SINGAPOREAN CORE BUILDING A - Singapore Human Resources Institute
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BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE THE PREVAILING NARRATIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE CONSIDERATIONS AND FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS
For enquiries, please reach out to us:
- Able Cheong, Project Manager – National HR Conversation;
ablecheong@shri.org.sg
- Alvin Goh, Executive Director SHRI; alvingoh@shri.org.sg
BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Contents
Executive summary 3
1.0 Introduction: The Call to Creating a Singaporean Core 5
2.0 Insights from the Findings
2.1 ‘Singaporean Core’ – a working definition or ideological 7
construct?
2.2 The Prevailing Business Narrative 8
2.3 Barriers to Building a Strong Singaporean Core 10
2.4 Support, Schemes and Government Response 12
3.0 Recommendations 16
4.0 Concluding Remarks 19
Appendix A 21
2BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Executive Summary
As of this writing, the latest unemployment rate is at 3.4%, climbing past the high of 3.3%
during the 2009 global financial crisis (From Channel News Asia). It remains to be seen
if the employment rate would climb although the private sector is seen to be offering more
jobs. The conversation in building the Singaporean Core and whether we should put in
place more measures to limit foreign talent has touched a nerve especially in the hiring of
Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians.
SHRI has embarked on an exercise to engage business and Human Resource (HR) leaders
to surface perspectives, to understand the narratives and to explore a constructive way
forward. The focus of this report is not designed to be a detailed study, but rather to
surface themes and to highlight areas which may deserve deeper research.
Key insights drawn from our engagement with businesses include:
▪ Creating a Singaporean Core is well-intentioned but could be deeply
misunderstood. Guidelines to define what the Singaporean Core may be
helpful, but delving too deep into rationalisation and philosophical
considerations may be an exercise in futility.
▪ The current narrative where businesses cite lack of critical skills and relevant
experience, as well as managing hiring costs as reasons for not firing locals may
not hold true for all companies. These factors usually apply to companies that
emphasise achieving short term results and managing cost efficiencies.
▪ Two key factors that threaten the building of a Singaporean Core are the
general attitudes of the Singaporean workforce and mismatched
expectations. This is exacerbated by offshoring or outsourcing of work as
digital platforms become accessible and seamless to business operations.
3BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
This report proposes 3 R’s to build and strengthen the Singaporean Core: Reconstruct the
narrative, Recalibrate the interventions, and Reward intentional effort. Several areas for
deeper study are also suggested.
4BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Introduction
5BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE CALL TO CREATING A SINGAPORE CORE
At the President’s Address on 24 August 2020, President Halimah Yacob emphasised the
government’s commitment to secure jobs for Singaporeans, to keep our economy strong
and competitive. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has put more than 1200
organisations with workforce profiles indicating discriminatory hiring practices, from
sectors such as financial services, professional services, manufacturing and education
sectors, on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) Watchlist. In subsequent debates
and conversations in parliament, and on various media channels, the push for creating a
Singaporean Core at the workplace has surfaced against the backdrop of anecdotal
evidence suggesting unfair hiring and retrenchment practices.
The Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) began to engage its members on this
topic. This engagement was not designed to be a detailed study; rather, it aimed to surface
themes and highlight areas deserving of deeper research. Through a survey and focus
group discussions, we gathered information on organisations’ HR practices as well as
concerns related to attracting, developing and retaining a Singaporean Core.
A total of 105 respondents completed a short survey (see Appendix A for the
respondents’ profile and the responses). 21 business and HR leaders from sectors
such as small and medium enterprises, financial institutions, technology, manufacturing,
construction, education, F&B and non-profit organisations participated in focused group
discussions.
The findings from the survey and focus group discussions were consolidated for the
purpose of drawing actionable insights. These are presented in the next section.
6BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Insights
from the
Findings
7BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
2.0 INSIGHTS FROM THE FINDINGS
2.1 ‘Singaporean Core’ - a working definition or ideological construct?
Questions raised by business and HR leaders during the focus group discussions fall
under these broad themes:
- What does the Singaporean Core comprise? Does it include Permanent Residents
(PR)? What about foreigners who have lived and worked here for more than 10
years?
- Are there guidelines for what proportion of a company’s workforce should
comprise a Singaporean Core? How to implement if there are no guidelines or
policies?
- If Singapore needs to maintain a vibrant and open economy, wouldn’t it mean that
talent policies should be ‘open’ and inclusive?
A persistent line of questioning that surfaced during the focus group discussions centred
around the need to examine the construct of a Singaporean Core – should it take into
consideration ideological underpinnings related to culture, identity and values? Or should
it just be a working definition for operationalising policies?
