Minister of Manpower Mr Lim Swee Say said on Monday, Mar 5, that about 500 companies have been placed on a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) watch list for not doing enough to hire Singaporeans. This is double the figure on the list this time last year.
He added that these companies, which have "pre-conceived ideas" that local employees are "either unable or unwilling to do the job," will be taken to task.
When companies are placed on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) watch list, they will be under closer scrutiny when they apply for Employment Passes. The FCF was implemented in August 2014 to help ensure that firms consider locals for job openings, according to a report by Todayonline.
So far, 150 out of the 500 companies have improved their human resource practices and were removed from the watch list. About 60 of the remaining companies have not been cooperative, and MOM has taken action by curtailing their work pass privileges. These companies will not be able to make any new employment pass applications or renew existing employment passes until they “adopt fair human resource practices”.
“We will continue to fight this win-lose mindset, because it results in a waste of our precious human capital,” emphasised Mr Lim.