Naive to expect IRs to give priority to Singaporeans in job applications

Naive to expect IRs to give priority to Singaporeans in job applications

I refer to the letter written by Tan Shao Ken entitled “IR jobs: Are Singaporeans being given priority?” (read letter here)

Mr Tan wrote that Singaporeans must have priority and right of refusal and the Government and the IRs must work to ensure that Singaporeans who are qualified and want a job with the IRs get one.

Mr Tan was referring to the recent uproar in cyberspace over IR jobs going to foreigners. He had the impression that the IRs will create many jobs for Singaporeans.

I am afraid that Mr Tan, like many others before him, has been misled by the mainstream media which had overhyped the recent recruitment drives of the two IRs.

To put it bluntly, the IRs are never meant to create jobs for Singaporeans in the first place. The Singapore government needs the IRs to provide an additional source of revenue for their coffers through taxation and the two consortiums who won the right to build the IRs just want to maximize their profits.

If we take these business considerations into context, there is no reason for either the government or the IRs to give priorities to Singaporeans in job applications.

Besides Filipinos, the IRs are also actively recruiting staff from Taiwan and Malaysia according to insider sources. Filipinos are highly prized for their command of the English language while Taiwanese and Malaysian Chinese are willing to work for long hours with few complaints (I quote a HR manager here)

It is much cheaper to hire a foreigner than a Singaporean in the long run because the employer does not need to fork out another 13% of their basic salaries to pay for CPF contributions.

By the time the IRs are opened end of the year for SANDS and next year for Resort Worlds, the global economy is probably still in the doldrums and it is widely expected they will make a loss in the first few years.

It is therefore predictable that the IRs will want to reduce their overheads by cutting down on manpower costs. I am not surprised if more than half the IR workforce is made up of foreigners eventually.

Can our government force the IRs to recruit Singaporeans? Frankly speaking, I do not think they have the right to do so unless it was stipulated in the contract originally that the IRs need to allocate a certain number of jobs to Singaporeans.

I would advise Mr Tan to stop whining and think of ways instead to upgrade his qualifications and skills so as to improve his chances of being employed.

For goodness sake, the Singapore government does not owe us a living. Since when did it start to favor locals over foreigners?

Between decreasing the profitability of the IRs by forcing them to recruit locals and welcoming more potential PRs and citizens to our shores, the choice is obvious.

If Mr Tan still feel hard done by the government’s pro-foreigner policy, I suggest he casts a protest vote against them in the next general election.

The bitter truth is: Singaporeans only have themselves to blame for the current predicament they are in by forsaking their basic political rights for crumbs thrown at them by the ruling party.

It is the pregorative of the IR to decide on who to employ. Let us not forget that Singapore is where it is today because we practise meritocracy regardless of nationality. Being Singaporean does not confer one any additional advantage. In fact, some are better off being born in China or India.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27107.1