I refer to the report “More jobs saved as Singapore emerged from recession“ (Channel News Asia, Apr 26).
According to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Redundancy and Re-employment report 2009:
- Redundancies increased from 8,590 in 2007 to 16,880 and 23,430 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, an increase of 97 and 39 per cent respectively.
- Retrenchments increased from 7,680 in 2007 to 13,920 and 20,160 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, an increase of 81 and 45 per cent respectively.
- Professionals, Managers, Executives & Technicians (PMETs) saw the largest increase both in absolute and percentage terms, from 6,200 in 2008 to 9,570 in 2009 (rise from 37% to 41%).
- The Redundancies by Occupation, 1998 to 2009, shows that for PMETs, it was the highest for the last 12 years.
Since the data shown only goes back to 1998, I believe it may be a record historical high.
So, the more educated and qualified you are, the easier it may be for you to get retrenched.
The share of Redundancies and Retrenchments was also much higher for Residents compared to Non-residents, at 61.9 to 38.1 per cent for Redundancies, and 68 to 32 per cent for Retrenchments in 2009.
So, residents (Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs)) had a much higher chance of being retrenched, relative to foreigners.
For the Profile of Residents Made Redundant by Educational Attainment, those with a Degree was the highest at 32.1 per cent.
So, people with degrees were the most likely to be made redundant.
The Re-employment Rate Among Retrenched Workers has been falling from 78.7 per cent in January 08 to 50 per cent in December 09, with January 09 being the lowest point at 43.2 per cent.
The Re-employment Rate of those with a degree was the lowest in 2009 at 61.2 per cent.
Therefore, those with a degree, also had the greatest difficulty in getting re-employed.
So, has all the rhetoric over the years, to re-train, re-skill, upgrade our qualifications, been worth it?
To what extent has our liberal foreign labour policies contributed to the woes of PMETs?
Well, let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of an employer.
If we employ a foreign PMET at a monthly salary of say $4,500, we save $652.50 on CPF contributions a month plus annual bonuses, as employers do not have to make CPF contributions for foreign workers.
Employers do not have to pay foreign worker levies for foreign PMETs on employment passes. Only S-Pass and work permit holders need to pay foreign worker levies.
If we employ a male PMET, we don’t have to be inconvenienced by the up to 40 days of reservist training a year.
Since foreigner PMETs on employment passes which are typically for two years, we may have less turnover problems, as foreign PMETs may be less likely to switch jobs.
Foreign PMETs from countries with lower wages and cost of living, may generally be willing to work for lower wages.
They may also generally have no families to support in Singapore, like Singaporeans.
So, quite often, perhaps it is foreign PMETs who may be “cheaper, better and faster” than Singaporeans.
With the NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) calling for the restoration of CPF, the savings to employers who employ foreigners may increase even more.
With about 140,000 new PRs and about 40,000 new citizens in the last two years, the statistics on foreign PMETs may gradually disappear, and become “locals” (Singaporeans and PRs) statistics.
Leong Sze Hian
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to place it bluentLEE.. the higher salarLEE you earned..the faster you rec’d the red letter..as simple as that…
when i was a courier..the highestpaid amon my team..the most hardworkin/no absentees as well was the 1st to get kicked out…the employer rather hav the cheapest/lowestpaid rider aroun even though his absentee rate was the highest and the only bloke who kept borrowed money and advanced wages in lieu…from that day onwards…
i worked for nobody butt by meself…
“So, quite often, perhaps it is foreign PMETs who may be “cheaper, better and faster” than Singaporeans.”
You got it right, absolutely. However each time we bring up the subject of foreigners displacing us, the gahmen will talk about the menial foreign worker labourers. They are totally out of touch.
I seriously doubt they’re out of touch. As a young Singaporean PMET who has struggled to find a job for many many months before, I often wondered why I was offered salaries of 1800-2000. Doesn’t a degree holder with a few years of experience deserve more?
But then the Government calls us young people an ‘entitled’ bunch who expect too much for very little effort. This is utter nonsense, I know. Myself and many other graduates in our mid and late twenties are working our butts off in various professional jobs and a lot of us complain only occasionally. We’re NOT whiny entitled brats.
