Foreign Workers
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Musings:
I think this applies only to certain industries (say manufacturing?) so yes there might be some truth that not all MNCs wanna hire FT based on reasons given above. I also agree with continual upgrade of skillsets to stay relevant.
Actually as spouse works in American MNC, it is not true that American MNC will want to hire Americans. They would rather hire Singaporeans because they have to pay less in perks and expat benfits. Only when they cannot find equivalent local expertise, they will bring in someone from overseas.
Even for PMET positions, there are different classes of Employment Pass holders. In particular for the highest class of EP holders P1 class earning >$8k, companies will not want to bring in foreigners under EP if there is equivalent or better Singapore expertise to perform the job because they have to pay perks to foreigners who come in at that level. But often, these are the managerial positions where the foreigners have the expertise to contribute which is lacking amongst Singaporeans.
I would think the squeeze is felt more at the level of the lower end jobs, S Pass holders and Q1 EP holders. But these lower end jobs at least in spouse company involves working in plants and operating machinery in remote part of Spore including on weekends, so very few Singaporeans are keen on it.
Therefore, Singaporeans have to realise that it is either they be less choosy or they have to upgrade their skills so that they have the expertise to take on higher end jobs where foreigners cannot replace them so easily.
This is the reality of gobalisation and instead of keeping the competition away or embark on protectionist measures to only keep the jobs for Singaporeans which is not realistic, we have to find ways to stay ahead of the curve.
However, the climate can be very different in other industries. Just solely in the spirit of discussion only ( i hope i won't get slammed by talking too much), I would like to share what i went through in the banking sector....
A few of my colleagues are seeing more & more FTs coming in doing roles that were once filled by locals. In the past, these FTs only fill the very senior roles (say CEO, CFO, COO and Head of Departments) that are harder to fill by locals due to lack of expertise in the locals - then, this arrangement sat well with many, if not all, since we all acknowledged that we did not have the ready skillset in the available labour market to manage a huge team within the bank. So, all was fine & good then.
However, these days, foreign talents come in to do \"mid-management\" roles (eg sometimes just a small team lead role) which were previously held by locals. Where there is natural attrition (ie when a local staff resigns), we see a foreigner steps in to fill that role - and supply of such \"FT\" is in abundance now compared to before (cos i'm sure we all know what is happening in US/Eur mkts now) ... And their salary is not low... afterall they were once earning sterling pounds ... who would take a drastic paycut to come Singapore? Hence the \"attraction\" must be there for them - definitely the attraction is not about being \"clean & green singapore\" but the more pragmatic & practical approach - ie $$$
Sometimes, you don't need a job attrition or any concrete reason to bring in an FT... there can be other ways to bring them in ... It is fine if these FTs work really hard ( to be fair, some do) but sometimes what rubs salt into the wound is the fact that some or many of them keep harping on how \"everything is so cheap in Singapore\" while most of us are clearly struggling to stay afloat amidst rising costs! Not forgetting their almost-nightly drinks at bars ..... i think locals (same level as them.. not neccessarily same salary scale) can only afford daily kopi-O...
So the climate is indeed very different. I would like to reiterate that i have nothing against them, seriously ... some are nice people who are here to earn decent money... I just thought I could share some insight on \"evolution & change\" within the banking industry for the purpose of this discussion & how such evolution might have cause displeasure amongst the local workforce.
See, for each FT that comes in , a \"mid-management\" role (some r rather junior roles) remains shut & locals are kept out of the race. I believe this is what caused the unhappiness and could well be the one of the reasons why the local workforce became a \"disgruntled lot\". As to why such banks choose FT over local (since both supposedly have same skillset for mid-management role & locals are cheaper), I would like to leave this discussion out (confidentiality & sensitivities' issues).
As disgruntled as they can be, Singaporeans are usually \"shy & careful\" hence they would rather put up with this (for fear of getting \"marked\" or worse, for fear of losing their ricebowl or for whatever reasons) than to openly challenge why are FTs needed for less senior manager roles.
The typical \"safe mindset\" is \"so long as we still have a job, we better shut up & work along\". Afterall, we are fully aware that we are in a foreign firm (so what if we are in Singapore) and we all have families to feed! This \"bottling up of frustrations\" builds up resentment over time...
I am not sure if there are other industries experiencing the same issues but after what was discussed in the recent GE, I am quite certain the issues aren't limited to the \"blue collar\" .... Most \"blue collar\" (not all of course) are pretty \"easily contented\" and less vocal than we thought... I know of some cleaners who are very happy about those Singapore shares or dividends handed out. They are happy with the way things are coz some acknowledged that \"they can't ask for the sky since they have no education\" even tho they are clearly struggling.
