100,000 fewer workers in construction and services sectors had borders been shut to migrant workers: MOM

HAD migrant workers been barred from entering Singapore after last year's "circuit-breaker" period, there would now be 30,000 fewer construction workers in the Republic working on key infrastructure and building projects, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a statement on Tuesday.

There would also have been 70,000 fewer migrant workers to work in the services sector, including essential services such as healthcare and cleaning, and local households would have had 30,000 fewer migrant domestic workers, the statement added.

MOM had revealed this in response to recent calls by members of the public to close Singapore's borders entirely, to reduce the number of imported Covid-19 cases. The ministry noted that since May 2, "we completely stopped entry of all from South Asia".

On the other hand, businesses have been appealing for more workers to be allowed to enter Singapore to address manpower shortages.

Over the past year, "the outflow of migrant workers has exceeded the inflow, as many workers have ended their contracts and chosen to return home". "As a result of border restrictions to mitigate importation risks, we have not been able to adequately replace those who have left Singapore," said MOM.

It added that the border restrictions will impact the daily lives of Singaporeans, with the impact likely to be more keenly felt in the coming weeks and months.

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"Our restrictions on inflow of workers from higher-risk countries will also likely persist for some time, until the situation improves. This is the only way we can ensure the safe inflow of workers, while managing the risk of transmission in the community," said the ministry.

MOM's statement comes just a day after players in the built environment sector appealed to the government to allow them to bring in foreign workers in a safe and controlled manner, as well as for the government to consider additional relief measures to help all stakeholders in the sector.

The statement, released by the Construction Industry Joint Committee (CIJC) on Monday, said: "While we need to maintain tight border control measures to protect Singaporeans, we urge the government to adopt a balanced approach and work with industry to allow the recruitment and inflow of foreign manpower."

CIJC told The Business Times that the government's latest move to grant construction firms temporary flexibility to recruit workers from China will only help firms to a small extent, given that these workers command higher salaries and the difficulty in attracting them to work in Singapore.