Debated in Parliament on 28 Feb 2022.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current number of foreign remote employees hired by companies based in Singapore; (b) what is the number of foreign remote employees broken down by industry; and (c) what measures is the Ministry taking to discourage excessive offshoring of quality jobs.
MOM does not track the number of foreign remote employees hired by Singapore-based companies.
COVID-19 has led to remote working becoming more commonplace. This may prompt many companies to consider offshoring activities to lower cost locations, particularly for lower value-added work. This is not a new phenomenon. We have seen in the past, activities such as garment manufacturing and call centre operations being offshored to lower cost locations. At the same time, our economy transformed and shifted towards higher value-added activities such as Advanced Manufacturing and Fintech. This transformation created high value-added jobs in Singapore.
As an open economy that taps into the world market, we must continue to ensure that Singapore remains the preferred location for trade and investment, and we need to continue to move up the value chain. The anchoring of global companies will help to preserve and also spur the creation of good jobs. Together with our tripartite partners, we will continue to help our local workforce to reskill and upskill for future jobs and skills.
However, our success cannot be taken for granted. It is critical that Singapore remains open to global trade and be welcoming to foreign manpower that complements our local workforce. This is why MOM regularly updates our foreign workforce policies to ensure a high-quality and diverse foreign workforce together with a strong Singaporean Core. If we do not strike the right balance, firms will not only offshore the lower value-added work but may also have to bring the higher value-added work elsewhere where they can form the best team. This will mean fewer opportunities for future generations of Singaporeans and is certainly something that we would want to avoid.
Mr Yip Hon Weng.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for the reply. My supplementary question is as such: are such workers, foreign remote employees subject to foreign workforce levers such as levies and quotas, as well as CPF payments? Will there be plans for them to subject to such levers and CPF payments in the future?
Mr Speaker, the answer to both the questions is no. I have covered in an earlier Parliamentary Question reply with regard to the types of employees who would require CPF contributions. However, if these companies should change the context of the contracts and the agreements that would attract levies and CPF contributions out of Singapore, we will review this. But, at this point in time, to both his questions, the answer is no.
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