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Minister Josephine Teo on hiring of foreigners in financial institutions

In a Parliamentary question yesterday, Member of Parliament Lim Biow Chuan raised a question on the number of complaints received in the past three years, regarding excessive foreigners working in financial institutions.

To this, Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo replied that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), together with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), had received 65 complaints/feedbacks during that period.

In most cases, the complaints did not provide specific information for any follow-up action; of those that did, MOM and TAFEP had investigated thoroughly and taken appropriate actions, including the withholding of work pass privileges.

Minister Teo clarified: "Locals hold more than four out of five jobs paying S$3,600 or more (the minimum qualifying salary for Employment Pass) in the financial sector.  This ratio has held steady over the last three years, even as the workforce in the sector grew."

She added that while most financial institutions and hiring managers understand the need to hire based on merit, a minority of employers still seek to circumvent the fair hiring requirements.

"MOM does not tolerate any form of workplace discrimination and has recently raised penalties across the board for all forms of discrimination. Beyond the employers, MOM will also take individual employees to task if they were involved in any unfair hiring practices. Beyond complaints, MOM has enhanced our detection of unfair hiring behaviour through data analytics."

Photo / 123RF

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