Gilbert Goh
Having met more than a dozen unemployed Singaporeans either through my unemployment support site transitioning.org or my own personal contacts, I observed that there are two main issues that frustrate them.
One is the huge influx of foreigners into our labour force during the past few years and the other is the age bias in seeking employment that seems to have gotten worse recently.
A weekend visit to Han’s restaurant at Harbourfront shocked me as the four staff working there were all Filipinos. From the person that took my order to the cashier and chefs, they were all foreigners happily going about their jobs. The only thing that stood them out from the former Han’s staff that I had seen previously, was the age difference. All of them appeared to be in their twenties. I found myself paying for my order grudgingly.
Are mature Singaporeans not able to fill such positions even if they were much older and were a little slower? Must employers continue to fill in service positions with foreigners while claiming that locals refuse to work longer hours for miserable pay? Are all the employers’ complaints valid? I am sure that for every Singaporean’s refusal to work at such service jobs, there should be another who do not mind such work. This is especially so in this time of economic downturn. Let us not generalise and condemn the working attitude of Singaporeans just because of a few black sheep.
I share the sentiments of the unemployed on both concerns. At the age of 47, I too face mammoth pressure in securing employment in a hiring practice that borders on discriminatory.
Some employment agents have told me in private that employers continue to look at candidates below the age of 35 years old. Some unemployed who responded to advertisements for face to face interviews were often rejected when they revealed that their age is above 40.
If you called in a recruiter and said that you are 40 years old, they would reply that they want someone below 40 years old. If you called in and said that you are 38, they will reply that they prefer someone below 35 instead!
Our labour hiring laws do seem to allow such discriminatory employment practices to prevail. Amazingly, employers seem to get away with such archaic third-world hiring practices in a first world, developed country.
Many I spoke to lamented that they have nowhere to turn to now as they face massive obstacle in being rehired due to their age (40-50 years old). Many who are able are seriously considering the idea of applying for emigration to countries such as Australia or Canada – countries which have strong laws against age-bias hiring practices. I do not blame them for taking such a drastic move because if you cannot find employment in your own country, due to your age, then it makes sense to venture abroad where there is at least some legal protection against discriminatory hiring.
The Aussies have very strong anti-discriminatory hiring practices. When a jobseeker send in his resume, he can choose not to accompany it with his address, race, gender, age, religion and photograph. The employers only decide to interview the candidate based on his working experience and qualification.
As Singapore continues to grapple with the severe downturn and an ageing workforce, let us hope that the government will tighten hiring practices so that our local workers will be able to face the future with confidence and, most importantly, pride.
In the meantime, the future does look bleak for those who are matured in age in Singapore.
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The salary offered by the employers are ridiculously low – $600 to 800 for a start. Even bus driver (so called bus captain) starts at $1200. A normal Singaporean bread-winner with a family of 4 (parents and 2 kids) with this kind of salary which give the employers excuses for them to appeal to MOM to hire foreigners.
what? this is outrageous!
what to do…this is Singapore.
I recently was retrenched after working in a US MNC for more than 6 yrs. I was only awarded compensation for my current month salary, notice period, leave in lieu for the year and an extremely generous gratuity of one month for my 6 years of loyal service.
The government can recommend all they want. As long as it is not mandatory, many employers will always remain exploitative and shameless.
Prior to my departure, the firm was still extremely profitable, using the downturn to restructure their business and outsource to cheaper destinations. I was not given any option to work fewer hours or even take a pay cut. JCS? What JCS.
what to do…this is Singapore.
This problem has been around for many years!.
Yet there is always above 60 % mandate for the PAP at every election!
This shows that those with the above problem are maybe a minority!.
Or if not, they don’t mind voting PAP anyway. So PAP will not do anything to solve this problem. In fact they may have even open the floodgate wider to let in more younger and cheaper foreign “talents”.
So as long as there are 50 % walkovers, 66% mandate and 98 % seats for PAP, and no street protests, not only this problem but many other problems will remain or even worsen for the ordinary folks!
