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    Foreign Workers

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    • KissguramiK Offline
      Kissgurami
      last edited by

      verykiasu2010:


      may be our HR and placement agents were all useless .... but they show me all the application letters : 1 to 10, citizen vs foreigners
      :rotflmao: that's our thoughts internally as well accompanied with the uncouth \"3 letter words\" :imanangel:

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • L Offline
        limlim
        last edited by

        verykiasu2010:


        I was in Jurong for more than 10 years, Singaporean MNC, global operation of more than 15,000 workers, 8 countries. I ran the finance dept, I was willing to pay up to S$15k per month plus housing plus car to place an FC in China - no taker from Singaporeans - after 6 months, got a Malaysian for the same position for half the price, need only housing don't need car on location. Recruiting for finance managers in Singapore operations - $6k to $8k, stock options, car allowances, 5 day week, corporate benefits like holiday villa (company owned), family medical insurance, dental etc etc -- no takers because we are in Jurong. Malaysians came and took the job, $4k only...but we also give the same benefits because corporate policy is all singapore-based employees have same benefits -- no discrimination

        may be our HR and placement agents were all useless .... but they show me all the application letters : 1 to 10, citizen vs foreigners
        Finance position ar..?

        If it is engineering position I would applied immediately......

        Mebbe singaporean bankers, or those in finance had it too easy already..

        If it is engineering post.. with such offer.. probably snapped up in a blink..

        Anyway, we're talking abt different industries.. so.. let's not debate further.. perhaps for your case, it is indeed better to get foreigner.

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        • V Offline
          verykiasu2010
          last edited by

          limlim:
          verykiasu2010:



          I was in Jurong for more than 10 years, Singaporean MNC, global operation of more than 15,000 workers, 8 countries. I ran the finance dept, I was willing to pay up to S$15k per month plus housing plus car to place an FC in China - no taker from Singaporeans - after 6 months, got a Malaysian for the same position for half the price, need only housing don't need car on location. Recruiting for finance managers in Singapore operations - $6k to $8k, stock options, car allowances, 5 day week, corporate benefits like holiday villa (company owned), family medical insurance, dental etc etc -- no takers because we are in Jurong. Malaysians came and took the job, $4k only...but we also give the same benefits because corporate policy is all singapore-based employees have same benefits -- no discrimination

          may be our HR and placement agents were all useless .... but they show me all the application letters : 1 to 10, citizen vs foreigners

          Finance position ar..?

          If it is engineering position I would applied immediately......

          Mebbe singaporean bankers, or those in finance had it too easy already..

          If it is engineering post.. with such offer.. probably snapped up in a blink..

          Anyway, we're talking abt different industries.. so.. let's not debate further.. perhaps for your case, it is indeed better to get foreigner.

          we agree to disagree

          as for engineering people in the sector we were in, we had to provide scholarships to secure the people we need

          I ran the finance, but we are engineering and manufacturing

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          • FunzF Offline
            Funz
            last edited by

            limlim:
            Funz:



            I agree. Singapore employees have to bear some responsibility for this so called 'hiring of foreigners trend'. Though I will say that it has been blown out of proportion. 😓 Jialat gonna get hantam for saying that.

            Ok, wrote too much oredi. Gonna kenna 🦆 .

            It's easy to just give a vague account of how difficult it is to employ locals..

            Why don't you state what are the job scope, working hours and the salary that you're paying to allow viewers to better judge the situation?

            Let the facts speak for itself.

            There are companies offering $900/mth for 10hrs working hours in some ulu places and complaining that they cannot find local workers. How you expect locals to survive on $900/mth?

            Is locals asking for too much?

            I am referring to S pass. S pass require a minimum of $2000 as starting salary. Talking about 9hrs x 5 work day with all the annual leaves, performance bonuses, AWL, etc. My operations are not located in ulu places, they are all near MRTs. Those that are a bit more ulu as in not within walking distance from MRT, we provide transport allowance. Even then we are not talking about Jurong island, just some private estates.

            I throw back the same comments to you. Easy to make vague accounts about how employers choose foreigners over locals. Why don't you state what are the job scope, working hours and the salary that these companies are not paying the locals but hiring the foreigners. Let the facts speak for itself too.

            Are some locals asking too much or being too picky.

            There is always 2 sides to a coin. For every anecdote that one can come up for one story, there will be others who will be able to tell another opposing story.

            I am not saying that there aren't people who are truly experiencing difficulties finding placement due to competition from foreigners, I wondering is the so called 'favouring' of foreigners as employees truly so prevalent that the majority of locals' lifelihood is threatened? Or is it a sentiment and resentment as the pickings for the locals are now leaner since there is competition for them from these foreigners?

