The Chamber was delighted to host Mrs. Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower once again as our guest speaker for the annual closed-door dialogue with the Ministry of Manpower. More than 120 Chamber members, business leaders and Singapore government officials joined the webinar on 20 November 2020.

A dialogue with the Ministry of Manpower is never short of questions especially in a year like 2020.
Singapore has no choice but remain open to talent to create jobs, spur innovation and sustain economic development because we have never produced and will never produce enough local talent to meet the needs of businesses. The last 200 years illustrate this point clearly.

The vast majority of companies do right by their local and foreign talent. They integrate them and encourage mutual learning and respect. Those that do not and discriminate against suitably qualified Singaporeans either in hiring or in career development are penalized by the Ministry via the watch list and by restricting the issuance of employment passes and work passes.

We all know that workplace culture can always be improved across the board and it is interesting how this year mental wellbeing has come into focus as we all cope with the impact of the pandemic. This is a healthy and long overdue development. Leaders and their teams have the responsibility to create and sustain a positive workplace culture for everyone.

It was also good to hear that the Ministry is anti-ageist and promotes the hiring and development of mature workers. This makes perfect sense for our economy and society.

We would like to thank Minister Teo, Mr. Zagy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State; Ms. Chew Mok Lee, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, ICM & Digitalisation, Enterprise Services & New Industries of Enterprise Singapore; Mr. Anderson Ee, Director, Manufacturing Division of Workforce Singapore; and Mr. Pee Beng Kong, Executive Director, Semiconductor and Human Capital Division of Economic Development Board for spending time with us. The Chamber also extends its thanks to our Strategic Partner and Exclusive Event Sponsor Prudential for its continued generous support.

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