Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 66 May 2018 - Page 18
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Achieving sustainable workforce growth and building the talent pipeline
How can we sustain Singapore’s economic growth through higher productivity and train for the future needs of the nation, while keeping the share of foreigners at about a third of the workforce? The challenge for the Ministry of Manpower is that the workforce growth rate of 4% per annum from 2012 to 2014 is not sustainable into the future, especially as local workforce growth is heading towards stagnation in the next decade. There is also a pressing need to make the workforce future ready, as Singapore’s economy undergoes a period of major transformation that requires new skillsets.
The Ministry’s foreign workforce policies have nudged Singapore towards a path of quality growth over the last three years, with higher productivity and slower workforce growth. During this period, the Ministry also engaged employers to communicate the country’s future economic direction. Today, approximately 1.1 million foreigners are working in Singapore.
In a full capacity event for the British Chamber of Commerce on 5th April 2018, Minister Lim spent a highly engaging two hours in a two-way conversation with the Chamber’s member company representatives, explaining the thought process behind the Ministry’s local and foreign workforce policies, and the progress that has been made so far. Chamber members further shared their own experiences and in turn, provided suggestions and ideas to the Minister and his team.
How does Singapore set out to improve the skillsets and viability of employees within the country’s workforce? How does Singapore in turn leverage global talent to complement the local workforce in meeting business needs?
The Government has introduced a number of initiatives in recent years that are having a significant impact in transforming the economy. The 23 Industrial Transformation Maps, part of the Ministry for Trade and Industry’s wider Industry Transformation Programme, are targeted at clusters of key industry areas marked for transformation in the future. These include manufacturing, built environment, trade and connectivity, essential domestic services, modern services and lifestyle. To support the skills requirements for these industries, the SkillsFuture movement under the Ministry of Education seeks to upskill the Singapore workforce to be ready for these jobs.
Committed to developing a future ready workforce, Workforce Singapore’s Adapt and Grow initiative also supports Singaporean workers looking to make career transitions by building on their existing experience and skills.
The Minister reiterated that Singapore remains open to foreign professionals with skills needed by businesses. Few countries today operate such an open door policy to foreign professionals as Singapore in the context of a tight labour market, with no quotas, levies or source controls at the Employment Pass level. Furthermore, members present were reassured that the Government has no plans to stop foreign workforce growth. Rather, Singapore’s objective is to maintain a 2/3 : 1/3 balance between local and foreign manpower at a national level for the medium term, and calibrate growth in the coming years. At the industry level, the ratio may differ as the Ministry recognises the unique (contd.)