Building a Winning Global Talent Strategy

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Question proposed.

Sir, the ability to attract global talent is particularly important for an advanced economy like Singapore where we have more jobs than the number of local workers and senior corporate and skilled roles to be filled in our diverse sectors. While many countries have also embarked on a drive to attract global talent, others have turned increasingly inward and there are indications that such sentiments are growing in Singapore. This is natural, because at its basic, global talent policies are about allowing people into our home. It is therefore not only a practical matter but also an emotive one. As such, a winning global talent strategy must rely not only on facts and figures; it must also build comfort and give assurances to our local Singaporeans.

Global talent policies look at attracting and retaining global talent in Singapore that is complementary to our local workforce. But a global talent strategy is far more complex because it must take into consideration many other areas that are intrinsically intertwined, including education, upskilling and reskilling, national identity and culture, economic development and competitiveness, entrepreneurship, research, housing, law enforcement amongst others.

Over the past few months, the hon Minister for Manpower has, in great detail and quite painstakingly set out how the various global talent schemes work, including new schemes like OnePass and COMPASS. He has also explained the rationale for adjustments that have been made to existing schemes. And I am in agreement with the Minister that these are steps in the right direction. In fact, today, the Minister and I have also agreed on the colour scheme for our outfit, and it is purely incidental, Mr Speaker.

These programmes have, in part, led to Singapore being consistently recognised as one of the top countries in the world for global talent to consider moving to. Just last week, INSEAD and the Portulans Institute ranked Singapore second in their Global Talent Attractiveness Index. This Index recognises not only a country’s ability to bring in global talent, but also how well it develops its local talent. So, overall, we are recognised internationally as doing very well and we can take heart that our global talent policies are generally sound.

In my Adjournment Motion today I will look at areas ancillary but related to our global talent policies and that must form part of our global talent strategy. Areas that will ultimately affect their success because they tug at the hearts of Singaporeans; they affect our fears, our hopes and aspirations, our dignity and our way of life; and they will largely determine whether we support these policies.

I will make some suggestions on how the Government can bolster our global talent policy, ameliorate local concerns and get more of our people behind these policies that are a key plank to ensure Singapore’s continued competitiveness and prosperity.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]

Most Singaporeans are realistic in recognising that we cannot indigenously produce all the talent required to fuel and grow our economy. As an advanced economy, many of the higher-skilled jobs require not just a first-class education, but often also specific skills and international experience.

This is what our global talent policies seek to fill. Singaporeans are, in my view, comfortable if these roles are filled on the basis of a utilitarian impermanence. Unfortunately, for some reason, there appears to be an impression that our global talent policies are synonymous with immigration.

The Government has been quite clear that these policies and our open arms are in our self-interest. As such, my view is that we should make clear that our relationship with global talent coming into Singapore is transactional in the first instance. The initial impetus should not be about immigration bolstering our population numbers or immediately settling in as residents. The first impetus is to fill gaps in our economy.

This transactional first instance will be a testing phase, to see if they like us and we like them. If it is a match, then we should certainly invite them to become Permanent Residents and citizens. This is because as much as we say that we are ourselves a nation of immigrants, over our decades of independence, we have formed an identity of our own and become a proud nation and a proud people. Hence, we must ensure that foreigners seeking to settle here respect and accept our national identity, shared values and our way of life. This testing phase could occur both while an expatriate is in Singapore on a work pass or during permanent residency.

I note that the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority already considers as criteria for Citizenship or Permanent Residency, an applicant’s “family ties to Singapore”, their “ability to contribute to Singapore and integrate into our society” and their “commitment to sinking roots in Singapore”. If this meeting of minds and hearts are amongst the chief considerations and criteria for residency and citizenship, it will ameliorate the concerns of Singaporeans that naturalised citizens and permanent residents are going to be foreign from us, or even worse, that they will all be fabulously rich, beyond our understanding, and more "atas" than us. It will also render irrelevant any distinction sought to be made between Singapore-born Singaporeans and naturalised Singaporeans – a distinction some quarters have sought to make.