The conversations that ensued suggests that extended discourse on what a Singaporean
Core means and attempts to define the ideology of a Singaporean Core may be an
academic exercise with little practical value. The issue at hand is to promote and sustain
fair policies and practices in placement, development, progression, mobility and reward
of talents, both foreign and Singaporeans. Committing resources into theoretical
discussions on what the Singaporean Core is could hijack the real agenda of ensuring that
HR practices are fair and consistently applied; and that the spirit of reciprocity1 is upheld.
1Just as Singapore opens its doors to talents, organisations should open their doors to
Singaporean talents.
8BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
2.2 The Prevailing Business Narrative
Sectors and roles such as, but not limited to, laundry, service crew for F&B, housekeeping
and front line construction are typically avoided by Singaporeans. For these sectors and
roles, it has been widely accepted that foreign workers are needed to augment the
workforce. On the other hand, roles that are perceived as attractive to Singaporeans see
some level of contention with regard to the hiring of foreign talent. These roles tend to be
at the professional and managerial levels in sectors such as technology, financial services,
fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consulting, which require technical expertise
and/or managerial experience.
Organisations raise three key factors for consideration when hiring talent – updated skill
sets, relevant experience and cost of hiring. These factors are not treated equally as some
play out more in certain sectors as compared to others. Our engagements with our
member organisations reveal the following:
2.2.1 Updated skill sets
▪ Business leaders indicated that Singapore needs continuing effort in future
proofing talent. 30% of the respondents polled indicated that local talents may not
have the right skills and experience to meet the manpower needs of the
organisation. New and emerging skillsets are often lacking.
▪ Business leaders also indicated that for certain technological skillsets, older
professionals have a harder time picking up the skills and tend not to stay long in
the programme.
2.2.2 Relevant Experience
▪ Organisations observed that even with training from support schemes such as the
Professional Conversion Programme, job seekers may still be disadvantaged if they
lack the relevant practical experience to contribute in the roles they are hired for.
▪ Internships or apprenticeships need to be extended and deeply embedded in the
curriculum so that theoretical knowledge transforms into practical skills.
9BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
2.2.3 Cost of Hiring
▪ The businesses reported that foreign hires continue to be needed when they
possess the specialised skills and relevant practical experience lacking in local
candidates, and are willing to take on roles for a fraction of the salary offered to
Singaporeans.
Hence, these prevailing business narratives surfaced:
“We want to hire the best talents for the organisation. This is defined by
candidates possessing the right skill sets, with the relevant experience, at the pay
level we are willing to pay. In addition, we want our potential hires to be the right
cultural fit.”
“Local candidates do not have relevant skill sets to meet the business requirements
of my organisation.”
“Local candidates may be trained, but do not have relevant experience.”
“Local talents have high expectations of salary, and often expect salaries beyond
their current level of skills and experience.
However, upon digging deeper, we realised that these prevailing business narratives may
not reflect the real issues. For instance, in some larger organisations, the talents brought
into Singapore as part of their global development programmes may not necessarily
possess the requisite skills and experience. In fact, these organisations often make a
substantial investment to place them here.
This raised several questions: Are skills, experience and cost the critical considerations
for talent decisions? Are these narratives justified? Are the concerns raised valid or simply
an oversimplification of the real issue?
Next, we outline the underlying factors we gathered from businesses that pose as barriers
to building a strong Singaporean core.
10BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
2.3 Barriers to Building a Strong Singaporean Core
Although the majority of the organisations we engaged with have practices in place to
facilitate a Singaporean base in their workforce, there remain deep seated issues that
hinder the building of a strong Singaporean Core. 94% of the respondents in the survey
indicated that they employ fair employment practices in the talent acquisition process.
88% indicated that their organisations’ talent acquisition strategy is to source for local
talents before considering foreign talents if the required skills and experience are lacking
in local candidates. However, business and HR leaders shared during the focused group
discussions that they found no added competitive advantage in hiring a full Singaporean
workforce or to consciously develop a Singaporean core, especially for regional jobs.
Businesses that have built a bigger proportion of the workforce with local talent did so out
of duty and personal beliefs rather than financial considerations.
Our conversations with business and HR leaders uncovered useful perspectives on
potential barriers to building a strong Singaporean Core within organisations. We have
grouped them into two broad categories below.
2.3.1 Current Work Mindset of Singaporeans
▪ Business leaders shared that local candidates prefer to work in a multi-national
corporation with a strong brand rather than a SME with potential for rapid growth.
SMEs indicated that they have not been able to attract local talent even with
attractive offers.
▪ Businesses observed a noticeable difference in the level of resilience between
foreign staff and Singaporeans. Anecdotal evidence suggests that local hires do not
see through their commitments as their financial obligations are often fulfilled by
their parents. The younger generation of Singaporeans seems less willing to ride the
“ups and downs” in their current roles and is prepared to quit without securing their
next jobs.
