We refer to the article “S’pore labour market to remain tight for some time: Lim Swee Say” (Channel NewsAsia, Apr 27).
Two-thirds of workforce are locals?
It states that “In his May Day message to Singaporeans ahead of Labour Day on Thursday, Mr Lim urged employers to be better bosses, and told employees not to take job supply for granted. Two-thirds of Singapore’s workforce are local, and the government hopes to keep it that way.“
62% are locals?
- According to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Force in Singapore 2013 – there were 1,394,900 foreign workers in 2013 (3,443,700 total workforce – 2,138,800 locals).
In other words, the local workforce was 62%.
So, how did the Minister get “Two-thirds of Singapore’s workforce are local”?
Why is there no breakdown of the locals into Singaporeans and PRs?
53% are Singaporeans?
If we assume that about 15% of the locals are permanent residents, then the percentage of Singaporeans becomes about 53%.
In this connection, as there were an estimated 451,934 new citizens and new PRs granted from 2007 to 2013 – how many of the Singaporean workers are new citizens?
Less than 50% are Singaporeans?
If we make an adjustment for this, does it mean that less than half the workforce were not “truly” Singaporeans?
As to “To do so, foreign manpower must eventually grow at the same pace as local manpower, said Mr Lim.
This means the growth of foreign manpower would need to slow down”
260,800 “locals” jobs increase vs 451,934 new citizens/PRs?
- What percentage of the increase in the resident labour force of 260,800 from 2007 to June 2013 were Singaporeans, against the estimated 451,934 new citizens and new PRs granted in the 7 years?
May Day Protest
Come to the May Day protest on Jobs, Wages and Unemployment on 3 May 4 pm at Hong Lim Park
- Jointly organised by Function 8, Workfair, Empowering Singaporeans, with speakers from AWARE, Dr. Vincent Wijeisingha, Tan Kin Lian, Roy Ngerng, Leong Sze Hian, Han Hui Hui, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/events/527069484078804/
SY Lee and Leong Sze Hian