I din think voting is tied to sentiments here.
Firstly not all Singaporeans got to vote and secondly many unhappy people have not much choice as it’s eitehr a pathetic oppostion who wore slippers to the voting office or a tyrant that never really listens to the ground.
My heart goes out to the people who continued to face unfair hiring practices here.
We must all give voice to many who face discriminatory practices.
At almost elections the about a third vote against the PAP and yet they hold almost 99% of the seats in parliament…
There is a lot of hot air from the government about employing older workers.
Our labour laws are not pro workers at all or seemed to be.
As the years go by , if nothing is done, those of us who have slogged and laboured in (NS ) for our country, those 40 and above will be increasing.
Bottom line is this , even if you have no job at the next election and if you are lucky if you can vote, vote the PAP out. I would think the opposition would be in a better position to play it right this time.
It is not as if there is nothing we can do, we can, and that is the vote.
The system is unfair and rotten to begin with.
How can only two-third voted for PAP yet it has 98% representation in the parliament?
And the other 33% of our people are only represented by 2 seats (2 Opposition MPs)?
sadly the priorities of this country gov are:
1. Economics
2. same as (1)
3. same as (2)
:
:
:
infinity. Poor citizen (minus elites) welfare
we would see more retrenchment on 1st April. It is not a joke, April 1st is the start of fiscal year for some companies, and also the date they like to chop heads :(
Singapore is the only country that is very divisive despite msm trying to cover up the flaws: We are made up of exploitive employers, aged workers, and pro-business union, What has tripartite achieved todate other than keeping disgruntled Singaporean from having open protest? Is Singapore aged labour force getting any better from tripartite systems or being a union member?
If our govt choose to open only one eye on unfair employment practices and policies, what is the point of wanting Singaporean to stay united and moving ahead together under the current serious crisis? If the root of this aged labour issue is not resolved, Singapore is going to face more serous labour crisis even if global economy gets better.
Do we prefer to feed our neighbour’s children and let our own children starve and still want them to guard your house and move ahead? I wish I can stay united under the call of our leader, but I have every reason not to because I am still trying to love my country if she ever loves me more than other countries borned citizen. With that, I leave it to leader to ponder (if he ever has a mind of his own) but that is only my wishful dream to think he will ever loves Singaporean more than what he draws every month.
If the employer dont exploit any loopholes to their advantage, it speaks volumes of their entreprenuership. We need solid policies and guidelines from the ruling government to set the rules of engagement. I can also say that those in the middle management are hanging on to their ricebowls, and making it difficult to have a colleague who is older and wiser as a junior member of their team.
So we are in a multiple dilemma… salaries are considered too low for the local singaporean, yet they are prized among the filipinos and chinese who wont even get a job at home. There are policies which makes me fume. I heard of filipinos are given a 1 years visit pass to seek employment, and many have actually succeeded.
There are definite agendas from the ruling party, and there is some truth about the willingness of these FT to cover the night shifts and the claim that they only take the jobs that the locals wont want. These are half truths and are slanted to support their policies. If the playing field is level, and the price is right, the locals will take on the jobs.
Im sadden that all our MPs, robotically share the same views spewing out from the top. Talk about conformity
Without doubt the older generation is sufferring.
There is no senior friendly policy and to add insult to injury:
(1) Govt have been “focusing on the young” policy , then it backfired, and Govt kepting low profile here & now, and try to drum up some senior shows
(2) Horrible sentiment sexpressed by an ex- minister ( God bless him although he is still around and much older now ) that it is good for the oldies to leave as it will alleviate burden of healthcare here
(3) It is an economic equation at the end of the day- such as what the remaining use – how much longer can an oldie serve, then forget about giving him the re-training, academic studies and put him last or out on the waiting queqe.
And now oldies are welcomed aware to stay away and recommended to JB or Batam, and they can soon use medisave to further alleviate the local burden of health subsidy’
The only oddies really well taken care of are the aging ministers soon to be given cushy retirement jobs, and favoured retired civil servants who are given lucrative retirement jobs like director or dean of educational institutes.
