PSP's suggestion to 'get rid of foreigners' will not stop Singaporean workers from being displaced: Lawrence Wong

THE rapid pace of change and "creative destruction" brought by globalisation will lead to Singaporeans being displaced from their jobs, and the issue is not about foreigners working in the Republic, said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.

"Even if we got rid of 'tens of thousands' of foreigners, locals will continue to be displaced - because of technology, because of innovation, because of the changing nature of work over time," he said in his opening remarks for the debate on two parliamentary motions concerning Singaporeans's livelihoods on Tuesday.

The first motion was filed by Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai, while the second was filed by Mr Wong.

Mr Wong said the rise of remote work also means that people can work from anywhere in the world, and they need not all be in the same place.

Meanwhile, the pandemic too has increased the economic churn and uncertainty, deepening people's worries about job stability and lay-offs.

"In the face of these painful dislocations, it's easy for politicians to blame someone for them," said the minister.

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"People don't lose jobs because of technology or innovations, they say. Instead, it's because of these foreigners in our midst, they are the reason you have been displaced. And if they can mobilise existing racial prejudices against particular foreign nationalities here, better still."

This is why nationalist and protectionist sentiments are gaining ground everywhere around the world, he said, adding: "That's why populist and anti-immigrant parties - even neo-Nazis and fascists - do well in many European countries.

"Far easier to point fingers, make one nationality or another the scapegoat, and blame them for all our troubles, rather than work on reskilling our workers."

Mr Wong acknowledged there are downsides to being an open economy, but noted that an economy "where nobody will ever be displaced" is also one that will stagnate and atrophy.

"So the right approach is not to impede progress by holding on to every job even as they become obsolete; but to work hard to protect every worker and help those who are displaced," he said.

He outlined ways the government's strategies have worked, noting that median income in real terms grew by 3.2 per cent per annum for residents from 2010 to 2019 up until Covid-19 struck.

At the same time, Singapore's employment rate has been among the highest in the world, with unemployment rate kept low.

From 2010 to 2020, employment for local professional, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) grew by about 300,000, which is almost three times the increase in Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass holders over the same period.

"These are substantial achievements which we can be proud of and should celebrate but the PSP wants to sweep these aside," said Mr Wong.

"They downplay the jobs, opportunities and outcomes we have created, and play up the anxieties. The PSP assumes that if we reduced the number of foreigners here; then all their jobs will automatically go to Singaporeans," he said.

He added that PSP's Mr Leong has a "euphemism" for this, calling it "rebalancing" in one of his Facebook posts.

"But it is quite clear what he means. In one post, he said we can get rid of "tens of thousands" of work pass holders and he thinks Singaporeans can then fill these jobs. That thinking is fatally flawed," he said.

He noted that there are already more than 25,000 PMET vacancies with many companies still looking to hire.

Companies are actively hiring locals into PMET jobs, and most local graduates are "snapped up" as soon as they enter the workforce, with nine in 10 employed within six months after graduation, he said.

If Singapore's policies become overly restrictive, companies will just find other places to operate in where they can be more competitive, which means the country will lose all the jobs they brought here, he said.

Foreign PMETs currently account for about 20 per cent of the PMET workforce, compared with 10 per cent in the 1990s when Singapore was not as developed as a hub economy, he noted.

"For those who would like to see fewer foreign work pass holders, they may perhaps be feeling a sense of nostalgia about how things were like in the past," Mr Wong said.

"But remember our overall standards of living were also much lower then: in 1995, our GDP (gross domestic product) per capita was just around S$35,000 instead of more than S$80,000 now; and median salaries of residents were less than S$2,000 compared to around S$4,500 today," he said.

Still, while being a hub economy brings benefits to Singapore, it also comes with its share of costs, he noted.

He gave the commitment the government will continue to take proactive steps to deal with the downsides of globalisation.

First, this involves a continual update of Singapore's manpower policies and rules to manage the flow of work pass holders and to ensure they are of the right calibre, he said.

Second, the government will uphold fair employment practices and take a strong stance against discrimination at the workplace, which is also why the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices have been enshrined in law.

Third, the government will do everything it can to help those who are displaced. This includes upskilling displaced workers and helping them find good job matches.

Noting that the PSP has raised several questions in Parliament on the nationality, Mr Wong said: "From a competition and jobs perspective, where the EPs come from shouldn't matter."

What is more important are the policy parameters that determine the overall flow and quality of the work pass holders, he said.

"Let's not turn this into an issue about CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) and Indian professionals, which is not relevant, unless the PSP intends to persist with its negative campaign to stir up racial unhappiness," he said, referring to the Singapore-India free trade agreement.

"Mr Leong's motion states that the government's 'foreign talent policy' is the cause of job anxieties, but he's barking up the wrong tree because the issue is not about local talent versus foreign talent. This is not a zero-sum competition," said Mr Wong.

"What we have is a Singapore talent policy - to maximise our overall talent pool, so that we can achieve the best outcomes for Singapore and Singaporeans."

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