Keeping Singaporeans at the core of the workforce will be the priority as enhanced guidelines by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) set in. Speaking at the Singapore Tripartism Forum Industrial Relations Seminar on 31 October 2011, the same day in which the guidelines were released, Minister of State for Manpower and National Development Tan Chuan-Jin (pictured right) stressed the importance of this need. The guidelines by TAFEP is a tripartite initiative co-led by NTUC and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and supported by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
In line with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech to make Singaporeans first in areas ranging from housing to healthcare, Mr Tan said that ensuring “Singaporeans remain the core of the workforce” in the area of employment will involve an approach on the macro and micro level.
On the macro level, the Minister said that “MOM’s work pass framework needs to ensure that companies have the manpower they need,so that their businesses can remain viable.” He also addressed the need to moderate demand for foreign manpower.
He said: “We will strengthen measures and enforcement to deter circumvention and contravention of the work pass framework.” He added: “It is I think a valuable opportunity for all of us to transform ourselves, to transform our companies to increase productivity and I think importantly to position ourselves after the next storm, to recover and to ride the recovery thereafter.”
Going further, he also addressed discriminatory practices at the workplace: “Let me emphasise that discriminatory practices have no place in Singapore. Hence at the micro level, we also need companies to understand their responsibilities to attract, recruit and develop Singaporeans so that Singaporeans remain at the core of our workforce.”
With the new set of guidelines in place, Mr Tan said that “employers should make reasonable efforts to attract and consider Singaporeans for job positions on merit, and to train and develop their potential and careers”.
This meant “taking steps in spirit and action to show that jobs are open to Singaporeans”.Examples of such efforts would include ensuring that jobs advertised are open to Singaporeans, working with educational institutions, career centres and recruitment agencies to attract and recruit Singaporeans, and also developing the skills and expertise of their existing Singaporean employees for higher level jobs.
EDC Issues Addressed
He also addressed the critical challenges faced by workers and the Labour Movement that were raised at NTUC’s Extraordinary Delegates’ Conference. This included the importance of productivity improvements and for productivity gains to be shared with workers. Mr Tan emphasised the importance of productivity improvements to raise the competitiveness of companies.
This included utilising assistance made available for unions and employees to do their part in supporting management. He added that to keep the faith of employees, productivity gains must be shared with employees and appropriate schemes are to effect such sharing so that “employees are duly rewarded and engaged meaningfully”.
Raising another concern that was highlighted by NTUC on Professionals,Managers and Executives (PMEs) having limited representation, he said that the issue “should be addressed through tripartite discussion” to continue with the consultative approach that the tripartite partners have adopted in matters relating to employment and industrial relations.
Mr Tan also reiterated the importance of tripartism as the economy evolves and new challenges are faced. He said: “This tripartite partnership approach has been our key advantage against other countries and must be preserved and must be strengthened.”
