Singapore has identified 38 companies for close scrutiny and more than 100 others for further monitoring for preferring foreigners to Singaporeans while employing professionals, managers and executives (PMEs).
Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say today mentioned about the companies on the "Fair Consideration Framework" update which was introduced last year to ensure that Singaporeans are considered fairly for job openings before companies here apply to employ foreign PMEs.
Lim said the companies, rated as "Double weak", are from 150 firms the ministry has engaged with over the past year.
"Double weak" companies are rated as "weak in Singapore Core and weak in commitment to fair consideration in hiring and developing Singaporeans", Lim wrote on his Facebook.
Another 100 companies were identified for further engagement and these are considered "outliers" in their respective industries such as Admin and Support, Construction, Infocomm, Finance and Insurance, Professional Services, Transport and Storage and Wholesale Trade, he said.
"Being placed on the watchlist means that MOM (the ministry of manpower) will scrutinise their EP (employment pass) applications more closely," Channel News Asia quoted Lim as saying.
"They will be asked to provide additional details, such as the number of Singaporeans who applied and were interviewed for the posts, and whether their existing Singaporean employees have been considered," Lim said.
The ministry will engage the firms to up their efforts in the training, development and upgrading of local PMEs.
"In the event that we have a shortage of qualified Singaporeans in some specific areas, we will encourage them to transfer know-how from the foreign PMEs to their Singaporean staff so that, over time, more Singaporeans will be qualified to take on these opportunities and challenges," Lim wrote.
"Should there be Double Weak firms that are unresponsive or uncooperative, they will have their EP privileges curtailed," he warned.
Over 1.34 million foreign workers are there in Singapore and the bulk of them work in the construction and marine sectors.
To reduce dependency on foreign workers, Singapore will introduce a two-year wage subsidy pilot scheme for hiring unemployed locals in PMEs positions from October 1 this year.