Well oldies have to look after themselves here as migration is not really possible nowadays and jobs here are favoured for foreigners (especially ang mos) to nap them to for PR stay and then lure them to procreate in the hope that their children will be future generation here.
Sad story for the common senior folks – welcome to the real world a second time around.
I have also seen some Killiney coffee shops manned entirely by young foreigners.
Our govt needs an excuse for the free inflow of foreigners…and a convenient excuse is S’poreans “shun” service sector jobs. Local media such as Sit Times continues to write propagandistic articles about how “choosy” S’poreans are.
What is conveniently forgotten or not mentioned is the measy pay these jobs offer. Service sector pay has dwindled downwards (due to availability of cheap foreign labour) to a point where it is near impossible to support a family.
I read this in the Sin Min last night about the current employment climate, workers age 35 and above considered old and age 40 and above, won’t even considered by prospective employment. How come these employers can afford to be choosy while paying miserable pay and demanding wokers to put on shifts and longer working hours? They have the government to thank for.
The government has been very good to employers here by enlarging the pool
of workers available, allowing in the vast numbers of workers from China and India with similar job skills as locals, so most of the time, it’s an employers’ market.
By doing so, the government is not doing us, the employees a service and I thank them not! They are making our lives very very difficult.
It’s all about supply and demand in the labour market and by increasing the supply of workers here, we will end up at the mercy of employers which is what’s happening now..
The poor locals have to compete for jobs and accept low paying jobs out of no choice to make ends meet, but pay high living costs.
This has been so ever for the last decade ever since the Asia Financial Crisis.
Gilbert, Good contribution and I like it.
But I believe that the older workers that you mentioned and concern about are those with some educational background or those who think so and had never consider job that they feel lowly paid,long working hours ,low class etc.
I agree with your issue with the influx of FWs that had taken away many jobs from our auntie and uncles here.
But I cannot agree that age is a concern .
There are many vacancies out there which are suitable for our uncles and aunties and my boss actualy prefer those who are not too young.,though he dun mind.He says JOO LAU JOO HOR,the older the better .Of course he/she must be medically ,mentally and physically fit and must not come with a thinking that employer is always out there to cheat .
My purpose here is that I hope that your contribution do not paint a picture that all employers have discrimination on older applicants and also to let our elderly know their worth instead of giving them the feeling that they are neglected and shunned by our many good employers out there.To the Elderly and the Retiree:I love you all,you are still useful!
Bah. Ageism is here to stay, particularly for SMEs. The stereotype is that the older worker is less productive, more prone to illness and its implications on the company picking up the medical bills and loss of hours because of MC. The SMEs can choose to employ older people at a lower pay, but at a lower pay might as well get foreigners it seems. Do you hire older people for the sake of hiring older people? Or as a boss you hire someone who can do the job best at the cheapest price? Sometimes is is older people because they have vast experience. Other times it is not.
Your plea on removing ageism hiring policies is more for big companies who can afford to and need to show that they are socially responsible, McDonalds for one is doing its bit.
When some studies are made, the scenarios are very interesting.
A single person or a single foreigner working at the starting salaries offered are manageable, but as commented, definitely not with a family.
This is one reason for the number of singles not marrying, (35% ?).
Have we been “sold” ?
Loyalty rhetoric ?
My friend studying in Australia told me that he know that in the fast food service line, workers are paid according to their age. This means that an older worker is paid more than a younger one, eventhough both do the same job. The labour law makers here should take this as a reference, shouldn’t they?
It will be a good way to register our protest with those employers/establishments that prefers to employs foreigners, instead of Singaporeans, regardless whether it’s a swanky restaurants/services providers or the kopitiam, by NOT PATRONISING THEM.
But then, do you think Singaporeans will be ‘united’ in action. I doubt. Blame ourselves, for preferring convenience over everything else, including the ‘principle’ if we still do have.
gilbert, do you think this article will change employer mindset?
its called globalisation effect. Young studs available why need old?
of course like all things some will still get jobs. But the effect is more not getting jobs due to age.
i like to know what change has been achieved by any blogger.
