MORE than 100,000 new jobs will be created this year, with many going to Singaporeans, if the economy grows by 7 to 9 per cent as forecast, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday.
But some proportion of these job openings have to be filled by foreigners on employment and work passes.
Said Mr Lee: 'I hope Singaporeans will understand this. If we want the buoyancy and bonuses which go with high growth, then we must accept a temporary inflow of foreign workers.'
Foreign workers are needed as they enable the economy to grow rapidly during an upswing and cushion the impact of a downturn on Singaporean workers, as was the case last year, he added. And given the projected strong economic growth this year, 'a higher inflow of foreign workers is unavoidable'.
But in the longer term, he said Singapore will cut back its reliance on foreign manpower as it makes a basic shift in economic strategy, following recommendations from the Economic Strategies Committee in February.
The previous strategy of relying on productivity growth and growing of the workforce through Singapore's population and foreign workers, which make up one-third of the workforce, is reaching its limits, said Mr Lee.
- The Straits Times
No comments:
Post a Comment