The Troubling Reality: 94.5% of 2023 jobs bypass Singaporeans amidst refusal to clarify employment figures

by Foong Swee Fong

Earlier in March, the Ministry of Manpower revealed that total employment for 2023 grew by 88,400, of which 83,500, or 94.5%, went to foreigners, while 5.5% went to the resident population, which includes Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs).

Speaking in Parliament on 2 April, Mr Gerald Giam of the Worker’s Party asked Manpower Minister Tan See Leng if he is concerned that the substantial expenditure incurred by the government to create jobs—including efforts by the Economic Development Board (EDB) to attract foreign direct investments and the extensive tax incentives given to multinational companies (MNCs)—benefits foreigners and MNCs disproportionately, rather than Singaporeans.

In reply, Minister Tan said that the local workforce is “for all intents and purposes, very close to full employment” and that for the economy to grow, it must have access to the foreign workforce. Denying businesses access to it, he argued, would dampen growth, which is “myopic”. He went on to say that today is a pivotal moment in the midst of disruptions and transformations in the world, for us to work together to seize the day, and “build a thriving metropolis for our successive generations.”

Mr Leong Mun Wai of the Progress Singapore Party thanked the minister, which I sense with a tinge of sarcasm, for his “enthusiastic response”.

He pointed out that the minister’s reply is “not complete” as it does not break down the jobs that went to residents into Singaporeans and PRs, to which the minister accused him of rehashing the old “us-versus-them, Singaporeans-versus-PRs” debate and asked him to file a separate Parliamentary Question.

To sum up, the minister claims that putting a dampener on growth when employment is full is myopic. Mr Giam and Mr Leong, on the other hand, are deeply perturbed that the bulk of the jobs created do not directly benefit Singaporeans.

As an ordinary working-class Singaporean, I, too, am deeply perturbed that the jobs created did not go to Singaporeans.

Firstly, although Minister Tan claims that we are near full employment, many Grab drivers, deliverers, security guards, and service providers are doing the jobs they are doing not because they are suitably qualified, but because they have been displaced in their former jobs by hungrier foreigners.

After all, why would employers pay more for a Singaporean when they can pay less for a foreigner, or for the same wage, get a Singaporean who is not as compliant as a foreigner who, being less secure in a foreign country, is more inclined to comply? These displaced Singaporeans are, by and large, over-qualified for what they are doing and are technically underemployed.

Besides, there’s a sizable number of Singaporeans who have given up looking for a job, and therefore are not counted as unemployed, due to difficult and undignified working conditions, as well as low pay.

If Minister Tan is going to spend taxpayers’ money to create jobs, he should target these displaced Singaporeans rather than foreigners.

Secondly, the government has to be very cautious when they interfere in the free market. If they stick to their rightful roles of safeguarding the sovereignty of the nation, protecting the country from external threats, maintaining internal law and order, building and maintaining public infrastructure, providing public education, medical care, and housing, and leave Singaporeans to seek out the best opportunities for themselves, given their inclinations and talents, they will generally find the most suitable careers for themselves.

However, if the government subsidizes foreign MNCs, government-linked companies (GLCs), certain sectors of the economy but not others, and distorts the job market by flooding the country with foreign workers and allowing some sectors more access than others, they will be diverting a huge amount of public and private funds, land, and labor, which may not necessarily play to the strengths of the nation.

The fact is that huge amounts of resources have been diverted, and they have encouraged investments in industries that do not play to the strengths of Singaporeans. How else can it be that almost 95% of the jobs created last year went to foreigners?

The 83,500 foreign workers will add to the congestion, social problems, and cost of living for Singaporeans, thereby adding to their hardship. But these are costs external to their employers, so they are not bothered by them. Minister Tan, being elected by the people to create a Singapore that is conducive to the fulfillment of their potential, ought to be cognizant and not dismiss those who question the influx of foreign workers as “myopic”.

The economic growth thus created will not benefit the Singaporean worker but will benefit rich investors, the banks, and property owners, in other words, the rentier class. In the long run, such a path is myopic as it is not sustainable because a rentier is like a parasite, eating the host hollow from the inside.