However, over the same time period, Taiwanese citizens and permanent residents ‘ unemployment levels had remained largely unchanged, not exceeding 52 %.  ,
” Contrary to popular belief, immigrant outflows to Singapore are not throwing residents into large unemployment”, he wrote.
Cases of prejudice experienced at function or during work research, including over one’s ethnicity, seemed to have even dipped, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s Fair Employment Practices record in July 2023.
The proportion of resident job applicants reporting such an experience decreased from 14.2 % in 2018 to 6.2 % in 2021 and 4.0 % in 2022, specifically for discrimination based on nationality.
Value OF View
Why do tensions endure over this matter despite the government’s ongoing efforts to promote and strengthen the” Singaporean primary” in the workforce and even despite the approval by many Singaporeans that the nation needs foreign skill?
What individuals perceive as information can be easily overlooked when it comes to expressive problems, according to experts told TODAY.
” The notion that immigrants are preventing Singaporeans from being promoted or taking their tasks, those quite quickly be regarded as “facts,” said Dr. Tan from SMU.
” But even as the government has been trying its best to address problems, it may not be seen as enough”.
More important, experts pointed out that job opposition is but one part of the conflicts.
Given that Singapore is careful about the unusual talent it employs, by default these workers will earn more than the typical Singaporean, according to Assoc Prof Theseira.
Seeing foreigners able to better manage cherished things like cars and personal homes, for instance, had therefore fuel a notion of inequality, he said.
For this reason, the state has even implemented measures to address these issues outside of the labor market. These include beefing up people system capacity, as also as , dampening a warm personal accommodation sector, and disincentivising unusual investment in the latter.
Given that a large number of blue-collar immigrant workers are required to perform the jobs that Singaporeans ignore, the boosting of public system is also important because Singapore faces a similar , conundrum with unusual manpower at , the other end of the scale.  ,
Sociologist Tan Ern Ser from NUS said:” Competition can produce tension and conflict, hence, the need to ensure that there is enough of the things that matter to Singaporeans at the workplace, schools, and neighbourhoods.
And from this point on, to facilitate collaboration and intercultural exchange between Singaporeans and the foreigners living in our country.
Beyond just top-down policies, locals and foreigners should establish connections, according to Dr. Leong Chan-Hoong, a Senior Fellow for Social Cohesion Research at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
” The shared narrative, the shared experiences ( between locals and non- locals ) is less articulated in public, “he said, adding that this narrative is important as we continue developing as a global city- state.
” We need to move beyond’ how much you get, how much I get’. It’s about how much we are doing this together? And I believe that this is the missing narrative.
A possible way to accomplish this is to encourage ground-up organizations that aim to address issues that are “universal” or that both locals and non-locals can empathise with, such as tackling parenting issues or even second-hand smoke.
This would also help to reinforce the notion that non-locals are here to contribute and not just to accept jobs.
An MCCY spokesperson said:” For integration to be effective and sustained, it needs a whole- of- society effort — foreigners to actively contribute to the local community and adapt to local culture and norms, and Singaporeans to also be inclusive, patient, and willing to learn from foreigners.”
The government has repeatedly stressed to the public the importance of foreign workers to Singapore, but how it delivers the message seems to have changed with time, according to some observers.