▪ The business leaders we spoke to opined that Singaporeans seem to lack hunger and
drive in getting a job and excelling in their jobs. 22% of the respondents in the
survey indicated that local talents do not show interest in jobs that are posted. They
11BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
reported cases where the inconvenient location of the workplace was cited as a
reason to decline the role. Another example cited suggested a lack of urgency to do
well in the work that was allocated.
▪ There is a perception that Singaporean workers’ mindsets tend to be fixed, resulting
in a lack of flexibility, creativity and independent thinking. Coupled with a risk
averse attitude, they make little improvements to growth, limiting their
contributions to solving problems and often keeping to inefficient and ineffective
processes with no change in productivity.
2.3.2 Mismatched Expectations
▪ Business and HR leaders reported that they faced keen competition from the gig
economy for certain roles. There seems to be a growing workforce that places a
greater value in flexibility of working hours and arrangements than workplace
benefits such as insurance coverage and paid leave.
▪ Retaining young local talents has been challenging as employers providing career
growth are less appreciated compared to a salary increment offered by another
organisation.
▪ Certain sectors are not favoured by local talents as they are associated with
hardship and perceived as low-paying with limited career growth.
▪ Businesses reported that local candidates have a strong preference for full-time
roles over part-time or shared roles.
▪ Where cost management is critical but local talents are not willing to take on roles
at the given salary levels, companies would carve out the work by tasks to outsource
via digital platforms to skilled professionals with good track record at competitive
prices. Alternatively, offshoring roles to low-cost regional countries is also a
compelling option.
It is important to note that the points outlined above should not generalise the
Singaporean workforce but rather raise awareness of areas to be addressed so as to sustain
Singapore as a thriving and open economy. The advantages of being Singaporeans and
working in Singapore may explain some of the traits exhibited – Singapore has created a
safe environment where strong family bonds and functioning systems have served our
12BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
society well. Working in a different country with different conditions and norms,
operating in new and uncertain environments, and being away from extended family and
friends for long periods may not seem an attractive proposition for most.
The organisations we engaged with also shared their perspective on the various schemes
and support for building a Singaporean Core. We gleaned useful insights on what works
and what needs to work better.
2.4 Support, Schemes and Government Response
The various support schemes help organisations to hire both fresh graduates and mid-
career professionals while subsidising manpower costs during a difficult period. 84% of
the respondents in the survey indicated that current schemes such as the Jobs Support
Scheme (JSS) and Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) have helped them to hire
locals and build a Singaporean core. Respondents also found that the distribution of the
grants were timely and helpful; some organisations found it a vital lifeline to tide over this
pandemic.
An important insight we gathered from our engagement with businesses is that although
these support schemes are well-intentioned and beneficial, they may not be adequate for
more complex organisational set ups and for jobs that require niche and specialised skills.
The PCP, for instance, may be more effective for less technically-demanding roles than
roles that require practical experience and advanced technical expertise. Expecting a job-
seeker to learn how to do data analytics competently by the end of a training programme
is simply not realistic, especially given the generally older profile of job seekers with low
or no prior knowledge and skills in the new roles.
We also observed some unintended effects of the support programmes. Certain schemes
seem to favour the hiring of younger job seekers, and unintentionally incentivise
companies to retrench older workers drawing higher salaries. The business and HR
leaders we spoke to highlighted that replacing older employees with younger talents has
13BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
enabled them to utilise the schemes to defray a bigger proportion of the manpower cost.
They also cited instances where fresh graduates on the SGUnited Programme were offered
internships to defray hiring costs, although the companies have the full intention to hire
for full time positions.
In terms of job matching, businesses found the different schemes and initiatives offered
to be confusing. For instance, there are different agencies providing different support
schemes for placement. Some level of rationalisation and streamlining may be needed.
There is room for more collaboration and coordination between the government and
related agencies in order to minimise overlaps and maximise resources.
Over the short term, job creation and retention is a key priority for the government.
However, the current schemes cannot be sustained over a longer period as it drains our
national reserves and creates a ‘crutch’ mentality in organisations.
Over the long term, grants and schemes need to be more holistic to ensure that they
encourage and incentivise organisations to invest in talent, to deepen their roots and to
foster sustainable growth. The Employment Passes (EP) policy could be reviewed to
ensure that organisations make a conscious effort to transfer knowledge to the local team.
The quota system could be dependent on the type of roles rather than the sector, and the
rolling average could be relaxed in extraordinary circumstances so that organisations
have more flexibility to augment their workforce if local talent is scarce. Addressing the
match between jobs demanding specialised skills and a workforce that possesses the
relevant skills would also require sustained long-term efforts in reforming aspects of our
education system to keep it agile and responsive to the future of work.
