question to Singaporeans like me – why apply for a job to earn money that will not help you make ends meet?
This rubbish is all bull about Singaporeans shunning jobs. Would LHL be PM if the monthly salary was $3000 a month?
@Gosh
i pity you and those like you who have to work damn hard to make ends meet and yet get chided!
let’s say we be FAIR to the Ministers,we agree that they can get 20 times the “cheapest” official wage an average worker
earn in singapore.That is already 20 years of hard work by the average worker for every year of work by the Minister.
let’s say your basic and ot is sgd 1500 like you mentioned.
that works out to sgd 30,000 per month for the Minister.
multiply that by 13 months gives you sgd 390,000.
so you see where got logic?
they get average sgd 2 mio or more per annum and they ask us to
be cheaper better faster than the foreigners or else they don’t give a shit if you suffer unemployment.
this is surely not good governance and good leadership as proudly proclaimed by a “tua-kong” Minsiter.
shame,shame…