My view is that emphasising a transactional initial relationship with global talent will not affect Singapore’s attractiveness as a magnet for global talent. In Dubai, for example, it is near impossible to become a citizen and yet, it has not had any trouble attracting a cosmopolitan pool of global talent to set up shop there, with many staying for the long term. Changes were made to their citizenship rules last year, but the criteria remain extremely stringent and even under the new rules, citizenship will only be offered to a very exceptional few.

Immigration and our global talent policy, although related, should not be seen as one and the same. I therefore encourage the government to emphasise that citizenship and to a certain extent, permanent residency is not merely a matter of skills and qualifications, but also one of fit and acceptance. This could be done by, for example, elaborating on how ICA assesses the criteria of whether a person would be able integrate into our society or whether they are ready to set roots down in Singapore.

ICA could also consider publishing examples of how such criteria could be met, which aside from providing transparency to locals, has the added benefit of allowing potential applicants to know what it takes to become a Singapore Citizen.

I now come to my next point, Sir, on respect. Whether on a work pass or a permanent resident, global talent coming to Singapore are our guests and we, as Singaporeans, are their hosts. As much as we are hospitable and welcoming, it is also perfectly reasonable to expect that our global talents here respect their hosts. I suggest three key “respects” that global talent should keep in mind when coming here.

The first "respect" is respecting our laws and regulations. Singaporeans get particularly inflamed when we see incidents of foreigners flouting laws. This is because we, as a people, are famously law abiding and we expect others to be the same in our country. A case in point was the public furore that arose over foreigners gathering outside bars and restaurants in May 2020, which was during the circuit breaker when such gatherings were disallowed.

Although incidents like this have nothing to do with a global talent policies, commentators are always very quick to ask what they are employed as in Singapore and what are the consequences of them flouting the law. These flashpoints often lead to a backlash against our global talent policies. Tellingly, in relation to this particular incident, MOM had to respond to queries related to work passes, saying in a statement, that "foreigners working in Singapore must abide by our laws and that those convicted, regardless of the type of work pass they hold risk having them revoked and banned from working in Singapore".

The second "respect" is respect for our culture, sensitivities and ways of doing things. Expatriates in Singapore should seek, as far as possible, to learn how we do things and to adapt. This is one of the aims of the National Integration Council (NIC). I have looked at some of the resources provided by the NIC on its website and there are many suggestions as to how Singaporeans can reach out to expatriates and make them feel comfortable here. But it is a two-way process. Expatriates must also abide by our ways of doing things. These may be small things like respecting personal space or simple courtesies which are the norms here but may not be expected behaviour in their home countries.

Over time, if there are expats or expat communities who ignore these norms, certain opinions and biases may be formed against them. These are difficult things to talk about because we do not want to generalise; but these are hard conversations we must have.

A National Youth Council survey amongst Singapore youth earlier this year found that only 17% felt that locals and foreigners get along well here despite their differences and only 20% felt that foreigners are able to integrate into local culture comfortably. Clearly, more effort needs to be made on both sides to ease our expatriate friends into Singapore’s culture.

The third “respect” is respect for the capabilities of Singaporeans. The hon Minister for Manpower shared last month that more than 1,700 employers have been placed on the Fair Consideration Framework’s watchlist for having a high concentration of a single foreign nationality source and that 300 companies have breached the FCF from 2017 to 2021. We need to make it a culture to consider locals first, in particular, for expats coming in who are in decision making or influential roles affecting hiring. We expend massive resources to educate, train, retrain our people and we have become one of the most highly skilled workforces in the world. It is also one of our competitive advantages to attract investment. We must not allow our local workers to be overlooked due to preferences other than merit.

To help expatriates ease into Singaporean culture and start our relationship on the right footing, I suggest implementing a compulsory initiation programme that could incorporate these three “Respects” for all new expatriates under all types of passes, to be administered by their employer. The curriculum and guidelines for such a programme could be produced by the NIC.

Bringing global talent into Singapore must also have a knock off effect on the skills and competencies of our own people and our own companies. As I mentioned earlier, we should look to adopt an initial transactional approach to global talents coming in to fill jobs. In the midst of this, some Singaporeans will lose jobs to foreigners. But what our policies must ensure is that over time, foreigners will lose jobs to Singaporeans, as we become able to fill these roles ourselves, including by know-how and skills being transferred to us from our expat colleagues. Our foreign workforce must shift and it must mould itself around us. And this is what I believe is MOM’s new schemes and adjustments will be able to achieve.

