Rationales and Constraints of Managers When Hiring Foreign Workers in
Singapore: A Study of the Manufacturing and Manufacturing Related
Services Sectors
Abstract
The paper provides understanding of managers’ rationales and constraints
when hiring foreign workers in the manufacturing and manufacturing
related services sectors in Singapore. Using purposive and quota
sampling methods, the study covers in-depth interviews with 25 managers
from multinational companies from Singapore’s five leading industries,
in the manufacturing sector and manufacturing related services sector.
Analysing qualitative data from the structuration perspective show that
managers’ choices are shaped by the changing foreign labour policy that
limit the hiring of foreign workers from specific countries according to
different levels of skills. Reasons for hiring unskilled, semi-skilled
and skilled foreign workers vary which ranging from ‘blended low labour
cost’ to shortage of domestic labour, right attitude to work, skill
mismatch of domestic labour, high salary demands by domestic labour,
accreditation and innovation capability, and relevant knowledge, skills
and language proficiency. As the dependency ratio for foreign workers
continue to narrow, in the near future, managers would have to search
for limited skilled workers within the Singapore’s domestic labour
market. The post-pandemic Covid-19 crisis would disrupt the future
demand for unskilled foreign workers as the adoption of automation would
increase and managers would have to readapt to the new economic
scenario.