IT Labor Market
A small, labor force of about 2 million people with a shortage of local skilled professionals, characterizes Singapore’s labor market. Of the 2 million people, there is a considerable pool of 360,000 foreign, mostly unskilled, workers from the region. This shortage influences the type of industries and businesses the Government promotes. High technology investments are encouraged, and companies are given incentives to automate. Companies are also encouraged to re-site some labor-intensive operations in neighboring countries while retaining headquarters activities in Singapore.
To reduce industries'
dependence on foreign labor, the Government placed a ceiling on the
percentage of foreign workers various industries may employ, and charges a
monthly levy for each foreign worker.
Foreign workers who earn S$2,000 (US$1,416) or lower per month are
given two-year work permits, usually renewable for another two years. Those certified as skilled receive three-year work
permits, which are also renewable.
Between
1998 and 1999 there has be some down shift of the economy because of a
recession. There were numerous layoffs and the jobless rate grew to 2%
from 1998 to a high of 3.2%. There was a great deal of problems with the
Asian markets during this time. However,
recently the job market has been thriving in the last couple of years
because of the need for outsourcing. [52]
Depending
on the career skills Singaporeans are paid according to their type of job
that is performed. The government created these roles helps identify the
various people within the job market with the best skills to do the job.
Singapore trains their people to assist the country in competing with the
market. [51]
Classification of Career Paths
The
job market in Singapore is broken it to categories. There is a procedure
set in place to facilitate who will get working passes. After finishing
school completing higher education there are pass issued to those in
acceptable professions. There are 8 level or different type of passes.
Employment P, Employment Q, Employment R, Professional Visit Pass, Visit
pass for Training, Dependant’s Pass, Social Visit Pass and Work Pass for
Technopreneurs are the 8 passes that can be issued to a person seeking a
career within Singapore. Each pass has a base salary attached to it task
and duties. Within the passes there are levels that can be broken in to
roles. For example, there are administrators, managers, professionals,
inventors, entrepreneurs and specialist talent with salary that ranges
from $3500 to $7000. [53]
Sources:
HTTP://dsbb.imf.org/country/sgp/woebase.htm
HTTP://www.contractsingapore.org.sg/work/workinspore.htm
HTTP://www.contractsingapore.org.sg/work/workinspore_pass.htm