‘Foreign labour more than just numbers’
SINGAPORE: Singapore should remain open to adjusting levels of foreign workers while not threatening job and wage opportunities for native residents, said Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon.
“It is not about how many foreign workers industry wants or society can afford to have, but what number and kind of foreign workers we need to maximise the job and wage opportunities for Singaporeans,” he said at the Institute of Policy Studies’ annual Singapore Perspectives conference yesterday.
“We should increasingly be concerned about the skills of the foreign workers that we take in, rather than just the numbers.”
Menon’s remarks focused on how looming demographic changes, including population ageing and a decades-long decline in the fertility rate, will continue to tug on the economy. Singapore’s growth, which last year was reinvigorated by an unexpected pickup in global trade, could see longer-term struggles from the shrinking labour force and languishing productivity.
While striking an optimistic note on policy adjustments that can make a difference, he warned of the “demographic trilemma” that means that Singapore can only achieve two of three factors at any one time: zero net immigration, stable foreign-worker share and positive labour force growth.
The central bank chief outlined three achievable solutions for the government: more family-friendly workplace policies; balancing some net immigration, an increase in labour force and flexibility in the foreign worker share; and a focus on the size and type of the foreign workforce to maximise opportunities for Singaporeans. Bloomberg