So no, I don’t think the government is out of touch but just plain cruel to have no levies in place for foreign PMETs. The $50 levy for S-Pass holders is also a lot lower than the monthly CPF contributions of a fairly paid local grad.
Last time a degree is king but these days it may not mean a thing.
Mr Cheaper, Better, Faster Minister will tell you that he is deaf to all criticisms.
Sorry hor, not totally out of touch, more truer and accurate would be totally feigning ignorance lah.
The ends which is obviously prospective votes and $$$(levies, tax,GDP growth – Ministerial salaries are pegged to GDP!) justifies the means lah – as to whether it is immoral, unethical, unprincipled or unjust – bo chap lor. Just once a year or during election time, throw in some cheap ”goodies” and lull the masses into a stupor lah.
So all one can do is whine for now. Of course, it can be changed and that calls for unity lar. Unite and vote these self-serving people (govt) and install a more transparent, accountable govt and if and when it happens and only if it is a reality would Singaporeans be able to regain the lost dignity.
Its the natural process of elimination. So what if you worked for XX years for a company? They have more legal liability to give you a job until you are 60. Every tom dick and harry can go to Uni nowadays. Pay 30k and you can get a Australian Brand degree from any private institutes. Please lah. Stop cheating yourself.
What is the use of compulsory legislation when the appointment letter says that one month’s notice is all that is required to terminate a PMET’s employment with a company ?
Corrrect me if I am wrong, PMETs are not covered under the Employment Act and therefore any termination benefits are at the absolute discretion of the employer. Even before one reaches 50, many companies are already plotting on how to get rid of the older employees. I have already witnessed many such real life examples.
By the way, if someone aged 87 can still be employed as long as he demands it, I really don’t understand why our legislation should stop at 65 ?
Quote:
Well, let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of an employer.
If we employ a foreign PMET at a monthly salary of say $4,500, we save $652.50 on CPF contributions a month plus annual bonuses, as employers do not have to make CPF contributions for foreign workers.
Employers do not have to pay foreign worker levies for foreign PMETs on employment passes. Only S-Pass and work permit holders need to pay foreign worker levies.
If we employ a male PMET, we don’t have to be inconvenienced by the up to 40 days of reservist training a year.
I AM ASKING MYSELF THE HARD QUESTION. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A CITIZEN AND BEING NOT ONE?
Let’s analysis the situation.
If a sizable employers prefer foreign PMET due to lower cost or is only willing to offer local grads the same lower payscale as foreign PMET – then singapore will have a growing size of unemployed or under-employed PMETs who have to endure a lower pay and consequently CPF contribution.
The rate the cost of HDB is escalating – the time will cone (if it has already not) when it will be priced out of market. Since HDB cannot afford to lower the price of flats as it will turned alot of buyers to be holding a -ve equity flat, it is safe to say that the price will always increase and the salaries and employment of Singaporeans PMETs will reduce with the huge influx of educated foreign PMETs.
Rising cost, falling wages…this forms the huge income gap which in reality – continues to put Singaporeans in disadvantaged position. As a NSmen myself, I know the scarifices. The PRs can go back to their native countries when there is a unrest in Singapore and come back again to make money when native singaporeans fought with their lives tod defend a nation that no longer belongs to them.
I have to agree with MM that Singapore is not a ‘nation’. It is a greedy corporation that sacks it’s founding employees the moment the cash coffers are full and there a ‘better, faster and cheaper’ alternatives in name of profits.
Cheaper they may be….but better and faster is highly questionable
I will retrench a local grad over a foreign grad anytime. Local grads often have serious attitude problems and unwilling to get their hands dirty. Foreign grads are usually more self reliant and independant. A big plus is also their ability to recognise their limitations and keep their mouths shut when necessary.
Nowadays, bosses are getting smarter, they know that degree does not necessary translate to higher value (i used value because even hardworking has no value if it is not translate to profit). However most degree holders expect a “minimum” salary to start off with and hence there’s a high chance that they are of the least “value for money” group. At the end of the day, no smart bosses will fire someone who can earn him a million a year for someone who earn a dollar a year. This in turn leads to “lower” value for Singaporean as
1) we tend to think that as a degree holder/more experience, we deserve more.
