Singapore to Give Citizens Priority for Job Openings

HONG KONG — The government of Singapore announced measures on Monday that will compel companies to give priority to local residents in the job recruitment process, a move that could create more challenges for multinational firms doing business in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The measures will require companies operating in Singapore to advertise vacancies to local residents for two weeks before they can apply to fill positions with overseas workers. The recruitment notices must be posted to a central job bank to be administered by a government employment agency, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Manpower.

“Providing better jobs and diverse opportunities to meet Singaporeans’ aspirations are the ultimate objectives of economic growth,” Tan Chuan-Jin, the acting minister for manpower, said in the statement. “What we are doing is to put in place measures to nudge employers to give Singaporeans — especially our young graduates and professionals, managers and executives — a fair chance at both job and development opportunities.”

Singapore has already taken steps this year to make it more difficult to import workers, including increasing levies on overseas hires and reducing the allowable ratio of foreign to local employees at companies in the service, manufacturing, construction and maritime sectors.

Singapore is a major hub for regional and multinational companies operating in Southeast Asia, and such measures have raised concerns in the foreign business community about the ability to meet staffing needs, given Singapore’s aging population. In January, nine foreign business groups, including the American, Australian, British, Canadian and European chambers of commerce, sent a letter expressing these concerns to local labor officials.

“Singapore’s openness to foreign labor has enabled it to attract, retain and absorb the best of foreign talent, providing it with a clear competitive advantage over its neighbors,” the business groups wrote. “While Singapore continues to attract significant foreign investment, we nevertheless fear current implementation of revised labor policy risks negatively impacting Singapore’s economy and reputation as an open economy.”

While many countries impose restrictions on foreign workers, few of them depend on imported labor as much as Singapore. With a citizenry of 3.3 million and a fertility rate that falls far short of replenishing the population, tiny Singapore relies heavily on foreign labor for construction workers, service staffs and financial and legal professionals.

That dependence is increasing as the economy expands. The number of foreign workers in Singapore has soared in recent years, to 1.2 million at the end of 2012, accounting for 37 percent of the labor force. At the same time, Singapore’s unemployment rate has remained among the lowest in Asia, at 2.1 percent as of June.

Still, opposition to imported labor has risen among locals who see themselves as missing out on opportunities, and that has become a political liability for the government. The People’s Action Party, which has governed Singapore since it became an independent nation in 1965, generated its weakest level of support ever in elections two years ago.

Also on Monday, the government raised by 10 percent the minimum salary required before it will issue an employment pass for a foreign worker. The new amount is 3,300 Singapore dollars, or $2,600, a month, effective in January.

Companies with 25 or fewer employees and jobs that pay a fixed monthly salary of 12,000 Singapore dollars, or $9,600, or more will be exempt from the new recruitment advertising requirements, the government said. The policy takes effect next August.

Mr. Tan, of the labor ministry, dismissed criticism of the measures. “The framework is not about ‘Hire Singaporeans first,’ or ‘Hire Singaporeans only,’ ” he said. “What the government is doing is to help them get a fair opportunity. Singaporeans must still prove themselves able and competitive to take on the higher jobs that they aspire to.”

Singapore to Give Citizens Priority for Job Openings