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THE economy is just emerging out of recession, and already the business community here seems fraught with concerns that usually arise when economic activity is at full throttle.
In Parliament on Tuesday, a Nominated MP, who also happens to be president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called for the foreign worker quota to be relaxed in sectors where employers are hard put to hire local workers willing to put in long, irregular hours. That is a request that hadn't come up too much during the recent recessionary past. But there you go again. Of course, foreign workers have remained a visible presence all across the island - at worksites, in restaurants and retail shops, in the neighbourhood parks and streets. Even in a recession, many Singaporeans still would rather stay unemployed than be cleaners, trash-collectors or shift workers. The call to allow for more foreign workers didn't get the nod, of course, with the Manpower Minister saying basically the job market is still soft and the economic outlook still uncertain. But yes, notice has been served - the government does want better-skilled workers, through more stringent requirements for employment pass holders.
Employers will have their hands full managing their manpower needs. But foreign labour should not be the low-cost crutch in sectors where there is local supply to fill the vacancies. At the same time, those who cannot but rely on foreign labour should at least be humane and responsible employers. The number of employers hauled up for salary arrears or illegal worker housing may seem 'small', but these are probably only those that got caught, and they still involve thousands of workers.
The other little surprise this week - or perhaps it really should be no surprise - is the appeal from business chiefs to the government to further lower business costs. At this point, the numbers do not back their case: the official business cost indices fell to fairly benign levels in the second quarter, though the unit labour cost index of the overall economy had a surprising 2 per cent rise, even if it's the smallest increase in a few years.
Of course, the indicators do not always reflect the reality on the ground. As one chamber chief put it, demand today is as at 2004-2005, but operating costs are at the heady 2007 levels. Faced with the prospect that some, if not all, of the first-aid measures doled out early this year may well be withdrawn after a year-end review, the business leaders may now be anxious to play down the sightings of green shoots, and temper what exuberance there might have been about the budding economic recovery.
A continuation of rental rebates and other domestic business reliefs would of course help to contain costs. But beyond just the interests of business, economic recovery is indeed as yet not a full certainty. If US and European consumer demand do not pick up in the months ahead, it could be a bumpy road out of recession for Singapore.
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