            It is easy to always point our fingers at external sources for our woes but I think we should bear some responsibility as well.

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            • L Offline
              limlim
              last edited by

              Funz:


              I throw back the same comments to you. Easy to make vague accounts about how employers choose foreigners over locals. Why don't you state what are the job scope, working hours and the salary that these companies are not paying the locals but hiring the foreigners. Let the facts speak for itself too.
              Please refer to the below case since you asked for examples.. All the details are there.

              The employer is requesting for more foreign workers bcoz he cannot get locals. And he is paying below market rate.

              http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showpost.php?p=57633304&postcount=1

              http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showpost.php?p=57633768&postcount=15

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              • L Offline
                limlim
                last edited by

                verykiasu2010:


                we agree to disagree

                as for engineering people in the sector we were in, we had to provide scholarships to secure the people we need

                I ran the finance, but we are engineering and manufacturing
                What's the pay package for engineers in your company? such that you can't get local workers..

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • 3 Offline
                  3Boys
                  last edited by

                  Our industries don’t operate in a vacuum, they complete globally.


                  If they pay a large premium for salaries here vs what companies in other countries pay for the same amount of productivity, they will be out of business soon, and locals (as well as foreigners) will be out of the job.

                  Repeat that often enough, and we will have an unemployment problem, no need to talk about FT.

                  Singapore based companies ALREADY pay a premium over neighbouring countries, otherwise, why are they flocking here to work as opposed to staying in their home countries? Are you then asking for a PREMIUM over premium for Singaporeans?

                  I believe MOST local hiring managers will prefer to hire a Singaporean, compared to a foreigner, all things being equal. MANY hiring managers, will pay a SMALL premium for Singaporeans, SOME, will pay a large premium…

                  …if you can find someone who is willing and can do the job. But you can never escape the fact that the benchmark is set by the lowest denominator. MNCs will benchmark, if you pay over the odds, HQ will ask you, "Why?". And if you do it too often, maybe you won’t be the hiring manager for too much longer.

                  Seagate left, but before they left, they paid good salaries over many decades to our production workers. If we did not allow foreign workers, they would have left much earlier.

                  These are very simple and basic truths.

                  If those factories closed and left, who do you think will suffer the most?

                  The skilled, talented and well-off, they will have options, they will go where the work is.

                  The less skilled, Mr Ordinary Joe, what’s he got left to do?

                  The reason foreign workers are allowed in are so that industries that are not otherwise viable, can exist in Singapore. And say what you might, those industries are mutually supportive and synergistic, so there are knock-ons for Singaporeans and Singaporean businesses. That’s the strength of the system. We are borrowing talent to create a special economic system that will not otherwise be possible, create the types of jobs that would not otherwise exist here, in this little Red Dot in the middle of South East Asia. We have no hinterland, we have a miniscule domestic market, and we have a workforce smaller than a single Tier 2 Chinese city.

                  We can’t do it on our own. Not even the USA does it on its own, and they have 300 million people.

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                  • L Offline
                    limlim
                    last edited by

                    10 years ago, when there is not so many foreign workers, was there high unemployment?


                    I don’t believe that the local economy cannot be sustained and there will be high unemployment if there is no flooding of foreign workers.

                    Of coz, the GDP grow will not be as stellar…

                    But it doesn’t mean Sg cannot survive…

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                    • V Offline
                      verykiasu2010
                      last edited by

                      limlim:
                      verykiasu2010:



                      we agree to disagree

                      as for engineering people in the sector we were in, we had to provide scholarships to secure the people we need

                      I ran the finance, but we are engineering and manufacturing

                      What's the pay package for engineers in your company? such that you can't get local workers..

                      S$5k to $8k x min 15months, new grad start with $3k+ but there is zero suitability and need to send them for training .... B Eng need to go for training and learn some high tech (S$2m) machine is too lowly for our proud NUS / NTU engrg grad, because must learn from senior tech who is non-grad

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                      • V Offline
                        verykiasu2010
                        last edited by

                        limlim:
                        10 years ago, when there is not so many foreign workers, was there high unemployment?


                        I don't believe that the local economy cannot be sustained and there will be high unemployment if there is no flooding of foreign workers.

                        Of coz, the GDP grow will not be as stellar..

                        But it doesn't mean Sg cannot survive..
                        stay status quo as in 10 years ago ? singapore will be devoid of any manufacturing biz by now, financial services will have no biz to service as the MNCs move out...the EDB people call it \"hollowing out\" of the SG economy - I was in their meetings...it was crisis mode because people like Dell, Sony, Seagate etc etc are telling our people -- match our cost target or say good buy. You wonder why your notebook pc / plasma TV is so cheap compared with 10 years ago ?

                        we live in a global economy, we are price taker, period

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