Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. All data comes from the Ministry of Manpower.
One of the most contentious topics in Singapore has always been the allegation presented by some that the foreign workforce is flooding the city-state not only to fill the least desirable and lowest-paid jobs, but also the most attractive and lucrative ones as well.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has now addressed the topic in its most recent Job Vacancy report, which has summarised the employment situation among PMET professionals and the share of local to foreign employment in each industry.
In the chart below, the vertical axis shows the proportion of local PMETs to foreign ones. In other words, the higher the blue dot is in the chart, the greater the number of locals employed vs. foreign EP/S Pass holders.
The horizontal axis, meanwhile, shows the percentage share of all PMET vacancies of each of the industries. So, the further to the right, the greater the number of opportunities.
The first thing that stands out is the empty white rectangle in the bottom right. It shows that there is no major industry where the share of the foreign workforce would be greater than 25% (which represents the 3:1 ratio for local PMETs, e.g. Information & Communications, Manufacturing and Professional Services).
Secondly, the only three industries with foreign employment in the range of 40 to 50% among PMETs are Food & Beverage Services, Construction and Administrative Services—basically the three sectors that are the least attractive to Singaporeans anyway, including in positions of greater responsibility and skill.
What’s more is that they currently offer the fewest good openings.
Industries ranked by share of local PMETs
Let’s sum up the chart in a list. While MOM didn’t list specific values for the positions presented in the chart, we can still rank all of them by the rough proportion of the number of locals to foreigners in each:
Between 7:1 to 6:1 (i.e. between seven and six locals employed for every foreigner)
- Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
- Health & Social Services
- Financial & Insurance Services
Between 5:1 and 3:1 (i.e. between five and three locals employed for every foreigner)
- Accommodation
- Transportation & Storage
- Wholesale Trade
- Retail Trade
- Professional Services
- Manufacturing
- Information & Communications
Between 2:1 to 1:1 (i.e. between two and one locals employed for every foreigner)
- Administrative & Support Services
- Construction
- Food & Beverage Services
As you can see, the best-paying sector of all—finance—remains dominated by local residents, with less than 15% of PMET jobs held by foreign pass holders. A similar share is reported for Health & Social Services, which includes doctors and specialised healthcare technicians.
Even in IT, that proportion does not exceed 25%, while the sector remains the most starved for talent, offering the greatest number of opportunities (roughly 1 in 7 PMET job openings is in Information & Communications).
The myth of foreign advantage
Some eagle-eyed readers will point out that the statistics do not differentiate between Singapore citizens (SCs) and permanent residents (PRs), so a good number of these well-paid jobs could be held by foreigners with a PR status.
And that is true. However, distinguishing between SCs and PRs in this particular case is irrelevant, because for all intents and purposes, both groups enjoy similar privileges—and are burdened with similar obligations.
One of the main allegations made about immigrants is that they benefit from not having to pay anything into CPF, which denies them future pension coverage, but also makes them relatively cheaper than Singaporeans.
As a result, some like to claim, locals are at a disadvantage when looking for jobs if they have to compete with foreigners who won’t cost the employer nearly as much.
These limitations do not extend to permanent residents, however, who have the same CPF obligations as citizens. In other words, there is no inherent advantage that those foreigners would, allegedly, have over Singapore citizens.
Personally, the suggestion that qualified immigrants are cheaper never made much sense to me, as no serious employee will accept a job that doesn’t pay enough to allow for insurance planning.
What’s more, they also have to contend with significant relocation costs that employers usually have to bear. On top of this, they often move with entire families, including children, and are not entitled to HDB housing, which means they have to splurge on a private condominium while living on a single income.
In other words, with the exception of jobs towards the bottom of the pay grade, often filled by Malaysians who reside across the border to save money (or plan to return after some time spent here), foreigners tend to be more expensive to employ in practice, and this appears to be reflected in MOM figures.
Foreign PMET employment is the highest in industries which are the least attractive to citizens, not offering quite the same pay or stability, and thus more likely to see immigration from neighbouring countries or by people who are willing to put up with the unattractive conditions.
The same isn’t true for advanced industries, which seek more qualified workers who, as a result, are considerably more expensive, so there are far fewer of them.
It would explain why local PMET employment dominates some of the most lucrative professions, like finance and healthcare, both of which keep offering plenty of openings that Singaporeans can apply for and, clearly, not feel disadvantaged in competition with foreigners.
- Read other articles we’ve written on job trends here.
Featured Image Credit: joyfull/depositphotos
