Singapore seeks foreign workers

Business Asia, Sept 13, 1999

Singapore will increase spending, introduce tax breaks for staff training and step up efforts to attract talented foreigners as part of the government's latest bid to make the island more competitive.

Manpower 21, a government report based on views from companies, unions and the wider population, is also aimed at helping workers keep their jobs or find new ones as the economy emerges from last year's recession.

Singapore's job market is expected to expand as companies struggle to find staff to meet a recovery in exports and production.

That's despite plans announced in recent weeks by three big foreign electronics companies, including Compaq, to slash as many as 6000 jobs in Singapore.

The government will provide S$200 million (US$119 million) for a "Manpower Development Assistance Scheme" to encourage training for the workforce. Other steps include tax exemptions for training, encouraging flexible work arrangements and setting up an Internet-based recruitment website to attract foreign talent.

The study also recommended the creation of a council to set the direction for national manpower strategies.

"We must move up to higher value-added industries and make our living in the knowledge economy," said Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister.

"If we try to compete against countries like China or Mexico in terms of unskilled jobs and cheap labour, our workers will have no future."

Last year, Singapore saw retrenchments reach a record high of 29,000, with many workers having trouble finding new jobs.

Lee said the government was aiming for companies to make investment commitments totalling S$9 billion in the manufacturing and services industries this year. That's expected to generate 20,000 new jobs, mostly skilled.

Under a government plan, two out of three jobs in the manufacturing industry created by the new investments will require skilled workers, while three out of four new services jobs will need skilled staff.