Landscaping, conservancy to get ‘targeted flexibilities’ in foreign worker quotas
This means they may not be subject to the overall dependency ratio ceiling of 35% for the services sector
[SINGAPORE] Certain service industries, such as landscaping and conservancy, will get “targeted flexibilities” in their foreign worker quotas, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng in a written parliamentary reply on Thursday (Nov 6).
Specifically, these flexibilities will apply to the dependency ratio ceiling (DRC) that caps the share of Work Permit and S Pass holders in a company’s workforce.
The overall DRC for the services sector is 35 per cent. But the Manpower Ministry (MOM) has been “working with sector agencies to provide targeted flexibilities, such as for landscaping and conservancy”, said Dr Tan.
This is in recognition of how the services sector “covers a broad range of subsectors with differing manpower needs, which could include essential roles that are difficult to automate and recruit locals for”, he said.
He was replying to Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong, who asked if there would be distinct “waste and cleaning” as well as “food and beverage” subcategories within the services sector, with differentiated dependency ratios and quotas.
Dr Tan did not specify how the DRCs will change for landscaping and conservancy, or what other services subsectors may qualify for such flexibilities. The Business Times has reached out to MOM for more details.
In his reply, Dr Tan said MOM regularly reviews DRCs based on economic needs, local workforce outcomes, and infrastructural and social constraints.
“We will continue to review our Work Permit framework to drive transformation and productivity growth, while calibrating it to support the needs of businesses,” he said.
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