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Mr Speaker, I rise in support of Budget 2021. I thank DPM for a 4F Budget. One that is Focused, Forward Looking, For businesses, and most importantly For workers.
I wish to make a special highlight for a segment of our workforce which the current downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted immensely. They are the many Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs for short) in Singapore, especially those in their 40s to 60s.
Total retrenchment numbers have reached an all-time high of about 26,000 in 2020 (compared with just less than 11,000 in 2019). It is noteworthy that in 2019, about 60% of those retrenched were PMETs and in the latest Q3 2020 figures, about 50% of those retrenched were PMETs. By the same token, about 62% of the retrenched resident PMETs re-entered the workforce within 6 months of their displacement in 2019 whereas in the latest Q3 2020 figures, only about 55% of retrenched resident PMETs re-entered the workforce within 6 months.
Top Concerns of PMEs: Job Security and Employability
The NTUC-SNEF PME Taskforce, which was formed end 2020, has started to engage PMEs to better understand their concerns and priorities the past 3 months. We found that PMEs are particularly concerned with job security and employability.
A recent survey conducted by the taskforce with 3500 PMEs across varying ages, professions, and gender revealed that 6 in 10 PMEs felt that they needed protection against job losses and 7 in 10 expressed the need for more support in employment opportunities.
The taskforce also conducted a series of Focus Group Discussions, which are still on-going, with various segments of PMEs from the young to the not-so-young, including our union leaders. The PMEs we met highlighted concerns of unfair hiring practices, workplace discrimination, career progression as well as health and mental wellness issues. Many also shared their personal anecdotes on difficulties in getting employed due to their age, inability to land a job despite undergoing training, as well as coping with disruption and the next normal.
Despite that, it was encouraging to hear that many of our PMEs recognised and acknowledged the importance of continued upskilling, reskilling and multi-skilling to ride the wave of disruption and to stay relevant in the labour market.
In fact, 81 per cent of those surveyed attended training over the last three years and 98 per cent agreed that companies should proactively send their employees for training to stay relevant.
Against the current economic climate and the challenges that COVID-19 has brought about, I can’t help but emphasise the need to put Singaporeans at the heart of our policies and programmes that impact their employment and employability….in short, their lives and livelihoods.
For a start, more must be done to better protect vulnerable PMEs who are in their 40s to 60s. We need support from both government and employers to ensure that they are not discriminated at workplaces, have fair access to PME roles, as well as training and progression opportunities.
It is therefore timely to review, expand, extend, and tighten related schemes, laws, policies, and programmes which can better protect and support these PMEs in the areas of employment and employability to ensure fairness and inclusivity. In this regard, I have three suggestions:
Tougher Measures to Strengthen the Singaporean Core
While many of us recognise the contribution of foreign PMEs to Singapore’s economy and reasons why we need them, there remains a ground concern that the reliance on foreign PMEs has led to an unnecessary increase in competition in the job market and employment. To safeguard the Singaporean Core and curb discriminatory hiring, we must ensure that Singaporean PMEs have access to a level-playing field for jobs while balancing companies’ manpower needs in the immediate and longer-term.
The qualifying salaries of both the Employment Pass and S Pass holders were recently raised in 2020 – but this needs to be regularly reviewed and raised in line with rising median wages of PMETs.
The problem is that some PMETs view the increase in qualifying salaries as “raising” minimum wages for foreign talents. There are also ground concerns pointing to employers who raise the salaries or repackage the compensation and benefits of their foreign PMETs to comply with the rules, and not give similar pay hikes to the Singaporean PMETs who work alongside these foreign PMETs performing similar or same jobs. This results in serious parity issues. We also hear that there are employers who “downgraded” their Employment Pass holders performing the same job functions to S-Pass to “comply” with the policy changes.
We therefore need to look at ways to further strengthen the S-Pass criteria and conditions to prevent such a back-door approach.
This also means we need continued stricter enforcement against errant companies with a weakening Singaporean core, especially those who continue to be ‘triple weak’ – companies with highly disproportionate number of foreign PMEs, weak commitment to nurture and strengthen Singaporean Core, and weak relevance to Singapore’s economy and society.
Besides administrative and penal sanctions that are already in place and can be enhanced, I have lobbied before in this House and am highlighting again that enforcement can come in the form of revealing or publishing the ‘triple weak’ watchlist which the Ministry of Manpower and Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) maintain so that the potential reputational loss would serve as a deterrence.
We can also impose mandatory audits and penalties such as removing preferential tax and other benefits including curtailment of the award of public sector contracts on companies with discriminatory hiring practices and high proportion of grievance cases if no improvement is made within a stipulated time period.
