Indeed. The gahmen is caught between a rock and a hard place on multiple fronts. It' is dealing with a citizenry ever more populist in nature, becoming more nationalistic, and blaming "foreigners" for everything from crime, to congestion, to no taxis, to stealing jobs, to being the root cause of low pay. They are pressuring the government to slow or stop both permanent immigration and temporary workers, even the EP types.bold_brave_spirit wrote:Good to know...thats really interesting as I thought the allure of doing business here were was the ease of being able to run your business easily. But if you can't hire the people you need or you want, or if you can only do so at increasing costs, then it seems to go counter to the idea.
Can't say it better than Strong Eagle!Strong Eagle wrote:Indeed. The gahmen is caught between a rock and a hard place on multiple fronts. It' is dealing with a citizenry ever more populist in nature, becoming more nationalistic, and blaming "foreigners" for everything from crime, to congestion, to no taxis, to stealing jobs, to being the root cause of low pay. They are pressuring the government to slow or stop both permanent immigration and temporary workers, even the EP types.bold_brave_spirit wrote:Good to know...thats really interesting as I thought the allure of doing business here were was the ease of being able to run your business easily. But if you can't hire the people you need or you want, or if you can only do so at increasing costs, then it seems to go counter to the idea.
Yet when the government has choked off foreign talent, especially in the low income tiers, nobody in Singapore wants to do the job for the money being offered. Result: at the lower end, service companies like restaurants and bars go begging for help, must raise their prices and lose business, or get squeezed out of business because of rising rents and payrolls. Net effect: Cutting off low end talent does very little to increase the employment of locals but does reduce GDP and tax collections. Net effect: It's a losing policy but the locals scream and the last thing the PAP wants to do is lose an election.
The gahmen is dealing with local companies that are partly to blame and partly simply responding to global supply and demand. They will build their plants and offices where the cheaper labor is. And when Singapore makes it hard to import labor, the companies move or they outsource functions they don't need to do in Singapore. Net effect: Restrictions on foreign labor might cause a slight rise in local salaries but only to the extent that it remains cheaper than moving the job overseas.
Singapore's per capita income continues to climb but it's not matched by increases in productivity. So while Singapore is trying to vertically integrate, trying to build technology incubators, they've got the problem of a passive populace, wanting to be in charge without responsibility, and wanting to manage without creativity or accountability. Working 10 or 11 hour days is not productive and yet, far too many Singaporeans think this justifies a higher wage.
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