Singapore’s financial industry is producing more positions than local workers can fill, and the city-state will lose its competitiveness and development will be subpar if it does not keep its doors open to global talent, according to the governor of the central bank.
Foreign labour has traditionally been a contentious subject in the financial centre, with the COVID-19 outbreak adding to residents’ concerns about job security.
According to government data, Non-Residents account for little under 30% of Singapore’s 5.45 million population, up from roughly 10% in 1990.
“A ‘Singaporeans only’ strategy will be deadly for Singapore as a global financial centre,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said at a symposium. “There are simply not enough locals to fulfil the fast-expanding expert demands of financial institutions.” Singapore’s financial regulator is the central bank.
Menon’s remarks come as Singapore tightens visa and employment restrictions to alleviate local fears about overseas employees snatching away better-paying positions.
In the 2020 general election, the ruling People’s Action Party had its lowest vote share since independence. It balanced Singapore’s desirability as a global economic centre with local complaints about employment competitiveness.
The proposal to tighten international employment standards comes at a time when Singapore is projected to be able to entice more expatriates to leave Hong Kong, the region’s second important financial centre, owing to political unrest and rigorous COVID-19 lockdowns.
Last year, however, the number of foreign employment permit holders dropped to 161,700, the lowest level in at least a decade.
