Record job losses are testing Singapore’s openness to global talent, magnifying local unease with foreign job seekers that was already apparent before Covid-19 drove the wealthy city-state into its deepest-ever recession.
Under pressure to revive the economy and create jobs, policymakers are responding cautiously with new measures to shore up local hiring while leaving the door open to skilled foreign workers needed to compete in various advanced industries.
Total employment in the city-state fell 129,100 in the first half of 2020, while the overall unemployment rate rose to 2.8% as of June. Retrenchments rose sharply to 11,350 in the first half of the year, with the likes of Singapore Airlines recently announcing plans to cut 4,300 jobs, or around 20% of its staff.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed in an address to Parliament that while his government would “always be on the side of Singaporeans”, the city-state must resist pressures to “turn inward” as policies to safeguard Singaporean jobs are adjusted in the wake of the pandemic-induced economic crisis.
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Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
