Sectors Facing Severe Lack of Workers and Measures to Support Manpower Needs

Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the manpower shortages faced by many businesses (a) which are the sectors and the sub-sectors within them that face the most severe lack of workers; (b) what are the measures to support manpower needs in sub-sectors providing essential services; (c) whether the dependency ratio ceiling can be adjusted to assist these sub-sectors; and (d) whether the Ministry will permit more migrant workers from non-traditional sources for these sub-sectors.

We are cognisant that some firms continue to feel a degree of manpower tightness, as they catch up on the backlogs accumulated over the last two years whilst receiving new orders as the economy reopens. Factors such as having their experienced workers go on home leave, whilst their newer workers train to familiarise themselves with the firms' operations, add to this sense of manpower tightness.

This is despite how at the macro-level, total employment has rebounded to 99.5% of the pre-COVID level in 2019 by June 2022. In fact, the resident workforce has surpassed the pre-COVID level, while non-resident workforce has reached more than 90% of the pre-COVID level following significant relaxation of border restrictions from April 2022. We expect non-resident employment to continue to recover in the quarters ahead, which will provide more relief to the labour market tightness.

Some sub-sectors such as Aviation and Tourism are also constrained by labour shortages. The relevant government agencies have hence supported these sub-sectors with time-limited support to cope with the short-term manpower crunch so they can quickly rebound and capture the opportunities as the economy re-opens. Key firms have been provided with access to additional foreign worker quotas and Work Permit Holders from Non-Traditional Sources (NTS). We have also supported essential services like healthcare and the cleaning of public housing estates to access more labour. Instead of adjusting the Dependency Ratio Ceiling across the entire Services sector, this focused approach is a more targeted and effective way to address the unique business needs of different sub-sectors.

On migrant workers from NTS, MOM announced the NTS Occupation List at MOM's Committee of Supply 2022. The scheme will allow businesses in the Services and Manufacturing sectors to hire Work Permit Holders from NTS for select occupations from September 2023.