Acting Manpower Minister: Foreign manpower growth slows down in first half of 2012

Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin says efforts to reduce Singapore's dependency on foreign labour are on the right track. 

Writing in a blog post today, he said the growth in foreign manpower in the first half of this year slowed to 34,100, not counting foreign domestic workers. 

That's a 7 per cent drop from the same period last year. 

The number of Work Permit holders grew by almost 20,600 - mostly construction workers. 

Employment Pass holders dropped marginally, after government requirements were tightened in January. 

However, S Passes grew strongly, as companies compensated by bringing in more junior level workers at the professional-managerial-executive level. 

The Minister said Singapore's productivity effort must continue aggressively and that the driving forces favour an even more moderate foreign worker inflow. 

This is to encourage companies to pursue higher productivity processes.