"Local Talents" vs "Foreign Talents", What's your view
Photo credits to this photographer: CSM Showing Pink IC and Red Passport
Two posts ago i mentioned that i will make a post to talk about my views on LTs vs FTs. Not that it matters to anyone, but it is just my humble thoughts. Naturally, forgetful lazy me moved on to other topics. I worked in a industry which Singaporean is an extremely rare species, and i dont blame the government for it. Ill talk about the reason why later.
The reason why i wanted to talk about this was because of the above article i read, but topic will be of slightly different nature. The article seemsto insinuate that locals are demanding for too high a salary compared to foreigners in their own countries. Im not sure if this is a fair comparison because we are comparing setting up a business in Singapore vs another country. We cannot say that because in Manila, the locals asked for 400 dollars pay, and Singaporeans should ask for similar amount of pay as well? Cost of living between two cities are different, no? However, if we say bringing in the foreigners in to work in Singapore benefits the business more than hiring Singaporean, then perhaps this is a more justified statement in the perspective of the business owners.
In the eyes of the business owners, profit is priority. Is it worthwhile to pay a Singaporean 50% more because Singaporean's productivity is 50% more than a foreigner? Or simply because we are Singaporean, and thus we deserved a higher pay than a foreigner? How do we stay competitive then? How can a business owner justify paying for a worker than demands higher pay just because of the citizenship and produce the same quality of work, or sometimes lower quality. They just cant.
Ah gong lee once said before "That younger Singaporeans had become “less hard-driving and hard-striving”, compared with “hungry” immigrants." . I didnt agree then, but i kinda agree now. Younger Singaporean have perhaps lost the drive. When i started working, i was rotated around different departments in my first company because i was a local uni graduate. The company really wanted to increase the number of Singaporean. Thus, i was with the HR dept for a while, and i helped on recruitment drive at local universities. The questions that i got were as below.
1. "How much is the starting pay" - Well our industry pays more than others. So this is certainly the bright spot.
2. "What's the job nature like?" Dirty, spend long hours away from home, sometimes missing festive season and not very glam like cushy office jobs. I dont want to sugar coat as i want stayers and not people who quit upon finding out the truth.
3. " huh? im getting married, huh? my gf/bf will not like it, my parents will not be happy, gotta work long hours ah? Gotta travel alot ah? How about work life balance ah? " At this point of time, ive already given up.
Foreigners were MUCH more receptive to the job scope. I guess to them , they are already away from home, so what's the difference?
End of the day, only maybe 5% applications were locals and this recruitment drive was done at a local universities. When i talked to my peers, they were envious of my remuneration package until they heard about my job nature. Thus, after 2 rounds of recruitment drive, i kinda get it that most Singaporean prefer to stay in Singapore, have a good pay, doesnt have to sweat much for work, and preferably have a good work life balance. So, you yourself refuse to spend the effort to earn the money and then you start to complain that foreigners come in to take your position. I would say my job is pretty lucrative for my sub-par degree, but why Singaporean youth shun it? Sadly, we really have lost our hunger and determination of our forefathers. Are we just resting on our forefathers' laurels now? I've done my best as a Singaporean trying to bring in younger Singaporeans but efforts were futile. So now, we are at a 4 way junction of Contented Singaporean Vs Hungry Foreigners Vs Profit Driven Business Owners Vs Government.
All these are just my thoughts after what ive seen and im not saying im correct. I definitely have not live or work long enough . I do not wish to offend anyone, and if i have, my apologies for it. Im also a Singapore supporter, but sometimes how do we help ourselves if us, ourselves have already given up in fighting for a better life?
Of course, the government could have done better when it comes to the type of foreign workers they are restricting, why are they restricting the low cost construction workers type as well? This i dont understand. Ive seen many foreign IT workers/managers as well. Surely what they are doing can be filled up by our local guys right? I have to agree that once there is a foreign talent of a managerial post, he/she will start bringing in their own kampung. There should really be a detailed study of the type of workers Singapore is lacking locally, and start to plan the work permits accordingly, and not restrict based on the salary range. Just like how new zealand or australian allow PR/citizenship based on the type of workers they lack.
I wonder how is it like in your work place? Hows the ratio like and what are your thoughts?
To some extent I agree with what you said. Local talent can help us is making our economy stronger. company incorporation in Singapore is a serious business and it is always good to hire local firms such as Acctrust.
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