While government support schemes and grants create more favourable conditions for
organisations to build a Singaporean Core, they are not meant to be the only lever to
enable organisations to build their talent pool for the long term. Organisations and
individuals need to play their parts to draw on the full benefits. A job seeker who has
completed the PCP cannot be expected to be competent in delivering results soon after;
14BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
the company needs to take the lead in honing the talent to contribute effectively in the
workplace.
15BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Recommendations
16BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
With the COVID-19 pandemic taking its toll on the economy, it has been observed that
many countries have started looking inward to ensure its national interest comes first and
Singapore is no different. Due to Singapore’s position as a hub and an open economy, we
need to moderate ‘populist’ viewpoints and not let them affect the long-term branding
and goodwill we have built over the past years.
Building the talent pool that enables Singapore to thrive and for Singaporeans to remain
relevant require dealing with the paradoxes effectively and transforming mindsets using
a multi-pronged approach. The following are recommendations which we believe might
set the foundations to building a thriving talent hub with a strong Singaporean core:
3.1 Reconstruct the Narrative
While certain emerging skills and relevant experience such as data analytics and cloud
computing may be critical for local talents to possess, in most cases, functional expertise
only gets the talents ‘to the door’. Characteristics such as a desire or hunger to do well and
resilience get talents ‘past the door’. Constructing and reinforcing a more accurate
narrative based on context and demand are instrumental in helping the workforce not to
have unrealistic expectations.
Most of the efforts to build capability in our workforce place emphasis on skills training
– upgrade skills to keep oneself relevant and competitive. The message to companies and
individuals should go beyond skills building. Re-skilling and upskilling efforts should not
just focus on skills alone, but also on honing critical attributes such a growth mindset, a
risk-taking attitude, and a drive to excel. We can facilitate conversations with top talents
to help them appreciate that moving out into an uncertain world would bring both risks
and rewards. More can be done to build resilience, facilitate a sense of curiosity and to
inspire them to take a sustainable long-term approach to their careers.
17BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
3.2 Recalibrate the interventions
Government interventions over the past few months have the best intentions. However,
they also have unintended consequences. Over the next few months as the economic
situation unfolds and there is more clarity on the impact on the job market, we hope to
see interventions become more streamlined and coordinated, and the various initiatives
become more simplified and accessible.
3.3 Reward intentional effort
Business leaders we spoke to acknowledged that there should be consequences for
companies that have not complied with the FCF. However, they expressed their wish for
the media to not paint every organisation with the same broad brush nor make
generalisations about how companies make talent decisions.
There are organisations that have put in intentional effort to build talent from a global
perspective. This includes building capabilities and the strategic transfer of know-how to
talent regardless of countries they are based in. Such organisations tend to see greater
benefits when investing in a talent which eventually becomes a great fit for the
organisation. In such instances, we find that building the Singaporean Core takes place
naturally, and there tends to be a mid to long term view in how talents grow and eventually
contribute to the organisation.
More incentives may be offered to companies that have put in intentional effort to build
their talent pool fairly. Showcasing successful cases of organisations that consciously
build up a strong Singaporean core with global diversity could also help strengthen
Singapore’s position as a thriving talent hub.
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Concluding
Remarks
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4.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Our engagement with businesses has surfaced more areas which deserve deeper study so
that more targeted systemic enhancements can be made.
SHRI proposes the following areas of investigation:
▪ How can the education system be more agile? How can curriculum and approaches
to learning be enhanced to better prepare graduates for the workplace of the future?
▪ Could current schemes to support career transition across sectors be ‘deep – skilling’
rather than ‘re-skilling’? Besides building relevant skillsets, would facilitating a
mindset shift be required to sustain efforts?
▪ How could support and schemes be better designed to incentivise organisations to
put in intentional effort to build local talent and strengthen the expertise of
Singaporeans?
We thank all business and HR leaders who have participated so actively in the focus group
discussions and the survey. Their sharing and insights have been tremendously valuable
in helping us shape the considerations on what it takes to build a strong Singaporean
Core.
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Appendix
21BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Appendix A
Figures 1 to 3 below provide more details on the profiles of the respondents.
21%
7.6%
15.2%
11.4%
%
22.8%
%%
Figure 1: Segments of22%
respondents – By Industry
Figure 1: Segments of respondents – By Industry
42%
9.5%
6.7%
2.8%
39%
Figure 2: Segments of respondents – By Singapore based employees
22BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
38.1%
20.9%
33.3%
5.7%
2%
Figure 3: Segments of respondents – Revenue size
Table 1: HR Practices and Policies in Organisations
23BUILDING A SINGAPOREAN CORE
Table 2: Talent Sourcing and Selection Practices
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