However, it is not possible for this replacement to follow the course of an exact science. It is not possible to pick a foreigner and say, "Well I have someone local to replace you. Now, you have to go back".

As Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the Singapore Economic Policy Forum last month, thinking that we can get simply just get rid of foreigners to “reclaim” jobs for Singaporeans is flawed because these jobs may not automatically go to Singaporeans – they may go overseas, to countries with larger pools of talent. This replacement will instead, be dynamic and will be aided precisely by COMPASS, the FCF and dependency ratios.

Some global talent, we should not be too quick to replace: entrepreneurs, researchers, inventors and rainmakers because they have a timeless quality and they are enablers. By their very nature, they will not replace Singaporeans, but they will create opportunities for us.

This replacement is, however, also dependent on us grooming our local talent to themselves become global talent. It is not being a foreigner that makes one a global talent, it is the fact that these people have worked in other countries, some in many other countries and that they have international experience and networks. Such exposure is invaluable and in order for our local talent to become global talent, we must encourage the acquisition of precisely this quality.

Our local Universities are recognised as some of the very best in the world and this has led to some comments that since we have the best universities, why do we need global talent to come into Singapore. It is naïve to believe that one can graduate from our local University, work locally and then be able to take up top spots in MNCs. In Singapore, if one does not have international exposure, it will be increasingly difficult to compete for these top spots. As a global hub, we attract multinational corporations that look at the world as its talent pool because they want to get in the global best.

My suggestion is that we need to do more not only at the universities but even at the Secondary level to encourage a global mindset amongst our local students who are our future workers. This should not only be in our school curricula or in the form of exchanges with other schools, but also through attachments with global companies and their laboratories, factories and facilities overseas or even in Singapore. In particular, we need to build a strong group of future workers who are well-acquainted and well-connected with Southeast Asia and APAC. This is especially important because of the growing number of corporate regional headquarters being set up in Singapore. The Singapore worker must see herself as a global worker – either working overseas for a time or travelling for work if based in Singapore.

These are the roles that we must be prepared for. For Singaporeans who gain experience overseas, after some time, we look forward to welcoming them back home to take up senior positions here. And we have exemplars, in fact, even in this House, our very own hon Nominated Member Janet Ang is one such person who has worked overseas for many years and then returned to Singapore to head an MNC. Let us endeavour to produce more Janet Angs.

Finally, Sir, it is important to note that when we speak of global talents, we are not only looking at top positions in MNCs but also positions in local SMEs. Our local SMEs and entrepreneurs can benefit from the diverse experience that mid-level executives can bring to their businesses.

I recently visited Kabam Robotics, a local company, which has three co-founders: two Singaporeans and a US citizen, Mr Michael Sayre. Michael came to Singapore in 2007 and he worked in various companies before co-founding Kabam in 2020. Kabam builds next generation robotic and connectivity solutions for built-environment businesses. Despite being a pandemic baby, has seen rapid growth over its two years of operations, partnering and providing services to, amongst others, Certis, the Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Technologies and Konica Minolta. Michael acts as the CEO of Kabam and his co-founders Kelvin Wee and Benjamin Chia credit him, with his prior experience in bomb disposal, subsea vehicles and logistics robotics, with the company’s rapid growth. Kabam employs 30 Singaporeans and they have shared with me that they had to shore up their technical team with some foreigners because the talent pool in robotics in Singapore is limited, but that they were working, through extensive partnerships with our IHLs to build up the expertise of their Singaporean Core.

In this regard, I would like to urge SMEs to also look at how they can leverage on global talents to augment their local workforces to build their businesses, to transfer know-how and to build local expertise; and for MOM to recognise that this is a legitimate reason for SMEs to look to hire foreigners. The criteria they apply to whom they seek to hire must also be very strict, to ensure that they thoroughly consider local applicants before looking at foreign candidates. Again, control mechanisms like the salary stipulations for each type of pass, dependency ratios, the FCF and COMPASS, will operate to as far as possible, make sure that locals are considered first in SMEs before foreign talent may be admitted.

