The Big Read: Facing job uncertainty and online vitriol, expats in Singapore share their worries and anxieties
With the Republic grappling with its worst downturn since independence as Covid-19 continues to wreak economic and health havoc around the world, anti-foreign sentiments have once again come to the fore. — TODAY pic
But remarks by politicians contesting the July General Election had her wondering if her job as a sales executive at a tech unicorn was secure. A dejected Ms Tang said: “The economy would return to normal again. If Singapore puts itself in this kind of position, who is going to work here again? It will be pretty much like Japan.”
As unemployment and retrenchments among Singaporeans rise, foreign PMETs such as Ms Tang are seen as competing with locals in an ever-shrinking job pool. The reminder by Mr Lee and other government leaders — including Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, who is a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore — in recent months of the need for Singapore to remain open to foreign talent comes on the heels of disquiet over the perception that many of the top managerial posts at Singapore-based corporations are occupied by foreigners.
Amid the national spotlight on the issue, expatriates in Singapore have been privately sharing among themselves their burgeoning discomfort at being treated as “outsiders”. They added that while their interactions with locals in public spaces or at their workplaces remain pleasant, the spike in anti-foreigner sentiments online and hearsay of the predicaments of other expats who got the axe have added to their anxiety in recent months.
While it is “100-per-cent understandable” that companies would give preference to locals for jobs during these tough times, he added that it would be fairer if the issue of whether the applicant is a local or not is the last point of consideration. The Indian expat can only wish that Singapore, which he regards as an ideal platform in Asia for “big things...to happen”, makes a conscious effort to take a more balanced approach over the foreign-vs-local job issue.
Ms Marie Tay, managing director of headhunting firm The Resolute Hunter observed that expatriates now are more willing to accept salary cuts or reduced benefits — areas that were once considered non-negotiable. — Photo by Ili Nadhirah Mansor for TODAY “Given a choice of an expensive expat living in Singapore on expat terms versus a lower cost Singaporean, it is a no brainer for companies to give priority to the lower cost option, particularly if there are incentives provided by the government to incentivise companies to hire, train and place local workforce instead of foreign talent,” said Ms Low, who is also president of the Singapore Human Resources Institute.
A National University of Singapore graduate said she had submitted about 75 applications for a job in the Stem industry, and received just one offer — only to have the company rescind it three weeks later. Despite being willing to make concessions, she said the harsh reality is that many still could not find replacement roles and had to return to their home countries.
But time is of the essence as her son could not start his Primary One class at an international school, which began earlier this week, because her husband must first obtain an in-principle work pass approval from MOM. Mr Andrew Zee, team lead for financial services at recruitment firm Selby Jennings, observed that MOM is rejecting many EP applications on their first attempts, although the permits are usually approved on appeal.
She felt that some online comments on some incidents — such as the one at Robertson Quay where seven foreigners were caught flouting social-distancing rules — had gone overboard and made her feel that expats could be bashed on any matter. “We take both the bus and Grab , shop at wet markets but also buy imported goods because we are far away from home and feel homesick.”
For a 43-year-old American working in the healthcare sector, going to a neighbourhood wet market had once attracted remarks like, “What are you doing here? I thought all you ang moh go to FairPrice and Cold Storage.” For this reason, he has long had a contingency plan — the next country to head to and logistical considerations, among others — mapped out in case he has to leave Singapore.Many expats could have the same thoughts as CR, with global moving and relocation services providers telling TODAY that they had seen an uptick in both business and inquiries from people wanting to move back to their home countries.
Indeed, the effect on jobs has already been felt at a centrally located international school which had seen enrolment fall by 30 to 40 per cent, with some families not even informing the school that their kids were dropping out because they were leaving Singapore. Sandeep, an Indian IT manager who has worked in Singapore for almost a decade, pointed out that an expat also spends a substantial part of his income here.
While other leading cities can rely on migration that is completely internal, from their own hinterlands, Singapore’s can only come from external migration, he said. Mr Christopher Quek, a venture capitalist who invests in Singapore-based technology start-ups, said that while there may be a need to raise the salary bar of EPs, the recent tightening exercises of work pass requirements in May and August do little to deal with the core of the issue — the mistrust between expats and Singaporeans.
He pointed out that Vietnam, for example, is becoming an ICT capital of tech talent for the US. Seventy per cent of Vietnam’s 97 million population are aged below 35 and it has a much larger graduate talent pool than Singapore.
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