In my opinion, I think the real squeeze could well be within the \"educated mid-to- slightly senior managers\" (in specific industries) - these are the ones who are the most affected & hence most \"disgruntled\" and we hear them during the recent GE coz they are more vocal (than your usual blue-collars) and they know what is going on... but have no avenue to voice out.. hence they used the recent GE to do so.
Just my opinion only. -
DTJ, you make a fair observation, but I suspect it is one part of the story only. Singapore managers are not cheap anymore, at the mid-senior level. I know of several cases where Westerners with similar or more experience were brought in at LOWER salaries than what was offered/earned to/by a Singaporean.
Sometimes it may seem like our overseas compadres have a lot to spend, quite a bit of it is illusory honestly. -
3Boys:
Good to know you encountered the opposite. It speaks well of our \"Singapore talent\" and I'm glad ... so at least there is hope, however tinyDTJ, you make a fair observation, but I suspect it is one part of the story only. Singapore managers are not cheap anymore, at the mid-senior level. I know of several cases where Westerners with similar or more experience were brought in at LOWER salaries than what was offered/earned to/by a Singaporean.
Sometimes it may seem like our overseas compadres have a lot to spend, quite a bit of it is illusory honestly.
But seriously, in the banking industry......... (I decided not to say more) -
about banking industry
i know of a transaction
the lead bank brought in their staff from UK, Germany, HK etc…some of them are junior and mid level only…by their own qualifications per se we can question why need them, though these people may have less than 5 years experience but the value they bring to the team and the transaction is their cross-discipline knowledge which is extremely valuable to the whole transaction. and so instead of 4 months preparation, it is cut to 2 months…even when they don’t read chinese characters but when they go to sites in China where the control rooms’ computer display are all in Chinese, they still know exactly what is going on…now,in Singapore we hardly have this type of people
it is easy for us to criticise the foreign PMET, but we are far behind in terms of ability and agility in executing a transaction -
Honestly, for each individual, instead of waiting for things to be done to help you, my suggestion is help yourself first. Explore the possibility of being a foreign worker in other countries, then perhaps you can understand why it is required in some areas and perhaps the overseas exposure can increase your value when you return. Just some food for thought.
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ksi:
Honestly, for each individual, instead of waiting for things to be done to help you, my suggestion is help yourself first. Explore the possibility of being a foreign worker in other countries, then perhaps you can understand why it is required in some areas and perhaps the overseas exposure can increase your value when you return. Just some food for thought.
you don't want to be accused by people of advocating cheap labour to replace them and they having served NS and defended the country are now forced out of their own county ??!!
you have good advice but people can twist it around to slam you :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :evil: :evil: -
verykiasu2010:
Oh thanks for the alert :hi5: ...but if more are going out to work, would it not be a better way to send the signal? :evil: In fact working overseas have its merits.ksi:
Honestly, for each individual, instead of waiting for things to be done to help you, my suggestion is help yourself first. Explore the possibility of being a foreign worker in other countries, then perhaps you can understand why it is required in some areas and perhaps the overseas exposure can increase your value when you return. Just some food for thought.
you don't want to be accused by people of advocating cheap labour to replace them and they having served NS and defended the country are now forced out of their own county ??!!
you have good advice but people can twist it around to slam you :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :evil: :evil: -
verykiasu2010:
I have no comments on the banking sector, but I'll like to share about the engineering/manufacturing sector.about banking industry
i know of a transaction
it is easy for us to criticise the foreign PMET, but we are far behind in terms of ability and agility in executing a transaction
Most of the time, the so-called foreign \"talent\" has no real talent nor skills at all.. The only reason they're here is bcoz they're CHEAPer than locals. Some took up engineering positions but doesn't know how to use excel, or understand simple programs, have poor understanding ability and troubleshooting skills.. The company is probably hoping that local engineers can train them up so that these cheap labors can take up higher level job but at much lower pay.
The term FT have been grossly abused..
These are just cheap labor, no way near being foreign \"talent\". And totally no value added to local economy other than lowering the cost of running business at the expense of local workers. -
And I so often hear complains from ex-colleagues that those pinoy engineers knowing nuts but is very good at wayang and PLP to bosses… And it’s the local engineers doing most of the real work most of the time.
For e.g. The local engineers supported the pinoy production engineers to setup equipments, run tests, and analysis of the results… the pinoys just "format" the presentation nicely with colours and powerpoint effects, and takes all the credits for the project… -
limlim:
just \"format\" the presentation nicely with colours and powerpoint effects, and takes all the credits for the project..
I think we all know people, both foreign and local, who are great at doing that :evil:
Just saw some stuff P5 kids were doing at my son's P-school, I think future Singaporeans will be knocking the socks off other people at presentations.....
Bosses aren't (always ) dumb, the impression that somehow foreigners can only present whilst the locals work, is frankly misplaced, and not at all my experience. There are good and bad eggs in all camps, at the end of the day, we need to go for the guy that delivers, or our necks are next in line.
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