Sir, to conclude, my take on the restiveness surrounding our global talent policy is that is it borne not out of Singaporeans’ fear of competition, but out of thinking that we are subject to unfair competition. In fact, if we look at the various policies that govern how we approach global talent, it is quite clear that the criteria for a foreigner to come to work in Singapore is very stringent and that the system is heavily weighted towards Singaporeans. In fact, as much as there has been suggestions that foreigners are taking jobs from Singaporeans, many local businesses have asked instead that the regime be loosened to make it easier for skilled foreigners to come into Singapore.

Ultimately, we must strike a balance between bringing in global talent and nurturing and hiring local talent.

Sir, attracting global talent is a key plank of Singapore’s continued success. A winning global talent strategy must address both the practical and emotive aspects, because, Sir, Singapore is not a corporation: Singapore is a country, and we are not only workers, but we are also citizens and this is our home.

On the practical side, the Government must calibrate policies to take into account shifts in the global talent market and our own local talent pool becoming more skilled and globally exposed and it does appear that MOM is doing this.

MNCs must make sure that their hiring practices are fair and do not discriminate against Singaporeans or favour foreigners because there are many skilled Singaporean workers right here, who are eager for good jobs and who can perform. On the emotive side, the Government must be sensitive to and address the fears and concerns of Singaporeans as we see more foreigners coming into Singapore, expatriates must be gracious guests and respect our way of life, and Singaporeans must be welcoming and hospitable hosts.

And because we know that this is such an emotive topic, even us, Members of this House, politicians and public figures must also be careful not to seek to politicise the issue for political gain or publicity. It does Singapore no good for us to be seen as xenophobic or anti-foreigner.

I am optimistic, Sir, for Singapore’s continued success as a global city and an international hub. I look forward to a more cosmopolitan business environment, fuelled by our hardworking and skilled local workforce, tapping on international expertise, building Asia’s capital city and the world’s hub for commerce, business exchanges, ideas and global talent.

Minister Tan See Leng.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank the Member for his support of our recently announced moves to strengthen Singapore’s position as a global hub for talent.

As the Member shared, globally, our efforts have not gone unrecognised. Singapore ranked top in Asia and second in the world for attracting and developing talent in the recently published 2022 INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI).

I agree with the Member that it is important to get more support for these policies because they are a key gateway or bridge to ensure our beloved Singapore’s continued competitiveness and prosperity. Let me demonstrate how Singapore companies and Singaporeans will benefit from these efforts through an example.

Mr Rob Khoo is currently Head of Marketing, Communications and Sustainability at EDPR Sunseap, which is a solar energy company. His entrepreneurship journey shows how Singapore’s openness has brought about more opportunities. Opportunities not just to MNCs, but also to local startups. Not just to companies, but also to individuals.

Mr Khoo started out in media. Colleagues from countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and China taught him critical technical and people management skills. When he subsequently decided to pivot to renewable energy and started his own solar panel company, his overseas colleagues and partners from Australia and Europe taught him everything he needed to know about the technology.

Mr Khoo’s story is one of many. With the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass bringing in more top talent, more MNCs, more SMEs and Singaporeans will benefit. This is especially as ONE Pass holders will be able to take on multiple roles which gives them the opportunity to nurture local startups, even as they are employed elsewhere.

The future of Singapore is dependent on successfully bringing in talents as well as developing local talents. It is crucial for these talents to be able to come together, to integrate well and to work together. To this end, the Member has raised two key suggestions. Let me respond to each in turn.

First, on integrating work pass holders. As the Member has shared, we maintain a clear distinction between our work pass and immigration framework. Applications for Permanent Residency (PR) or Citizenship are assessed independently, and they are based on considerations, including the applicant's family ties to Singapore, their ability to integrate into our society, their economic contributions and commitment to sinking roots in Singapore.

Work pass holders can put in applications and a select group is able to obtain PR, based on a holistic assessment of the factors that I have just elaborated earlier on. While we do not provide any guarantee or fast tracks to PR for our EP and ONE Pass holders, we hope that, as they spend time in Singapore, top talent will choose to make Singapore their home. Granting PR or Citizenship to deserving global talent means that we can anchor them here to continue creating opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans in the long run.