2) we have to serve reservist which takes away time to “generate value”. *note that doing 2 years of NS does not “lower” your value except for the fact you lost 2 years of your life
3) We tend to believe that the employers should take care of the rising cost of living.
4) We are spending too much on any other things except for improving your work-related skill. It’s true that most singaporean work hard within their working hours, however they tend not to go beyond that to improve.
5) We tend to believe that the company should train me to work for them, but they fail to realise that we should be ready to work, not ready to be trained, and if so, dun expect good money.
Iironically PAP always preached about the shortage of local talents when in fact local talents are not getting the job and made redundant by PAP. Instead of salvagiang the situation, they bring in foreigners who are cheaper, unproductive, not so talented and branded them as “talent” by issuing S passes, EP and PR status generously and than sang how important these people were to Singapore. Local talents who served these nations all their life were outcasted by PAP self-centered policies and being turned a deaf ear by one-party system who refused to stop the influx of foreigners . I hope all Singaporean graduates be they poly or Uni – start to think about their future and vote ouf PAP for better life ahead. Trauma will certainly reduce when PAP is overturned and new govt pro to Singaporeans are put in place.
Degree holder jobs are among the juiciest pickings naturally, forming the backbone of the average to large company and filling out the qualifications of junior to middle management. In foreign MNCs, especially, top management invariably consists of posted senior expats overseeing local operations, which has always been accepted as the case and understandably so. However any jobs below that have in the past been offered to and filled by our own local citizens. Not any longer. Foreigners have since been so generously allowed to compete for these jobs and employers have totally no qualms in engaging them to the detriment of our own new graduates or loyal long-time worker risen up from the ranks. Being of foreign origin, these MNCs are really quite indifferent to local nationalistic feelings regarding who they offer jobs and titles to, as long as local government policy does not penalise them in any way. Think of them as mindless hungry sharks in the pursuit of growth and profits, if there are no fences to keep them out, they will swim into any lagoon and start feeding, naturally, for that is their nature. Not only do we have any more fences, in fact we are encouraging them actively to come here and forage (some would say scavenge) in our pristine lagoon. When the rot started to hit middle management levels then that is where it really starts to hurt. Its like a domino effect. The replacement of middle management by foreigners is the turning point really. And its happening right now. Its impact is presently most felt in the financial industry especially amongst foreign MNCs, however this will eventually spread across other sectors too like a tentacled octopus. Here’s how it works. Middle mangement dominated by foreign “talents” will attract more of the same eventually replacing existing local workers and further displacing aspiring local graduates. Its not a matter of “training, results or ability” of the local worker anymore, really. They are simply NOT given a chance, the whole set-up now works against them, whereas in the past the set-up was FOR them. However hard you studied or trained for, if your prospective employer goes directly to Chinese or Indian elite universities to source for cheap, academically brilliant fresh graduates (or for that matter, hungry, experienced cheap personnel) then you are sunk before you even begin. Its happening right now. Watch for it. Be warned.
@ bluebach
It has already happened, the only way out is to vote PAP out or emigrate or suicide, there’s no way out for us. We are ultimately just frightened lambs, weak willed and afraid of violence and self sacrifice, it’s hopeless, any one out there, just leave!
No suicide. If someone cornered us to such an extend, kill them before we kill ourselves. 要死大家一起死.
Wrong ! We are no frightened lambs, we are like the 300 Spartans who killed 2000 enemies ! We fight for our rights. The more we brace ourselves in a united way against the ruling party’s arrogance, the more likely we will win given time. So never give up !
Well said bluebach. Most posters are missing the point entirely. It’s not whether a degree holder is qualified, capable or hardworking. It doesn’t even matter if he can make 1 Million a year for an employer.
It is the unfairness of allowing foreigners with no stake or responsibility in this country to take our place. If Singaporean grads are regarded as lazy or entitled by local employers, they should look for the better local grads and shun the lazy ones. Basic common sense.
