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Further, the impact of interventions studied might change if applied at a different time period, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng highlighted.
In ensuring good employment outcomes for Singaporeans, Minister of Manpower Dr. Tan See Leng has acknowledged the importance of policies that enable firms to access foreign workers who can complement the local workforce. Through this, firms can grow and create more opportunities for locals.
As Minister Tan shared when addressing a Parliamentary question, the Government regularly conducts impact assessment studies on a range of policies to support policy-making, including foreign workforce policies. Some of these studies are published every quarter through the Economic Survey of Singapore [catch up on the 2022 edition here].
One key finding of Singapore’s internal studies on foreign workforce policies is that tightening access to lower-skilled foreign workers is more likely to have a positive impact on local employment outcomes compared to tightening access to higher-skilled foreign workers. This is because businesses were able to "substitute lower-skilled but cheaper foreign workers with locals, and therefore improve production processes accordingly," Minister Tan stated.
“This has informed our approach of remaining open to high-quality, foreign professionals, while maintaining a disciplined stance in regulating the number of work permit holders through quotas and levies.”
Still, Minister Tan pointed out that it is important to note that these studies are just one input to the entire policy-making process.
He further acknowledged that the studies have their limitations. "For example, they are unable to account for less quantifiable effects of having foreigners in the workforce, such as knowledge spillovers to locals and other network effects."
The impact of the interventions studied might also change if they are applied beyond a certain scale or at a different time period, he highlighted.
“As such, they need to be interpreted carefully alongside other sources of information, including more recent labour market statistics, as well as industry feedback.”
Lead photo / Shutterstock
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