There are clear benefits if work pass holders are well-integrated into Singapore's society. A healthy respect for our laws, our culture and their local colleagues will make for less friction in the workplace and, at the same time, produce stronger teams. As the Member suggested, we can also help them ease into their stay here through orientation programmes.

Currently, senior EP holders are engaged by tripartite partners when they first come to Singapore. Started in July 2021, these engagements are part of the broader efforts under the National Integration Council (NIC) to promote workplace integration. During these in-depth, small group engagements, we share Singapore's approach to key workforce and workplace issues, including maintaining fair and harmonious labour relations and ensuring good local-foreign integration in companies.

MOM also plans to pilot a Settling-In Programme for new S Pass holders next year to familiarise them with working in Singapore and to encourage positive interaction with locals within and beyond the workplace.

Currently, these programmes are not compulsory. We want to seek to strike a balance between promoting integration and not being overly prescriptive in how we achieve this aim. Employers also have an important part to play in supporting foreign employees who are new to Singapore. For instance, DBS Bank launched their own Singapore Immersion Programme. It assigns all new employees a Singaporean buddy and it organises activities, such as sharing sessions on Singapore's nation-building journey and walking trails exploring our multi-cultural heritage.

Companies interested in implementing similar ground-up integration initiatives can tap on the Community Integration Fund (CIF), which is administered by MCCY.

As the Member also pointed out, we expect all employers, regardless whether they are local or foreign, to fairly consider local candidates for available jobs. Our intent is to create a level playing field for locals. We provide the necessary tools, at every step of the way, for locals to strengthen their own capabilities – we invest in education, from preschool to tertiary education; we have programmes that locals can tap on to upskill, reskill and make career transitions; and we provide financial support for those who may have been hurt or hit by curve balls in life.

We cannot guarantee the same outcomes for everyone. But rest assured we will do our level best to provide the same fair opportunities at every single step of the way. This includes taking action against employers who have not hired fairly and may include suspending their work pass privileges. In the near future, we will expand the range of actions that we can take through the workplace fairness legislation.

Second, developing a global mindset amongst our future workers. As the Member has shared, gaining overseas exposure is key to taking up leadership positions later, especially in global companies. We have programmes to start such capability building early. MOE works with Institutes of Higher Learning on initiatives for students, such as overseas internships and educational exchanges. We will further nuance it by working with MOE colleagues to see how we can start cultivating the global mindset even earlier.

Just as important are also programmes for locals already in the workforce. So, we have the International Posting Programme (iPOST), the SkillsFuture Leadership Development Initiative and the Global Ready Talent Programme. And at Budget earlier this year, we also announced the Singapore Global Executive Programme, which we will be sharing more details next month. We are expanding our collaboration with countries, including New Zealand, Indonesia and France, to facilitate more Singaporeans in going abroad to study and work.

However, developing a global mindset is not something that the Singapore Government can do alone. It requires our workforce, our individuals, to be willing to learn, to be ambitious to have the hunger to succeed and to be tenacious to overcome challenges. It also requires companies to devote resources to nurturing young local talents.

We will do more with unions, workers and companies. Under the Empower pillar of the Forward Singapore exercise that I am leading, alongside NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and Senior Minister of State Dr Koh Poh Koon, we have been and we will continue to be consulting workers and companies on how to reduce barriers, how to remove obstacles that are deterring locals from taking up global and regional opportunities. We encourage everyone to participate in our Forward Singapore engagement sessions and to contribute ideas.

To conclude, Singapore is a global city. By being open to the world, we have benefited from global best practices. We have created new opportunities and we have uplifted livelihoods.

Looking forward, Singapore must continue to remain open to the world, to prepare for the next phase of growth. We must remain open to global talent who can bring even more opportunities to our shores. And as Singaporeans, for us, we must prepare our current workforce to continue to take advantage and leverage these opportunities. The Government will continue to work hand in hand with unions, workers and our companies to build a vibrant, thriving global city that will be brimming with opportunities for all of our fellow Singaporeans. [Applause.]

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Adjourned accordingly at 7.23 pm.