But when we throw in an uncontrolled amount of ‘sharks’ from everywhere else to ‘feed’ on local jobs, the issue isn’t about who provides more value anymore but whether the value employers derive is based on an unfair system set up by the Government. (CPF vs. None, Reservist duties, lack of levies etc…) Look at Australia, the UK or many other developed countries. Jobs are protected for locals and only filled by foreigners when there are insufficient locals for particular jobs.
Singaporeans are not against foreigners. We just want a fair playing field and our government does not seem to be providing one.
we are like the 300 Spartans who killed 2000 enemies
……………………
while we arre defendin this tiny red dot..the ministers who are sleepin in parliament would even tried to sleep with our spouses as decreed by new parliament rulins..leekuanyew inc is very very good at that
ayoungcitizen
“It’s not whether a degree holder is qualified, capable or hardworking. It doesn’t even matter if he can make 1 Million a year for an employer.”
Love your naiveté
There is a shortage of better local grads and full of lazy ones. What made you so sure the employers haven’t tried ?
How do underemployment and unemployment help in raising our productivity? Our local Singaporean workers, including PMETS and local graduates are replaced through competition from foreign talents. We can call these foreign talents cheap but we have to be mindful that there are foreign talents at the mid to senior executive levels who are not cheap too, competing with our local graduates from NUS and NTU which have received good tertiary education ranking in Asia and globally.
The best way to raise our productivity is to keep our economy humming at the optimal and efficient level of employment, ie. ensuring that local graduates are employed and paid according to their worth and not retraining after retraining and getting unemployed again in the end.
In my view, productivity at the national level covers more than just raising output with same amount of resources or raising output using cheaper labour resources. It is also about optimizing and matching the right labour resources. By this it means that graduates should be doing work befitting their training and not ended up driving taxi, doing freelance work etc drawing a much lower salary of $2000 to $3000 after getting retrenched from a previous well-paying job. Underemployment is a serious impediment to raising productivity which needs to be addressed seriously at the national level.
If we have a GDP growth of 7%-9% in 2010 and there is still the PMET group finding it hard to land a good job, then, I would find it hard to believe and accept that we really have such a good economic growth in 2010.
We need to get our policies right. Just my viewpoints.
Singapore must have the most lax labour laws in the world. Even a third world country will not allow hordes of foreigners to come in (on public money) and let them compete for jobs with locals.
Needless to say, sg’s productivity has suffered severely since liberalising its foreign hiring policy.
The cheaper foreigners are not stupid. They KNOW they’re hired for low wages, and will secretly adjust their work output to match their pitiful pay. Do we need 2-3 cheap foreigners doing the same thing when one local will do??
The ruling party’s cries on the dearth of local talent are seldom accompanied by statements on plans to correct the situation which are any more concrete than generalities along the lines of “we must ensure that our graduates remain employable and competitive” or “we must foster greater creativity and entrepreneurial spirit in schools.”
For a government that educates the majority of citizen employees and to the largest extent in number of school-years, such cries can be likened to a hawker deriding his own cooking, and made more rankling when said hawker’s own picks have done nothing that is unequivocally “head and shoulders above the rest.”
If the government insists that a dearth of local talent is one of the reasons for the influx of foreigners, what is it going to do to plug this hole for the future? Why does our universities produce graduates apparently unfit for longterm and well-remunerated employment? What then, is the value of the high international rankings of these local universities, or their lighter-than-air fees, which keep rising?
For a self-proclaimed foresighted and farsighted party guided by a veritable Oracle of the East, why hasn’t it done something already?
PMET
Plus
Minus
Entry
Exit.
Part of the trade agreement signed in 2005 between Singapore and India was to open Singapore job market in IT, Health-care and Financial sectors for Indian PMETs. In order to gain trade concessions, Singapore has no choice but to open the floodgates for mass influx of Indian professionals (it was so obvious last 5 years we saw huge increase of Indian professionals) . The sad thing about it is that these professionals have difficulty finding (most of them are 2nd or 3rd class who can’t make it at home and overseas) jobs in India and elsewhere in Western developed countries and are being dumped here with the help of the agreement. India government has recently has for review of the trade agreement and has asked for more jobs in Singapore. India may not be the only developing countries Singapore has asked for trade concessions. What can we (PMETs) do but to prepare ourselves for more influx of cheap PMETs competing with us.
