Ican

SINGAPORE: More jobs are expected for both Singaporeans and foreigners this year.

Unionists and human resource experts say this is due to the increased demand for manpower and a tight labour market.

A bumper crop of more than 170,000 jobs were created last year.

Kang Choon Tong, GM, Murata Electronics Singapore, said: "Of all this, 40 percent are foreign workers, 60 percent are locals. We put in quite a lot of effort to hire the local people as engineers, technicians and sales staff. Foreign workers came to be production operators because there is difficulty getting locals to work on the production floor."

Seven out of ten production operators are foreigners, while only one out of 10 is a foreigner elsewhere within the company.

Halimah Yacob, Assistant Secretary-General, NTUC, said: "What you see at Murata is a fair reflection of what we see in a lot of electronic companies. At the operators' level, we do see less Singaporeans being employed, but at the upper levels – managers, supervisors, technicians and engineers – there are a lot more Singaporeans employed, compared to foreigners.

"To me, that is a good sign. It shows Singaporeans are able to take advantage of the better opportunities that come along because of their educational level, their skills and qualifications. I see it as something that will replicate in other workplaces as well."

Last year, in the overall employment market, Singaporeans took up 51 percent of the new jobs while the rest went to foreigners.

But the concern is whether this can be sustained over the next few years.

"It's something that's very much dependent on a lot of factors. We have over 80,000 Singaporeans holding jobs, getting jobs this year because there's a lot of jobs created, but in years where there is a decline in the number of jobs, we do see a decline in the number of foreigners being employed, so there are mechanisms in place to ensure Singaporeans are able to secure jobs and remain employed," said Mdm Halimah Yacob.

"What is important is for us to ensure that workers remain relevant, their skills remain adaptable – workers displaced from manufacturing can go to the services sector and pick up good jobs there. That must remain the focus for us. We must not forget that in the long term; we must not lose sight of structural unemployment, and (should continue to) concentrate on workers' upgrading and training process."

Union leaders and human resource experts say they expect the 50:50 ratio of jobs going to locals and foreigners to continue over the next few years, due to the expected demand for manpower for the integrated resorts, financial services, healthcare and biomedical sciences sectors. - CNA/so

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