Migrant workers: The mirage of disappearance

IT IS appalling, and there have to be big changes: that seems to be an emerging consensus on male migrant workers' accommodation since the rapid spread of Covid-19 in dormitories attracted a spotlight to conditions there. While there is now a strong body of support for reform, a feeling often expressed is that the entire problem of how to provide for migrant workers could be mitigated if Singapore's dependence on them was to be reduced. This assumes that reduced dependence would mean reduced migrant worker numbers.

This is not a new goal at national level. It has been restated at various times, and the stated aim of imposing a levy on employers for every migrant worker they take on was to keep down demand for them. Demand may have been reduced, but numbers have still trended upwards.

Real efforts have been made in the recent past to reduce the need to bring in additional construction workers to boost productivity. Making greater use of prefabrication was one way of achieving this. A change in policy that allowed workers who were coming to the end of a contract in Singapore to seek new employment without returning to their home country first was another step to improve productivity, among other goals, by retaining skills honed in Singapore within the country. While sustained efforts may bring down demand for migrant workers in construction, it is hard to see why there would be a speedy or large fall in worker numbers, short of a radical contraction in the sector in the near future.