Finance Minister Lawrence Wong told Parliament that Singapore’s foreign worker shortage will be filled “within the next few months”.
He warned against letting “anti-foreigner sentiments” take hold in Singapore. Although he did not mention names, he said that several MPs “have been shrill on this subject.”
Rounding up the Budget 2022 debate on Wednesday, his first as Finance Minister, he said that as border restrictions ease, the Government aims to redress the shortage of foreign workers, giving priority to the construction, marine and process sectors.
Mentioning that “a key concern for many businesses” has been manpower availability, the announced, “We should be able to clear the shortages within the next few months.”
Mr Wong cautioned, however, that Singapore must not be perceived to be unwelcoming to foreigners, as this would discourage foreign investments from coming in.
“If global investors conclude that this is so, Singapore will become less attractive to them, and it will be ordinary Singaporeans who suffer the most,” he said.
“We must never let anti-foreigner sentiments take root here or give the impression that we are becoming more inward-looking,” added Mr Wong. “And I caution some in the House who have been shrill on this subject.”
He said the Government has been making “careful, calibrated adjustments” to Singapore’s foreign worker policies, adding that if changes are made too quickly it will come at the expense of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Mr Wong said the policy changes made will help to ensure that foreign workers who come to Singapore will complement the local workforce. He underlined, however, that the country is not closing itself “to the inflow of foreign workers and professionals,” as they have been “and will remain integral to our economy and our competitiveness”.
Foreign workers are “a valuable complement to our Singaporean core at all levels of the workforce”, he said. “So we continue to welcome all who contribute to us having the strongest teams here to give Singaporeans ourselves the best chance of success amidst intense global competition. And we welcome those with the capabilities and the commitment who share our values and our way of life. To stay on and help us build the next phase of our Singapore story.”
In 2019, the year before the Covid pandemic struck, there were 1,427,400 foreign workers in Singapore, data from the Ministry of Manpower shows.
This number shrank drastically to 1,231,500 in 2020, and dwindled further to 1,197,100 in 2021.
/TISG
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