Oral Answer by 2nd Minister for Manpower Mr Tan See Leng to PQ on restricted inflow of migrant workers to Singapore

NOTICE PAPER NO. 440 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 11 MAY 2021

QUESTION NO. 1066 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the restricted inflow of workers to Singapore has affected companies in Singapore and their ability and capacity to meet business commitments; and (b) what measures are being considered to mitigate the impact on companies and the products and services they provide to Singaporeans.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 440 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 11 MAY 2021

QUESTION NO. 1099 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Pritam Singh

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) from November 2020 to April 2021, how many In-Principle Approvals (IPA) and successful Entry Passes respectively have been granted to Worker Permit and S Pass applicants from the construction, marine and process sectors on a monthly basis; and (b) whether the Ministry will expand the list of source countries from where companies in these sectors can employ foreign workers to work in Singapore.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 409 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 11 MAY 2021

QUESTION NO. 1019 FOR ORAL ANSWER

NMP: Mr Leong Mun Wai

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the contraction in total employment of non-residents by 181,500 throughout 2020 is also matched by a decline in the total population of non-residents in Singapore in the same period; (b) what are the reasons why non-residents who lose their jobs in Singapore may not be required to leave immediately; (c) how many non-residents who lost their jobs in 2020 have been allowed to remain in Singapore; and (d) how many non-residents who lost their jobs in 2020 have been re-employed in Singapore.

Answer

1. Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Pritam Singh asked about the restricted inflow of workers, and what we are doing to support businesses affected by said restrictions.
2. Businesses have indeed been affected, with the Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process (CMP) sectors the hardest hit as they rely heavily on migrant workers for jobs that few locals are in. In 2020, the number of Work Permit holders in these sectors declined by nearly 60,000, or 16%.
3. We are mindful of the manpower crunch that these firms face. Besides financial relief to help them, we are taking steps to alleviate the manpower shortage. From November 2020 to April 2021, we granted entry approval to an average of 5,100 S Pass and Work Permit holders per month. However, restrictions on inflow of workers from higher-risk countries will likely persist for some time. This is as the size of the inflow has to be reduced when the COVID-19 situation deteriorates, and can only be increased when the situation improves. This is the only way we can ensure the safe inflow of the workers, while managing the risk of transmission in the community.
4. To help businesses tap on workers from other sources, the Government recently announced that we are increasing the existing foreign worker levy rebates for Work Permit holders in the CMP sectors: from $90 to $250 per Work Permit holder per month, from May to December 2021. Employers can make use of these rebates to bring in workers from alternative sources such as China where the workers are generally higher-skilled but command higher wages. MOM and BCA recently announced a temporary scheme to allow new Work Permit holders from China to obtain their skills certification in Singapore, since some Overseas Testing Centres in China have not resumed operations. BCA and EDB will continue to engage firms and review if additional measures are needed to help the CMP sectors through the crisis.
5. Meanwhile, we encourage businesses to retain their existing migrant workers and tap on other workers that are already here in Singapore. Mr Leong Mun Wai asked if the non-resident employment decline in 2020 of 181,500 was matched by the decline in total population of non-residents in the same period. The answer is yes.
6. He also asked about repatriation arrangements. When a work pass expires or is cancelled, we require the worker to leave Singapore in two to four weeks, depending on the pass type. Time is given for the employer to arrange repatriation, and also for the worker to settle their affairs, such as closure of bank accounts and termination of leases.
7. Each year, around 30% of all work pass holders do not continue employment with their original employer and have their passes expire or cancelled. If the work pass holder is able to find new employment before repatriation, there is no reason to purposefully force the worker to return to his home country, incur additional recruitment fees from overseas employment agents, undergo additional COVID-19 testing, and on return to Singapore, serve up to 21 days Stay-Home-Notice (SHN). Furthermore, making the worker make this unnecessary round-trip would increase the risk that he would return with a COVID-19 infection.
8. However, if the work pass holder does not find new employment before the deadline, we ensure that the former employer fulfils its obligation to successfully repatriate the worker.
9. If we insisted that the worker had to leave Singapore even though he has already found an employer, we would have had to allow the entry of nearly 2 times more workers last year, further straining our SHN facilities. The alternative would be to further compound the manpower difficulties faced by businesses, which Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Pritam Singh have highlighted.