At the Singapore Tripartism Forum Industrial Relations Seminar 2011 on 31 October 2011 themed 'Working Together For Fair And Progressive Employment Practices’, a dialogue was held with key tripartite leaders Minister of State for Manpower & National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) President Stephen Lee to discuss the enhanced Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices issued on the same day. Here are the main topics raised.
NTUC SG Lim On…
Overcoming Adverse Mindsets
When it comes to jobs, SG Lim said that employers and Singaporean workers tend to hold negative and opposing mindsets. Employers, he noted, think that Singaporeans are not willing to take on low end jobs, not able to handle high end jobs, and feel that there are not enough of them to meet the demand for middle level jobs.
Singaporean workers, on the other hand, feel that employers are unwilling to re-design the low end jobs to pay them more or groom them to do the high end jobs, and that employers’ employment criteria for a number of years of job experience often prevent them from taking up the middle level jobs.
He explained, therefore, that the point of enhancing the Tripartite Guidelines for Fair Employment Practices is to enable employers and workers to strike a balance and “overcome” these adverse mindsets.
The Need For Core-calisation
Businesses want to hire the best talents and thus push for globalisation of manpower. Singaporean workers want to be the first to be hired and hence push for localisation of manpower. How can a balance be sought to protect businesses and workers needs?
SG Lim suggested that businesses adopt the Labour Movement’s concept of core-calisation, which encourages organisations to “establish a core of Singaporean workers in every major sector of the economy” and not practice “extreme globalisation”.
“Core-calisation means that every industry, every enterprise ought to adopt a balanced input - yes, you want the best possible talents from all around the world to make yourself competitive, we do not disagree because we want the Singapore economy to be competitive, we want your business to be competitive, but we do object if certain industries, certain enterprises pursue globalisation to the extreme and keep going back to MOM (Ministry of Manpower) to ask for more foreign manpower, keep telling MOM that Singaporean workers are not willing, not able, not enough, that we object,” he elaborated.
Noting that the tripartite partners are able to “harmonise” the interests of both workers and businesses with core-calisation, SG Lim hopes that it can take place at both the industry and enterprise level in order achieve a win-win outcome.
Helping Businesses Stay Viable In Long Run
Making one million foreign workers the core of the Singapore workforce, supported by two million Singaporean workers or vice versa? SG Lim noted that while the former will allow businesses to be competitive and viable, they might not remain so in the long run. However, long term business viability and enabling a competitive Singapore economy are both possible if the latter approach, that is putting Singaporeans at the core of the workforce, is adopted.
“If we work together to strengthen the two million local workforce as the core, supported by the one million foreign manpower, then not only can you make sure that your businesses will be viable, more importantly, we make sure that your businesses are viable in Singapore. Because at the end of the day, what we would like to see is for the Singapore economy to be competitive, viable for a long time to come,” said SG Lim.
He stressed that the idea of enhancing the Tripartite Guidelines for Fair Employment Practices is to strengthen the core of Singaporeans in the workforce, and strongly urged companies to jump on the bandwagon. “If your company does not have a strong core of local workers, please start now. If your company has a strong core of local workers, make it stronger. Some industries among you here are having problems recruiting Singaporean workers, the ‘not able, not willing, not enough’ mindset, please throw that out the window. Because if the sector is not able to rebuild Singaporeans as the core of the industry, in the longer term most of them will no longer be viable in Singapore,” said SG Lim. He further urged companies to work together with the tripartite partners to boost their core of Singaporean workers.
MOS Tan On…
How Companies Can Put Singaporeans First
While the practice of managers hiring people they are comfortable with is unavoidable, Mr Tan wants companies to look into “a platform that do not unnecessarily disadvantage Singaporeans”. This includes restructuring wages to make them more attractive in certain sectors and changing the work environment. He noted that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) also has in place policies to curb discrimination such as increased foreign worker levies, dependency ratios, qualifications and qualifying salaries. For example, the Employment Pass qualifying salary has been raised to $3,000 from $2,800, which ‘forces’ companies to rethink if the foreigner they are employing really has the talents to match the salary.
In situations whereby the foreign talent is equally qualified as the local talent, Mr Tan urged companies to still “seriously consider Singaporeans”. At the same time, he acknowledged that merit is another important factor for hiring as companies need to stay competitive in order to survive in this current global climate. “Companies need to stay competitive, so the basis of merit still remains important but at the same time, all things being equal, if the difference isn’t significant, we do encourage companies to hire locals,” he stressed.
Going forward, Mr Tan said that it is important for HR managers to balance the need to develop a core of Singaporean workers with the aim of staying competitive.
Why There Is No Need To Legislate Guidelines
Mr Tan said that it is not necessary to legislate the enhanced Tripartite Guidelines for Fair Employment Practices as it is “not always useful because it becomes too rigid”. He explained that since the guidelines were developed through consultations with unions and employers, the tripartite parties needed the flexibility to reach a balanced outcome. Mr Tan explained that should there be companies who flout the guidelines, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) can step in to persuade them to fix the erroneous practices. If the companies still do not respond, the cases can be brought to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). He noted that by and large, companies responded positively to the persuasions.
SNEF President Stephen Lee On
Why Hiring Foreigners is Not The Same As Long-Term Competitiveness
“Foreigners are quite fleet footed, and they can move very quickly. By doing that (hiring foreigners), does that retain your long term competitiveness and your core capabilities? Therefore, we are very thankful, companies operating in Singapore have tremendous flexibility. Having one-third of our workforce foreigners, this is one of the highest in the world, definitely in the region.
“…If we accept that, therefore I argue that from a company’s own competitive standpoint, you must rely your core competence on a core group of Singaporeans even though the Singaporeans sometimes you find difficult to handle…”
“…Nevertherless, regardless, for your own long-term competitiveness, you need to develop the desire to contribute to this core group of Singaporeans and supplement this group. That is the way to go and that’s the long-term plan. If you replace your core…because of short-term experience then I start to question the viability of your company in the long run.”
LM Pledges Support For Guidelines
"Let me on behalf of the Labour Movement pledge our support to these guidelines. We will do our part to strengthen productivity fully and management will have to enhance sharing of productivity gains. At the same time, we will work with our tripartite partners to keep strengthening Singaporeans as the core of the workforce. We must close the door to foreign manpower as long as the core-calisation mindset is being adopted, being embraced in as many sectors, in as many companies as we can."
NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say
