Labour crunch takes centre stage in the House

Singapore

WITH Singapore's ageing local workforce projected to start shrinking next year, the labour pool was a hot topic in Parliament, as its debate on this year's Budget began on Tuesday.

More investment in skills training and technology, as well as the retention of older workers and the recruitment of stay-at-home caregivers, were floated by a host of lawmakers in the wake of planned - but controversial - cuts to the dependency ratio ceiling, or foreign worker quotas.

"We cannot just open the floodgates to foreign manpower in order to solve our zero net local workforce growth challenge," Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How said of the tightened labour controls. "We have to look very carefully at... how do we make best use of our local population in the working ages."

Mr Heng, MP for Jalan Besar GRC and deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), added that this must include placement and training opportunities for flexible and part-time work.

He called for a tripartite effort "to enable the activation of the latent mature manpower pool", including examining senior care options, in a bid to improve job placement for these Singaporeans - "many of whom currently have to make the stark choice between working and caregiving".

Other suggestions put forward by members of the House included a call by Workers' Party Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh to raise the re-employment age, from 67 to 70 years, and by Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) to take companies' rehiring of retrenched locals into account when making foreign labour allocations.

"At the end of the day, we want more of the S Pass type of jobs to be undertaken by Singaporeans, whether they are seniors, (Institute of Technical Education or polytechnic) grads or back-to-work mothers," said Mr Liang, who hoped that the Budget's expansions to Productivity Solutions Grant and Enterprise Development Grant funding "will help firms to adjust to this round of tightening".

Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) proposed giving businesses more credits or a buffer foreign worker headcount as incentives to hire certain disadvantaged workers, such as senior citizens and people with disabilities.

And Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC) suggested having a form of the Workfare scheme - an income supplement for low-wage workers - to be tailored to lower-income gig-economy staff.

Meanwhile, labour leader Ng Chee Meng (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and NTUC secretary-general, said plans are afoot to expand the "Worker 4.0" training regime launched last year.

The initiative, now at a pilot stage, involves training committees chaired by union leaders. Mr Ng said that these committees could develop maps for "prospects of career progression, incorporating possible jobs of the future", with potential corresponding wage increments too.

His comrade Koh Poh Koon (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and another NTUC deputy secretary-general, said that the labour movement also plans to introduce more certifiable modules, working with educational institutes and professional organisations.

"Training and reskilling is key to ensure that our older workers remain employed and employable," he said.

Still, Nominated MP Douglas Foo, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, called the foreign worker quotas "the main concern that the business community has" with the Budget, and warned against "an over-reliance on legislation for more and more rules" on manpower, such as progressive wages and flexi-work.

"While all these are indeed legitimate interests, which enterprises are also concerned about, legislating them may not necessarily be the best way forward," he said, calling for "efforts to promote a strong culture of shared responsibility, rather than to adopt a legalistic and prescriptive approach".

The Budget debate, which will last until Thursday, saw a swathe of issues raised, alongside manpower.

Labour activist Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio GRC), who is executive adviser to the National Taxi Association, asked for support - including potentially granting fuel pump rights to unions - to help cab drivers with the recent blow of doubled diesel duties.

Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC), the leader of the opposition, called for universal, permanent healthcare for older Singaporeans, in place of the one-off Merdeka Generation package.

Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) proposed helping lower-income Singaporeans to access government bond investments and boost their savings. To further tackle social inequality, he also suggested imposing a 10 per cent tax on luxury goods.

Meanwhile, Ms Foo asked for a planned two-point hike in the goods and services tax - slated for the next term of government, at the earliest - to be put off "for as long as possible".