Hi All
I like the paert about boycotting establishments that continue to bring in yougner foreigner workers. replacing our older local workers.
I am for sure boycotting the Han’s restuarant at Harbourfront.
Though we don’t have much power to bring forth changes by blogging or even writing to the press, at least we dare to bring out issues in the open.
Employer mindset can only change if we all unite and speak out together as one voice.
This is why the article and the posts found in:
http://www.transitioning.org/?p=624
are particularly relevant – although it should equally be relevant in good times because taxpayers’ monies are involved. More diverse and innovative ways are needed to create jobs in order to increase the pool of job opportunities available in Singapore. Sadly, we don’t know if our government has or if they’ve not, will consider the route suggested in this article.
21) Gilbert Goh on March 30th, 2009 4.11 pm
does this not mean singaporeans who are not in politicians have not been able to bring about change?
If so, does this not mean something is wrong or lacking?
If so, does this mean signaporeans are not capable of producing change?
lets be realistic, honest and objective and look at the truth.
The above are questions which I do not have the answers.
Each of you will have your own answers.
LHL: “Singapore United the way to go” Sunday Times Head-line.
How to stay united when the pay difference between ministers and the peasants is in the millions. How? When PAP ministers in their sixties to eighties get full pay in PM’s retirement village while peasants are not even considered for a job when they are in their forties?
LHL is helpless when it comes to helping unemployed. They can only help themselves.
The PAP governement had put all Singaporen with direct competition with foreigner. The type are listed belows.
Non diploma °ree – work permit $500 to $600
Diploma holder – S pass with $1800
Dgree holder – E pass $2500.
Unless you are Scholar type pls don’t complain, that is life in Singapore!
20) grunsli
“its called globalisation effect. Young studs available why need old?”
will you like an amendment? it should be when young FW are available at a better rate, why get the old
I have enough of this !!!
Migrate to people republic of CHINA !!
The old folks there are easy going, taking care of their grand children !!
And the old folks here, has to work double hard as a cleaner !! to survive !!
Holly SHIT !!
I find that we are all abit pessimistic about the future here.
We should not be and need to think out of the box more.
Working abroad helps alot here as one tends to fend for oneself when living abroad.
You need to be tough to survive when working abroad.
No maid, no wife nor friends who will help you out. Only yourself and your head to eke out a living.
Maybe Singaporeans need to venture out more here.
We may need to look for work abroad instead of locally if possible.
A friend works in Dubai as an IT technicain and drew a salary of US5000. He has stayed there for three years but have since came back due to the recession.
China has many opportunites if only we look harder. There are teaching positions, business opportunities and others.
Maybe we are guilty of being too comfortable at home when jobs ar aplenty and sometimes offers of two or three companies landed at our feeet.
Now we all have to struggle even to get food for ourselves and our family.
Does this make us tougher? Definitely it will…
Excuse me Gilbert,
For the many who have lost jobs, and who are in the low income group, who are probably also in arrears with PUB, HDB, etc.;… where are they to find money to seek employment abroad? Approach CDC to fund their air ticket, and lodging as well as food while they hunt for a job abroad, is it?
Gilbert Goh
That zealous talk about boycotting SMEs like Hans is, politely phrased, ill-advised.
Bad time to stress SMEs as they are probably stretched. If the company goes down, then they have to lay off staff, including Singaporeans. With one shop down, means one less customer for suppliers, offloading the strain to them etc. The whole chain is affected because of this myopic badly-timed boycott talk. Boycott yes, but not when economy is tittering.
that we have to take jobs overseas with the high possibility of leaving family behind just to make ends meet which in turn compromises on the quality of family ties and integrity.
And the govt. is preaching about family planning all this while???
Isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with our social structure?
