Firms must try to hire Singaporeans first from Aug 2014

[PrimroseHill]

Yup, thats the case in the UK.
So what will happen to the existing expats that earns more than $12k per month currently? You know, the ones in the financial sector that are traders, regional heads etc.

[Wd40]

Yup, thats the case in the UK.
So what will happen to the existing expats that earns more than $12k per month currently? You know, the ones in the financial sector that are traders, regional heads etc.

They are unaffected. The rules apply only to FTs earning less than $12k per month.

[Barnsley]

Not sure if this new directive will work.....

One side effect if the online commentators are to be believed that nearly all taxi drivers are folks forced out by cheaper foreign labour, is that there will be a shortage of Taxi drivers, as they all head back to the office to replace the foreign talent that will be booted out.

Will there be a complaint that there are no Taxis?

Will theyl Govt bring in Taxi Drivers like they do with bus drivers?

[Wd40]

Not sure if this new directive will work.....

One side effect if the online commentators are to be believed that nearly all taxi drivers are folks forced out by cheaper foreign labour, is that there will be a shortage of Taxi drivers, as they all head back to the office to replace the foreign talent that will be booted out.

Will there be a complaint that there are no Taxis?

Will theyl Govt bring in Taxi Drivers like they do with bus drivers?

No it just means Taxis become even more lucrative and Taxi fares will rise to attract more drivers.

[ScoobyDoes]

Going back to something SMS said elsewhere, how is the government itself going to function when many of its own staff are foreign workers?

NP, NEA, MoE, PUB, BCA, LTA.......how are they all going to function without their imported labour? Pay more for local staff? Yes, but then who pays for that and who begins to complain again?

Do as i say, not as I do is one way to see it but fundamental changes are needed and if you view India's recent interest rate hike as a warning of what's to come, Singapore has a lot of work to do to get ready for when they start heading up here too. It better start to do more, and quicker.

[PNGMK]

Going back to something SMS said elsewhere, how is the government itself going to function when many of its own staff are foreign workers?

NP, NEA, MoE, PUB, BCA, LTA.......how are they all going to function without their imported labour? Pay more for local staff? Yes, but then who pays for that and who begins to complain again?

Do as i say, not as I do is one way to see it but fundamental changes are needed and if you view India's recent interest rate hike as a warning of what's to come, Singapore has a lot of work to do to get ready for when they start heading up here too. It better start to do more, and quicker.

That will only become a serious problem with large (I mean like 5 or 6 out of 10) of the locals end up working for the gahmen here.

[sundaymorningstaple]

yogaloungeforever, please do not do that again. We do not need any more legal problems with the owners of those sites. Capisce?

moderator

[yogaloungeforever]

SMS URLs from AsiaOne is not allowed on this forum?

[zzm9980]

SMS URLs from AsiaOne is not allowed on this forum?

Unfortunately not.

[yogaloungeforever]

ok thanks for the info!

SMS URLs from AsiaOne is not allowed on this forum?

Unfortunately not.

[AngMoG]

Bloomberg has launched another article on this topic: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-2 ... -asia.html

Starting off with

Singapore will widen foreign-worker curbs to professional jobs as the government clamps down on companies that hire overseas talent at the expense of citizens, stepping up efforts to counter a backlash against immigration.

They interviewed a couple of HR professionals, who did not have much negative to say... at least not "on the record". Some interesting tidbits:

[quote]
“It is essential that we strike the right balance,”

[AngMoG]

Also Mr Reed is critical for once... it seems the PR-honeymoon-period has waned: http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/wi ... ign-influx

He makes some good points:

Therefore all this means is that these firms who need this expertise/resource will have to wait two weeks longer and have the hassle of interviewing lots of unqualified people before they are allowed to employ people from abroad that actually match what they want. This causes a slowdown in the economy as more resource are diverted to unproductive areas, many would say unnecessarily given the high levels of employment.
...
The alternative for companies is that they will simply move their operations abroad. Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka all offer less barriers to employing people and much lower salary rates. You can save up to 90% on the same job with the same person simply by employing them in one of the above countries for example. More measures like this make companies more prone to look for alternative ways of saving time and money by employing abroad, especially if they are regional companies.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yep. He's making exactly the same points I've been making from the beginning. This is really going to throw a spanner into the productivity drive, big time. And life if going to be living hell for any expat making less than 12k/mo

[PNGMK]

Yep. He's making exactly the same points I've been making from the beginning. This is really going to throw a spanner into the productivity drive, big time. And life if going to be living hell for any expat making less than 12k/mo

I think this country (well city state) is on the cusp of making some terrible decisions that it will take decades to recover from.... they're not single large decisions but a series of small ones that pile up into a disaster....

[Barnsley]

Also Mr Reed is critical for once... it seems the PR-honeymoon-period has waned: http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/wi ... ign-influx

He makes some good points:

Therefore all this means is that these firms who need this expertise/resource will have to wait two weeks longer and have the hassle of interviewing lots of unqualified people before they are allowed to employ people from abroad that actually match what they want. This causes a slowdown in the economy as more resource are diverted to unproductive areas, many would say unnecessarily given the high levels of employment.
...
The alternative for companies is that they will simply move their operations abroad. Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka all offer less barriers to employing people and much lower salary rates. You can save up to 90% on the same job with the same person simply by employing them in one of the above countries for example. More measures like this make companies more prone to look for alternative ways of saving time and money by employing abroad, especially if they are regional companies.

First line is quite funny as it states from August 2104