A/P Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim
COS Cut for MOM
Economic Growth and Jobs for Locals
The Singapore economy grew by 3.6% in 2017. This is better than the economic growths in 2015 and 2016.
At the employment front, we were informed of a drop in Singapore’s total employment in 2017. This was due to a larger drop in foreign employment, although local employment grew.
I would like to ask the Minister, has the economic growths in the past few years, benefited Singaporeans, in particular the growth in PMET jobs?
Employment Support for Locals
During last year’s COS Debate, Minister Lim shared that MOM was working on a few strategies to provide enough jobs for Singaporeans and better quality ones too. Many initiatives have been undertaken and enhanced, such as the enhanced Professional Conversion Programme, the “Attach and Train” scheme, and the enhanced Career Support Programme.
I would like to ask the Minister how effective have MOM’s efforts been in helping locals, particularly mature PMETs and those who have been unemployed for long periods to take on new job opportunities? Will MOM similarly be doing more to help rank and file workers?
Local-Foreign Complementarity
Over the last two year’s COS Debates, I have raised the issue about Singaporean and foreign workers, in terms of the Singaporean core and the complementarity of local and foreign workers.
I would like to ask the Minister for an update.
Can the Minister share on MOM’s treatment of “Triple Weak” and “Triple Strong” companies.
Finally, I would like to know if these efforts have resulted in better outcomes for Singaporeans, in particular for our PMETs?
Answer:
In a bid to give Singaporeans fair access to more high-quality jobs, the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) will be expanded to cover more employers and jobs.