Totally agree with your article about foreigners and the age discrimination. My two children including my wife were born and bred in Singapore. While my children did their tertiary education overseas, they returned back to Singapore to work and serve national service. Now both of them are unemployed from their government jobs having been replaced by ‘talented’ foreigners ironically from the same university they had graduated their masters from’!
It is unfortunate that the government neither loves nor care about their OWN CITIZENS, instead valuing foreigners. So many of our foreign friends and colleagues who have visited us have told us that they ‘pity us for having a government that treats foreigners better than its own citizens’.
Well we are more than ready to throw our SINGAPORE CITIZENSHIP soon because we are sure that there is no use for our son to die DEFENDING a country that treated him like shit nor did more than 10 other of the sons of our family members wanted to be around to DEFEND A COUNTRY THAT HOCK SIA FOREIGNERS!
I always feel that perhaps our economic model is abit flawed here.
We are trained from young to always stay educated because we all needa job.
When we go for retraining it is because we need to be ready when there are jobs aplenty.
I think we all know by now that no jobsa re safe now. Even for the IR project, most jobs go to the foreigners who are so called better service oriented than us and also better trained in their own country and culture.
Companies here prefer to hire foreigners for service jobs as Singaporeans all are not geared to serve others yet.
Many who work abroad I sense have do so becasue they may have no choice or they find that perks are better abroad.
Some even bring along their spouses when they are more settled down.
Maybe it is timely for us to be our own bosses and create our own income. We need to think more out of the box now.
A friend of mine was retrenched thrice in the past ten years. He has given out on working for others and now want to venture it out on his own.
You can never be out of work when you are on your own and your incoem ahs no ceiling.
Of course, the flip side is that you also have no income when thigns are down.
We may need to think mroe positively of being self employed rather than always working for others who dare or have the capital to strike it out on their own. Sadly, these people may be foreigners.
Many Chinese workes I know dreamed of making it on their own here by being bosses.
Seeing hwo serious they are, i am afriad that we may find ourselves working for foreigner bosses here as they are deem to be more daring and risk taking.
Boycotting establishment has no impact on this foreigner issues. We shouldn’t blame them!
Hasn’t we as consumer search for the cheaper LCD TV or whatsoever and it eas made in China. Hasn’t China boycott Japanese Goods during WWII but doesn’t work out.
I think PAP government should take a lead to employment Older worker into GLCs and not retrench them like DBS and Chartered did cause private sector follow the Gov.
MM Lee still has a job and he’s already 190 years old. Not fair!
I’ve been reading about the topic of IR jobs apparently going to Filipinos until I stumble upon this thread. Good thing the opinions stated here are rather intelligent and stays on the topic (and not the racist or dumbfounded rhetoric trashing the other forums). Anyway, I hope I can give my five cents on this. Disclosure first: I’m Filipino and as a grateful “foreign talent,” I should not be interfering with the politics of my host country. I hope I don’t get deported–big brother–I am paying for my brother’s internship in Europe.
What struck me most when I move in Singapore are very old people, grandparents (who I suppose are locals), doing really exhausting ordinary jobs (I don’t want to call it “menial” because I believe there is honor in every job) like cleaning mess in food court and sweeping the floor in underpass (I would always greet the uncle in the underpass near the park fronting the President’s official residence, and he would always reply with a hearty laugh). There were times that my girlfriend and I would look at each other in disbelief as we feel genuine pity (I don’t want to sound condescending) to this auntie who is obviously suffering from osteoporosis but tries her best to clean up the mess from one table to another (we always clean our tables after; I never really understood why a lot of people here leave their mess after a meal–like they have servants to pick it up; I mean I know a lot of wealthy friends back home who have throngs of maids in their households, but they never really treated their maids like servants; I mean the idea of having maid is to flaunt wealth and what better way to flaunt “class” than a battalion of happy maids).
