Majority of firms qualifying for foreign worker flexibility scheme are foreign-owned
OF THE companies that currently qualify for the Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities (M-SEP) scheme, which provides temporary foreign worker flexibility, around 40 per cent have local shareholding of at least 30 per cent, said Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 2).
But local shareholding is not a prerequisite for this scheme, he added: “What is more important in the entire M-SEP scheme is that they contribute to our growth and they create opportunities for Singaporeans.”
He was responding to Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC), who asked for the breakdown of foreign-owned and local-owned companies that qualify.
About 1,000 firms are currently eligible for M-SEP, though not all may require M-SEP support, Dr Tan said in a previous parliamentary reply in January.
The scheme allows firms to hire S Pass and work permit holders above the prevailing dependency ratio ceiling (DRC) and S Pass sub-DRC for two years, subject to certain conditions.
Eligible firms can get additional quotas of up to 5 per cent of their base workforce headcount, with a cap of 50 workers per firm.
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To qualify, firms must participate in activities or government programmes in line with economic priorities such as innovation and internationalisation. They must also commit to hiring and/or training local workers.
“M-SEP is very selective in targeting firms or investments which will grow our economy and our competitiveness”, said Dr Tan. He added that these firms would already have been working closely with economic agencies such as the Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore.
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