Benjamin Mak and Thng Yi Ren - Economic Society of Singapore

Myth 2: Foreigners steal Singaporean jobs
Since foreigners took up 48% of the total number of new jobs created between 1998 and 2008 5 ,
many argue that Singaporeans are squeezed out of the job market at both the top and bottom tiers of
employment by foreign talent and foreign workers, suggesting that Singaporeans are uncompetitive
in terms of skills and wages respectively.
Under close scrutiny though, this view is unfounded. In both middle- and top-tiered jobs, Finance
Minister Tharman Shanmuguratnam reported that 80% of managerial positions are now held by
Singaporeans in a Channelnewsasia political forum aired on 2 April 2011. Furthermore, when firms
hire foreigners at the Integrated Resorts while suitable local talent is being sourced for and trained
for example, Singaporeans will eventually benefit from enhanced employment opportunities.
Immigration: the real concerns
‘Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it’
Benjamin Franklin
Nevertheless, there are genuine challenges for Singapore‟s economy upon deeper examination of
immigration-led population growth. First, most immigrants were employed in lower-skilled jobs 6 ,
precipitating wage depression for lower-income Singaporeans, with real median monthly incomes
of the bottom 20% of employed residents by income being static from 1996 to 2009 7 . Though we
cannot isolate the individual contributions of the multifarious factors contributing to wage
depression, including „new technologies, the decline in manufacturing jobs, drop in unionization,
globalization and recessions‟ 8 , this is worrying because most of our lower-income workers tend also
to be part of the rapidly ageing segment of our society. It is also striking that the educational level
of unemployed Singaporeans has risen steadily over time. Whereas managers, professionals and
technicians formed just 7.6% of unemployed residents in 1976, this figure nearly quadrupled to
30.3% by 2003 9 . Inasmuch as population growth has raised Singapore‟s wealth, it remains doubtful
as to whether most Singaporeans feel this.
5 See Hui, Weng Tat. “Rethinking Singapore's Social Safety Nets .” 2010. Civil Service College, Singapore. p.1
6 Ibid., p. 2.
7 See Hui (2004).
8 See Henderson (2011).
9 See Hui (2004), p. 82
5