To strengthen the Singaporean Core, employers must ensure locals have fair access to PME roles and progression opportunities. I agree and support when DPM highlighted the principle of “complementarity” when it comes to hiring of foreign manpower. Often, employers bring in foreign PMEs to fill skills or knowledge gaps in their current workforce. As such, it is imperative that we monitor and ensure concerted, structured, and institutionalised skills and knowledge transfer from these foreign PMEs to our local PMEs within a stipulated and agreed time frame. Employers must also have clear development plans to grow the Singaporean core and build a pipeline of locals to fill roles at all levels of the hierarchy including the top.
Anecdotally, some companies increase the hire of only the entry-level Singaporean PMEs to increase the workforce size to circumvent the issue of a disproportionate percentage or number of foreign PMEs. Besides employers and businesses, employment agents and agencies operating locally and also overseas, and hiring for PME roles in Singapore must also be closely scrutinised to ensure they keep within the boundaries of the law and eradicate unfair hiring practices.
Anti-Discrimination Legislation
By the same token, and in the spirit of strengthening the Singaporean core, and cases of preference for foreign PMEs, which is a form of nationality discrimination, we continue to hear anecdotally of ageism (especially from the mature PMEs) as well of other forms of discrimination impacting workers such as in relation to gender, disability, and race etc.
Perhaps, it is time for us to seriously deep dive and consider, (beyond mere tripartite advisories, guidelines and standards) to promulgate anti-discrimination legislation to give a stronger set of teeth to existing institutions like TAFEP which has done well in educating, promoting and encouraging fair and progressive hiring practices since its set-up. Such a legislation could send a stronger signal than the current tripartite standards and guidelines, to send a clear deterrence, give TAFEP wider powers, and eradicate all forms of discrimination and discriminatory practices at workplaces by employers as well as employment agents or agencies.
Transitionary Insurance (aka Unemployment Insurance)
As we have seen in 2020 amidst the COVID19 pandemic, many sectors and workers have been affected. In fact, the government had to set aside a budget of $100 billion to save businesses and save jobs and to provide income relief and assistance to those affected by retrenchment or severe wage cuts. In this regard and having gleaned from the various recessions and downturns including this current downturn, it may be timely for us to consider introducing some form of transitionary insurance (commonly referred to as unemployment insurance) to help workers affected by retrenchment and job loss. However, I am cognizant that there is a need to do a deeper dive and examine the mechanics and the actuarial viability and sustainability of such a scheme. There are important considerations such as the trigger event, premium amounts, duration, and amount of pay-outs, whether it should be made compulsory to avoid self-selection, how we price the risk, the need for a critical mass or universality and whether it is to be implemented by any of our tripartite partners or all 3 partners together or by a private sector entity or even a social enterprise etc. Notwithstanding, we have seen such a scheme work well in countries like Germany and in some of the Scandinavian countries without causing excessive burdens on governments, employers, and employees alike. There could also be a possibility to explore and seed fintech or an insurtech start-ups to come up with such a scheme but with strong support from tripartite partners especially the government in the form of seed funding and support as well as co-funding.
Conclusion
今年的财政预算案是一个针对性，长远性，为企业，为工友的预算案。但我最担心的是我们中年的专业，经理及执行人员。在实行计划以及蓝图，我希望我们能1.创造以国人为核心的工作队伍，2.制定反歧视法消除在工作场所的歧视现象，3.探讨实施失业保险给工友在失业的时候有基本的保障。
We recognise the growing need to ensure PMEs are adequately protected, have access to good jobs and are equipped with the relevant skills. As we prepare for the next normal, it is important that we continue to entrench progressive and fair practices at workplaces and extend schemes to support local PMEs, especially the vulnerable workers. The Labour Movement and our unions can support local PMEs by working closely with employers to put in place multi-faceted support and strategies to enhance one’s job security and skills security through our company training committees and job security council.
However, it continues to be crucial to level the playing field for Singaporean PMEs, strengthen the Singaporean core, eradicate all forms of discrimination through tougher measures and targeted legislation, and support PMEs and workers in general, to transit effectively and less painfully between jobs.
In conclusion, the tripartite partners, government, employers and the Labour Movement need to embrace the changes and disruptions with the right attitude and right mindset and to see this period not as a threat but as an opportunity to re-invent and transform and test new boundaries and innovations. To put it simply, we need to prepare ourselves with new skills, pivot to new industries and jobs in demand and persevere amidst the next normal. I thank our fellow workers who have stood strong, united and remained resilient the past year. I hope we will upturn the downturn this year, build back better, and emerge stronger. I support this Budget. Thank you.