Whenever I go home and I would be asked how it is in Singapore, I always tell them that we — at least those who have decent houses and regular jobs (there’s a lot of destitution in Philippine urban areas as you probably learn from your local media) — are still lucky as I’ve seen how old people have to work so hard here to make subsistent living (I’ve lived in the government projects far from town, and I could say it’s really depressing; there you’ll see the real ordinary Singaporean). Don’t get me wrong: my point is, these people, as citizens of a wealthy country (your per capita income is actually higher than Spain), actually live worst than the middle class back home. I just thought they deserve a little better (like more social welfare; but then again I’m a hard-core socialist, so my opinion is innately biased). But then again, I’m not really aware on the policy of the Singaporean government, and maybe my observation is actually skewed. And as I said above, I should not really be interfering with the business of the hands that feed me. To be honest, I feel guilty when I’m “feeling a little lazy at work” and seeing uncle trying her best to clean up the whole floor at his age is sure ball way to elicit guilt.
On many occasions, feeling reflective while on the bus to and from work, I would compare the Philippines and Singapore, and have embraced the opinion that the Philippine society – in spite of the vast inequality and what you sorely describe as democrazy – is still more mature and progressive than yours and would stood more stable if the same stress is subjected to both societies (you can believe otherwise; I don’t want to go to a debate on that), because consensus emanates from the individual rather than with the direction from the government (although I admire LKY and your government for the strategic thinking, tenacity, and acute pragmatism—which unfortunately my leaders were not born with or chose not to have). What troubles me with the Singaporean society is that you are starting to have on one side these Elite establishments (I don’t want to use the word “elitist”) who are at par with the rich of first world countries, and on the other side, a gulf of Masses who, frankly, are just as relatively poor as the middle class in the developing world. Up to now, I still don’t want to believe my Filipino colleague when he said that the average income for an average Singaporean family is about 4-5K per month (heck, I still complain of the middle class lifestyle that my low six-digit pay could afford considering I’m already 29). I mean for a country as wealthy as Singapore, I thought income should be at par with other industrial countries. But then again maybe because a great part of your income actually goes to savings, which is not really a bad thing.
I pointed the wealth divide because this is exactly what brought our society down. In the early 20th century, we have government scholars, feudal landlords, and the well entrenched, basically elites, like what you have now, but became out of touch with the sentiments of the masses. I’m not saying your leaders are doing a bad job; in fact, I’m inclined to believe otherwise; but I have seen some anecdotes on how business owners (I don’t want to use the word capitalists) treat labor – at least the ordinary kind — like it’s just another commodity. This brings me back to the topic of “young Filipino workers doing service work.” I have encountered in several occasions how “trainees” from the Philippines work in a famous grocery chain and furniture shops with pittance pay (600-700SGD) 12 hours a day, six days a week. These are basically students who were recruited to do “internship” thinking that it was just another five-month gig such as what they have back home, but will give them an international experience (it’s in our blood to go out of the country and see the world if the opportunity comes; sadly for some, it’s more of a “have to” rather than a “why not?”). I mean these are big businesses who could very well afford to pay locals or pay decent pays to foreigners if locals shun such jobs, but else, chose to exploit foreign youths, in what is thinly disguised as “internship.” So what I’m saying is that rather than blaming foreigners, I think you should dig deeper and confront the real issue. I believe that if you want the survival of this great nation of yours (I really think you are really a hardworking bunch), you should maintain an effective leadership, harness your talents, and continue to strive for competent and more humane society that respects a balance between capitalism and socialism. It would be great, though, if that collective desire would transcend from the masses (but then again that’s already interfering to your business; and I’m quite sure this is also what your government is striving for). I think you should encourage more public debate, but just make sure you do it the right way (trust us; we’ve been so over with that).
Okay, I’m feeling sleepy now.
There is no discrimination against older workers in Singapore , there is discrimination against anyone who is not a cheap worker , and the government encourages this ( the taxes of course). Everything in Singapore is quantity not quality , and that goes for everything in the city and today its showing . A really energy and raw material consumming society and very unecological , the opposite of what the government makes all the noise about .
I am only in my thirties , less than 35 and SIA is discriminating me from her, and wants those in their twenties. Singapore companies are ruthless.