Be a PKL.You stand a better chance of not being retrench even with competition with FTs.Upgrade yourself to be PKL instead .Forget about PMETs.Dun dream that a degree can gurantee you a permanent and highly paid job with less working hour like my sweet pretty neighbour next door.
But Ah Gong Kia,”What is PKL?”
Ah Gong Kia says:Pau Ka Leow
Definitely it is the government fault in not understanding the ground and kept harping on the benefit of foreign workers. Truly if the PAP were to lose more seats in the coming election they truly deserve it. It is not so much of the manual workers taking over Singaporean jobs. It is the foreign PMETs that are taking over our most treasured jobs. The government is pretending there are no such problem.
Dear NUS/NTU degree holders,
Why do bosses like me want to hire you? Of course, I will advertise in the papers and show I do not discriminate against Singaporeans. But you and I know that I will hire the cheaper guy and that is not you.
Hope that slaps you into your senses!!!
Sneers!
Towkay Tan
The only way 2 resolved this prob is 2 vote the PM out. He has allowed dogs 3 run M0M. Letting in prostitute claiming s talent yet by issuing easy PRs. As a Singaporean we look so DIRT CHEAP. Yet V1v@n is telling us trash r here 2 create more jobs. Look at the research institutes n 1HLs, how much we invested in trash and what we get in return. More pay ??!!! R there c0rrupt10n somewhere ? We need 2 know.
Even if people like Tokay Tan really hire Singaporean grads, guess the salary that he is paying?
I came back after graduation last year in midst of recession and successfully gotten an offer from a small auditing firm. Lucky? I guess… on account that it is RECESSION! But what I was only offered was SGD $1400 for probation before TAX! Then only $1600 upon confirmation!
At the rate that living costs and HDB inflates (last i check was $400k for a 4 room flat in where i lived), how can young locals like myself ever going to own my place and truly have a CAREER in Singapore?
Now I’m at a batter place where I am employed in my studied field at $30 an hour even at part time rate…
To all who is able “Better Jiao” before PAP runs this hellhole straight to HELL.
It depends on the kinds of skills the person has and how much he draws…. if he/she is the kind that requires two/two person to do one persons job….then obviously it would not work out …. if he is the always push jobs to others kind that frees up lots of time for himself/herself and always goes back at 5pm…obviously this fellow has a high chance of being retrenched… But the Minstry for Labour (like other developed countries) should be controlling Work Permits issued to foreigners more tightly so as to be fair to natives… otherwise the local market would be eroded and Singaporeans would end up having a lower standard of living and native unemployment rate would become higher.
Bluebach,
I agree with what you said, but I have one point of contention. It’s already ‘spreaded across other sectors’.
I met this one guy who was a fresh graduate in engineering from a public university here and he was doing the same kind of work that non-graduates, or for the matter, non- O level holders were doing.
He could have been groomed to be PE or something, but that was what he got, construction safety.
Then there was this other guy who had been an engineer in Australia for some years, and was an NS Captain, and he was also in the same boat.
Meanwhile, “talented” foreign engineers who couldn’t even make themselves understood very well in foreign English were getting middle-management positions, and you would think that they were being paid less; but no, rach of their salaries were two or three times that of that fresh grad and the Singaporean engineer put together.
My heart went out to both of them, even when I was with them. With that kind of salary, under 2k, gross, per month, what could they do? No money even to eat outside of construction sites and hawker centres.
The D&D made their eyes pop and mouths drop. That was a year back. I hope they’re doing better now.
SOME YEARS BACK UPGRADE MYSELF WITH A DEGREE. SOME YEARS LATER OUT OF JOB BECAUSE OF EASILY AVAILABLE FT. PLEASE RETURN MY $50000 FOR COURSE FEES AND MY PRECIOUS TIME.