Vedior
25 Jun 2008
The secretary-general of Singapore's National Trade Unions Congress has suggested that foreign workers are the key to the country's economic stability.
Lim Swee Say raised the spectre of stagflation - which occurs when inflation is coupled with slow or negative economic growth - and called on the government to ensure such a situation does not occur, Asia One reports.
He suggested that maintaining a foreign worker policy that is "very responsive" to business needs is the best way to do this.
Mr See Say compared his country to Denmark, noting that although both states have near full employment, Singapore's economy grew by 7.5 per cent last year, while Denmark's only grew by 1.3 per cent.
He blamed this on Denmark's reluctance to hire foreign workers to plug its employment gaps, telling the news provider: "If we're short of construction workers, we allow (foreigners) to come as construction workers. It helps us to keep growing our economy."
According to data from the Ministry of Manpower, the number of non-nationals employed in Singapore rose by 144,500 in 2007, a record amount.
http://www.vedior.com/hr-portal/recruitment-news/foreign-workers-key-to-singapores-prosperity.html?c=3891
