DSG Chee Hong Tat Proposes Measures to Strengthen Local Workforce

Companies should “think local” when it comes to hiring and career progression, and work with the Government and unions to invest in the training of local workers.

The Government should also look into how it differentiates the treatment of companies with good HR practices and strong relationships with the unions against those that do not bother to develop their local workforce.

NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat called for these in his maiden speech as an NTUC representative at the Human Capital Singapore Masterclass on 22 July 2021.

Think Local

On hiring and career progression, Mr Chee clarified that his call to think local should not prevent companies from hiring foreigners.

“But we want companies to adhere to the spirit of the Fair Consideration Framework, to consider local job applicants fairly, and not simply go through the motion of putting up the advertisement and waiting for 28 days to pass.

"If there are suitable locals who can do the job, I urge employers to lean in favour of hiring a local worker,” he said.

He added that hiring locals would give companies more leeway to hire foreigners for jobs that do not have enough local workers or jobs requiring specialised skills and knowledge lacking in the local workforce.

“This is the outcome we want to achieve – having foreign workers who can complement our local workforce so that we enlarge the pie and there is more for everyone to share,” Mr Chee said.

Invest in Training of Locals

Mr Chee said that while Singapore has been making steady progress in upgrading local workers through SkillsFuture, more employers need to support the endeavour.

“Just as we believe that having a job is the best form of welfare for our workers, the best form of protection for our workers against global competition and economic disruption is through training and skills upgrading. Lifelong learning for lifelong employability,” Mr Chee said.

He also said that NTUC has continued to engage companies in forming company training committees (CTC) and leveraging the operation and technology roadmap (OTR) to transform businesses.

“NTUC will work with companies to tap on the resources within Labour Movement, including NTUC’s e2i for worker placement and NTUC LearningHub for training, as well as incentives and grants from government agencies,” he added.

Give Advantage to Those with Good HR Practices

The Government also needs to more starkly differentiate between employers with good HR practices and those with bad practices, urged Mr Chee.

“There is already a differentiation today, but I am proposing that the delta should be made more explicit so that companies will have every commercial incentive to be recognised as good employers,” he said.

One way is to give good employers with positive HR practices and strong links with the unions more favourable consideration when it comes to government tenders, projects, and grants, according to Mr Chee.

A differentiated approach will allow the Government to weed out companies with bad practices without taking a “carpet-bombing” approach that would affect all employers and erode Singapore’s overall economic competitiveness, he added.

“This will set the correct tone and the right set of incentives for companies and employers to support the larger social and economic objectives we want to achieve in Singapore,” said Mr Chee.