According to the International Organisation of Migration, there has been an increase in the number of migration across borders in the world today. Migrant labor in Singapore is in high percentages. Most people come from other countries in search of employment in the construction industry in the country’s economy. This is mostly due to the shortage of skilled labor in the country thus the needy to welcome skillful labor to fill the employment gaps in the various sectors of the country (Caprotti, 2014, p.13). This report analyzes the impact of migrant labor on the lives of workers, major reasons for migrant labor recruitment into Singapore, the benefits to the social and economic development of the country and the recommendations to the adopted by the government to improve the lives of the workers.
Interview questions were used to gather the information. Where members interviewed either one friend or a family members on the type and nature of employment, the roles played in the organisation, labour on wages, debates about potential displacement of Singaporeans by migrant workers, the benefit to Singapore, level of decent work to migrants workers, motivates of recruitment of migrant workers and how to improve the vulnerability of migrant workers.
Most migrant workers in Singapore are employed by the Multi-National companies. The companies are in constant search for more workforces to fill the gaps that are found in their workplace. Mostly the foreign workers are employed in the construction companies. In any sector, the foreign workers may take up roles as junior employees for the routine works or as senior employees to facilitate operations of the organizations. People feel intimidated if they work under foreigners and this may cause chaos which may lead to foreigners being harassed for occupying top jobs in the host nations (Huang, et al. 2012, p.204). Junior positions in different organizations attract low pay and residents of Singapore are not willing to take up the roles because migrant labor has led to reduced wages because labor supply exceeds demand.
The high recruitment of migrant workers is noted to be due to skills shortage where locals especially fresh graduates do not wish to work for jobs with low pay. Also, most locals make choices on the type of work they wish to do. For instance, most of the local employees are not willing to work at the construction sites in the country. This makes these companies look for employees from other countries to fill the existing gaps (Wise, and Velayutham, 2014, p.417). Graduates from different universities are always looking for white collar jobs and there is a perception that educated people should not work in construction sites because that is not their area of specialization. This notion forces many organizations to make the good use if foreigners who are willing to perform the roles which are looked upon by Singapore citizens.
It is realized that welcoming foreign employees to Singapore will result in brain gain through new skills acquisition in the organizations. The interaction of locals and foreign works will bring about the exchange of ideas at them, as a result, more innovations in the economy (Lorente, 2012, p.201). Skill and labor shortage will be addressed in the country since there will be more skilled people to add to the available local employees thus increasing organizational productivity. Singapore developmental goals will be achieved easily due to the availability of labor and an increase in innovations. Availability of labor will increase industrialization in the country and this will boost the export sector. Exports in return will help in the balance of trade as more revenue will be realized.
Migrant workers lead to cultural diversity. Foreign workers will enable the exchange of their cultural values among locals, bring and adapt to new ways of lifestyle. This ensures a healthy coexistence among people from various parts of the world. The coexistence will boost world peace as people of different nationalities will be hosted in Singapore. This in return will ensure good relations between the involved nations and improve trading activities and promote globalization (Parrenas, 2012, p.272). Migrant workers will also transfer some skills to the Singapore citizens and this will help to address problems which are associated with the shortage of skills in various industries in Singapore especially the construction industry.
There has been a debate in the country that with labor migration, there is a potential displacement of local workers by the foreign workers. However, this report realizes that Singapore needs these works from abroad to fulfill the workforce so that various sectors in the economy can be in full operations in order to meet the demands of the country’s population (Noor, and Leong, 2013, p.720). Without the migrant labor, there will be labor shortage and this will affect different sectors such as engineering sector. The shortage of labor will affect urbanization and industrialization efforts as the affected sectors play critical roles.
The influx of migrant employees into Singapore drives down the wages and working conditions of the locals mostly in the construction services and engineering sectors. This is due to forces of demand and supply which states that when supply exceeds demand, the wage rates will go down so as to ensure there is equilibrium. Some organizations also do not care about the working conditions of foreign workers and this also affects the local citizens who work in the same environment as the migrant workers (Lindquist, et al. 2012, p.11). With no laws and regulations that protect the rights and welfare of migrant workers in Singapore, the employers are putting no efforts in improving the working conditions. Lack of minimum wages for migrant workers has also played a critical role in driving down the wage rates in Singapore.
Decent work for most foreign workers is noted to be depending on the company. Mostly multi-national companies offer fair income, good security for the employees and other life prospects than local companies. At times the migrant workers are not treated equally as locals due to discrimination based on various aspects. The foreign workers are paid poorly and also work under poor conditions that can be hazardous to their health (LeBaron, 2013, p.237). The migrant rights are not valued and this has affected many families especially where the worker is injured while performing duties in the organization. Migrant workers also do not enjoy equal opportunities in relation to employment. The prospects of better development in the country are rare as there are no rules that protect migrant labor from exploitation.
Based on my observations, agencies in Singapore are not playing their roles in ensuring migrant workers are not exploited by the local companies. This is due to the fact that Singapore agencies have not enacted minimum wages for migrant labor and this is the main cause of migrant labor exploitation (Warren, 2012, p.115). Migrant workers are not supposed to strike because demonstrations by foreigners are banned in Singapore. This denies migrant workers a chance to air their grievances. There are no laws and regulations that can force Singapore organizations to provide entitlements to migrant workers and this has hurt many migrant workers especially those claiming compensations (Xiang, 2012, p.730). There have been also a series of riots in Singapore by migrant workers because of mistreatment and discriminations by various employers. This proves that Singapore agencies are doing little in protecting the rights and welfare of migrant workers.
Conclusion
Migrant labor is important to countries thus the workers should be considered of help to the socio-economic development of the country. The Singapore government should ensure that no local owned company take advantage of the migrant workers, provide protection against employment and pay slips manipulation, to ensure that the employees can freely raise complains to any agencies without any restrictions and that all companies pay their foreign workers in time without holding any money. Once the existing workers will enjoy the benefits of their work, they will attract more new workers which will boost Singapore’s overall performance.
References.
Caprotti, F., 2014. Critical research on eco-cities? A walk through the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, China. Cities, 36, pp.10-17.
Huang, S., Yeoh, B.S. and Toyota, M., 2012. Caring for the elderly: the embodied labour of migrant care workers in Singapore. Global Networks, 12(2), pp.195-215.
LeBaron, G., 2013. Subcontracting Is Not Illegal, but Is It Unethical: Business Ethics, Force Labor, and Economic Success. Brown J. World Aff., 20, p.237.
Lindquist, J., Xiang, B. and Yeoh, B.S., 2012. Opening the black box of migration: Brokers, the organization of transnational mobility and the changing political economy in Asia. Pacific Affairs, 85(1), pp.7-19.
Lorente, B.P., 2012. The making of “workers of the world”: Language and the labor brokerage state. In Language in late capitalism (pp. 193-216). Routledge.
Noor, N.M. and Leong, C.H., 2013. Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore: contesting models. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(6), pp.714-726.
Parrenas, R.S., 2012. The reproductive labour of migrant workers. Global Networks, 12(2), pp.269-275.
Warren, K.B., 2012. Troubling the victim/trafficker dichotomy in efforts to combat human trafficking: the unintended consequences of moralizing labor migration. Indiana Journal of global legal Studies, 19(1), pp.105-120.
Wise, A. and Velayutham, S., 2014. Conviviality in everyday multiculturalism: Some brief comparisons between Singapore and Sydney. European journal of cultural studies, 17(4), pp.406-430.
Xiang, B., 2012. Labor Transplant:“Point-to-Point” Transnational Labor Migration in East Asia. South Atlantic Quarterly, 111(4), pp.721-739.
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