— SG competing for foreign talents .. SG has limited natural resources, similar to Japan.. must maximize and compete on human capital, but the local population human capital is also limited. For example, FinDev is one HVA [high value-add] sector. Most of the qualified individuals are foreigners including Indians, Chinese, East Europeans, SEAsians. Citizens like me are perhaps 3~7% of the talent pool. The HVA sectors often need skills that are lacking in the local population. Therefore, SG needs to /import/ foreign talents to jump start those growth engines, and hope to get more locals trained in those HVA sectors. Many of my Fin-IT foreign colleagues really like SG and want to stay here forever. If one of the foreign talents have kids growing up in SG, government hopes these kids mingle with local kids and become naturalized Singaporeans. However, these same individuals often migrate to U.S., Australia, Canada, or return to home countries. Therefore, SG is engaged in a global competition for talents and their _genes_. I am probably considered one of the well-naturalized foreign talents.

How about HK in comparison? HK has plenty of talent from mainland, but also needs foreign talent (Caucasians, Indians…) in key sectors.

— stats .. In the media, “ForeignWorker” usually refers to WP [very low min salary] and sometimes includes S-Pass holders [must earn at least S$3k as for 2023 new applicants]. In contrast, ForeignProfessionals or ForeignTalents usually refer to S-Pass or EP holders.

As of mid 2021

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-foreign-workers-reliance-challenges-12806970?cid=h3_referral_inarticlelinks_24082018_cna is a mid 2020 analysis. It shows that Singapore’s 1.4+ million foreign workforce is 25% of the country’s population of 5.7 million people (2020 stats).

Aside from the 400,000 (2021 was lower) foreign professionals holding either an Employment Pass or S-Pass, nearly all the rest are work permit holders in low-wage, low-skilled positions… a million+ (2021 was lower). Part of that was 300k+ migrant workers. The proportion of the foreign workforce relative to total employment varies from about 78 per cent in construction to about 56 per cent in manufacturing, and around 30 per cent in services.

In 2020, Transport minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament that in the financial sector the median wage for Singaporeans was S$6,000 to S$8,000 a month, compared with S$8,000 to S$10,000 for permanent residents and foreigners.

A 2022 article claims that non-residents comprise 27% of a population of 5.5 million (2022 stats), and as of 2020 foreigners made up more than 20% of the professional labor force [EP or S-Pass PMET, not PRs].

— Q: J4 this blogpost, i.e. why do I bother?
A: nursing (and maid) cost affects my family’s healthcare budget now till our golden years. Consider my elderly care and Shield plans. I can see these costs are higher in other developed countries.
A: .. to a lesser extent, ditto for other public (and private) service infrastructure. I am relying on the Singapore infrastructure
A: SG’s long-term competitiveness depends on foreign manpower both at high end (not the focus here) and low end

Implicitly, we are referring to a few categories of low-wage foreign workers

• healthcare including nursing
• construction, manufacturing,
• maid
• logistics
• customer service including retail, call centers
• consumer-facing service sectors

— migrant worker salary and local enthusiasm for those jobs
Bringing in foreign workers is not as cheap as people think. A construction worker typically earns about S$800 a month in basic pay, but each worker costs at least double that, if you count the levy, accommodation and food expenses, as well as overtime pay. “It’s not that much more expensive to hire a local,” Mr Peh said. He is willing to pay between S$2,000 to S$3,000 for a local, but there are still no takers when he puts out the job advertisements.

At a level above construction site work, the enthusiasm among Singaporeans to take up jobs for technicians and technologists is low due to perceptions of these jobs being meant for foreign workers and the lack of recognition and career progression.

At precision engineering manufacturer Rexadvance Technologies, nearly all its machine operators are S-Pass or Work Permit holders. Workers in these roles are paid S$2,500 to S$3,000, but the amount is still not enough to attract local applicants.

— strategic dependency on migrant workers (not EPs)
During a May 2020 discussion, trade bodies and associations released a joint statement declaring that Singapore’s economy will suffer without foreign workers, and result in fewer jobs for Singaporeans in the long run.

Several Government ministers, from Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing to Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, have reiterated during recent media interviews that while Singapore should depend less on foreign workers by automating processes, the country can never eliminate its need for them.

Singapore’s small and shrinking domestic population means it is increasingly tougher to find the people who will take up low-wage, manual labor jobs.

Mr Chan pointed out “For a small country without natural resources, we compete on the basis that we are a good place for people to do business. If we lose out in that relative game compared to other people, then, unfortunately, I think the future of Singapore will not be what we expect it to be”. Singapore’s competitiveness depends on low-wage foreign workers.