Foreign workers, GST hike keeping SMEs up at night

Singapore

CONCERNS over coping with foreign manpower cuts and an impending hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) remain top of mind for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with representatives from these businesses asking during a dialogue session how the government could assist them.

The services sector, for example, is set to face progressively tighter foreign worker quotas in the next two years, a move likely to put a squeeze on Singapore companies, which already have difficulty hiring local workers.