More Foreigners Let Go First

The Straits Time ran this story on 24 April 2009:

More foreigners let go first

MORE foreign workers were laid off last year than locals as the economic slowdown hit companies hard.

Redundancies in 2008 rose faster in percentage terms for foreigners - at 153 per cent - than locals, at 72 per cent, according to a report released by Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department on Friday.

It said although locals formed the majority - 61 per cent - of the redundancies in 2008, their share came down from 70 per cent from a year ago.

On the other hand, the foreign share of total redundancies rose to a new high of 39 per cent, slightly more than the proportion of foreigners in Singapore's workforce, which was 36 per cent as at last December.

Companies cited the recession and economic downturn as the top reason, affecting four in 10 (41 per cent) workers retrenched, followed closely by business restructuring (39 per cent), said the report.

Over a fifth (22 per cent) cited high labour cost, and another 20 per cent blamed high operating cost.

'This was unlike in 2007 when the top reasons for retrenchment were the discontinuation of the production line and business reorganization,' said the report.

Due to the global nature of the current recession, the number of workers retrenched in exercises involving businesses relocating overseas fell from 1,520 in 2007 to a record low of 1,260 in 2008. They accounted for only 9.1 per cent of workers retrenched in private establishments, compared to 20 per cent in 2007.

The report said mature residents with tertiary education were the most vulnerable groups last year, 'with above-average risk of retrenchment and below-average re-employment.'

'This was unlike the previous downturns when the less educated were the most vulnerable,' it noted.

The 'Redundancies and Re-employment, 2008' report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower's website at http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication.