Manpower is the lifeblood of every business and of our economy. Nothing, apart from taxes, gets as much attention from businesses in the annual Budget Statement and the subsequent Committee of Supply (COS) debate as manpower related measures. The Chamber was honoured to host the ministerial team from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for a closed-door, in-person dialogue on 7 April 2022.

The overarching message from MOM was Singapore needs to draw the best talent from all over the world to complement local talent to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. That is Singapore’s formula for success enabled by fair and progressive workplace practices where no-one is discriminated against and where hiring and promotion are fair and based on merit.

Mr. Benjamin Lim, Senior Manager, Labour Market Policy, Workforce Strategy and Policy Department delivered a presentation on MOM’s priorities in 2022 which include upgrading the capabilities of Singaporeans, ensuring foreign talent is complementary, uplifting the more vulnerable and mature workers and upholding inclusive and progressive workplace practices.

Following the presentation, Dr. Tan See Leng was joined by his ministerial colleagues, Dr. Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, Mr. Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower and Ms. Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for Education and Manpower in a dialogue moderated by Mr. Per Magnusson, SICC Chairman. The dialogue and Q & A session with the audience covered a wide range of topics including the newly introduced COMPASS (Complementarity Assessment Framework) tool for EP applications, gender diversity and inclusion, the dangers of populism and safeguarding the welfare of migrant foreign workers.

We would like to thank Dr. Tan, Dr. Koh, Mr. Zaqy Mohamad and Ms. Gan for spending their time with us and sharing their insights and views. Our thanks, too, to the audience for their engaged participation.