In 2019, Singapore ranked top for the world’s most competitive economy, ahead of Hong Kong and the USA, and this year it has ranked second place globally for the world's most innovative countries in 2020. Besides winning these big titles, being clean, efficient, and with low tax rates, combined with the recent unrest caused by the political situation in Hong Kong, Singapore has long been the city of choice for Western expats.
However, COVID-19 has brought about the biggest disruption to everyone, everywhere, and Singapore is now facing the worst recession in history. As a result, firms are rethinking their expansion and hiring plans. With the high unemployment rate, Singapore is now prioritising reserving jobs for local residents.
Reserving jobs for local Singaporeans
The Singapore government is taking action by putting in efforts to promote local hiring.
Earlier this month, Manpower Ministry (MOM) has put 47 companies on a watch-list for suspected discriminatory hiring practices. The list includes banks, fund managers, and consulting firms that may have pre-selected foreigners for jobs or not given Singaporeans a fair chance. This adds to the 240 companies already under scrutiny.
The Singapore government has also tightened the framework that governs employment passes for foreigners. Moreover, they are increasing the minimum monthly salary which makes hiring foreign professionals' cost become higher than hiring locals. Employers are also required to advertise job openings to locals first.
Stricter conditions make Singapore a less welcoming destination
With the strict conditions set by the government, there are foreign professionals experiencing constant failure when applying for jobs. Even when candidates are getting through the application and interview process, the previously mentioned roadblocks are still there.
Andrew Zee, team lead for financial services at Selby Jennings, tells Bloomberg that permits were denied for some of his candidates that were offered jobs - a first for him in more than four years - though they were later approved on appeal.
Without successfully landing a work pass, foreign professionals are looking to leave Singapore and go back home. This has also impacted the expat housing market, with housing agents seeing signed rental agreements dropping from four per month to, if they're lucky, one per month.
It's not just Singapore
Singapore isn’t alone in fighting for local jobs. President of the USA, Donald Trump, signed an executive order this month barring federal agencies from replacing citizens or green card holders with foreign workers.
"Employers in Singapore are all united and align with #SGUnited campaigns. We all want to be part of it and, therefore, are doing our best to help Singaporeans," said Zee.
"As a talent partner for clients, to be honest, we see there is no bias between local and foreign professionals. Especially for mid-to-senior level roles, our clients are focusing on candidates' skillsets and relevant experiences. We always provide an unbiased CV, which doesn't contain the candidates' information (such as name and location) so that hiring managers are unable to see their nationality or gender, and won't be able to consider foreign professionals first.
"Furthermore, travel is limited due to COVID-19. There will be less consideration towards overseas professionals as most of the hiring needs now are for business-critical roles, which are urgent roles that help businesses to drive forward and overcome this difficult and challenging time," Zee concluded.
To read the original article, please visit Bloomberg.
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