Foreign Workers
-
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. -
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… -
limlim:
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
What's the pay package for engineers in your company? such that you can't get local workers..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 -
limlim:
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 ?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..
we live in a global economy, we are price taker, period -
verykiasu2010:
So is SG meeting their cost target?
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
Maybe we tried... So some of these COs r still in SG
Maybe we tried n fail... Cos' some of these COs r goodbye... Or going to say goodbye...
If we cannot match China's production cost... The next best thing is the bring their labour cost into SG? Seems like the case.
For other fields... Why we don't see that many FTs from other 1st world country? Your guess is as good as mine. $$$$$$
:? -
verykiasu2010:
sounds really good leh.. your company still recruiting or not?
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
Any links? offshore rig I also go.. -
verykiasu2010:
Yes yes.. thats why I was never against the foreign labor policy for \"worker\" level, like operators etc.. which attribute to \"direct cost\"..
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
But for Engineer/technicians/supervisors etc which are indirect costs, it isn't going to be much different right.. -
Daddy
for a short while SG was meeting their cost target but not for long....last time a rear projection tv cost more than $10k, now a plasma is only $2k or less...even Foxconn is moving away from Shenzhen, Canon is moving into Vietnam...
So is SG meeting their cost target?verykiasu2010:
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
Maybe we tried... So some of these COs r still in SG
Maybe we tried n fail... Cos' some of these COs r goodbye... Or going to say goodbye...
If we cannot match China's production cost... The next best thing is the bring their labour cost into SG? Seems like the case.
For other fields... Why we don't see that many FTs from other 1st world country? Your guess is as good as mine. $$$$$$
:?
it is over generalisation to say that we bring China cost into singapore. by and large the main bulk of foreign workers are found in areas that singaporeans shun....enuf said
many of these mnc retain SG as regional HQ...and some of the Singaporeans working in the SG offices have to report to bosses in China .... so difficult for them to accept due to perceived loss of face....singaporeanbig boss reporting prc regional boss who are prc citizen..... -
limlim:
I re-tired liao lah !
sounds really good leh.. your company still recruiting or not?verykiasu2010:
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
Any links? offshore rig I also go.. -
verykiasu2010:
I re-tired liao lah ![/quote]vks2010....I thought you have always been travelling for business? (remember the red moon?) :?
sounds really good leh.. your company still recruiting or not?limlim:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
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
Any links? offshore rig I also go..
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login