Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on hiring prospects amid rising energy and business costs

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:30]Other questions for answer, Mr. Ip Hong Wai?

[00:00:47]Uh Mr. Speaker, sir, good morning. With your permission, I would like to address oral questions numbers 1 and 2 in today's oral paper together. And my reply will also cover written question number 28. Uh I invite all members to seek clarifications after. Please proceed. Uh members may refer to our Deputy Prime Minister's ministerial statement on the 7th of April, which described the economic impact of the Middle East crisis.

[00:01:14]Energy-intensive industries and outward-oriented sectors saw the most impact from increased energy costs.

[00:01:23]The crisis has also increased domestic operating costs and compounded challenges for export- oriented sectors, which are already impacted by global trade fragmentation.

[00:01:36]While the labor market remains resilient for now, businesses have become more cautious in their hiring plans amid Based on MOM's survey, the proportion of firms intending to hire in the next 3 months fell from 54.6% in February 2026 to 44.6% in March 2026.

[00:02:06]Now, although expectations remain below February's levels, there were early signs of stabilization in April.

[00:02:16]And this was supported by data from the Economic Development Board and Department of Statistics, which suggests that hiring sentiments are likely to further stabilize and improve over the longer term.

[00:02:31]All job seekers who need assistance can tap Need Assistance can tap on Workforce Singapore or WSG and SkillsFuture Singapore SSG's suite of career matching services and programs.

[00:02:45]Depending on the economic and job market conditions, MOM stands ready to provide further support to job seekers if necessary.

[00:02:56]Mr. Yip.

[00:03:01]Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his reply. Uh given reports that some firms are slowing workforce expansion due to cost pressures uh given the situation in the Middle East, has MOM observed any corresponding shift in firms' hiring preferences between local workers and our foreign workforce? And does the Ministry intend to further calibrate work pass policies if Singaporeans, particularly mid-career PMETs, are facing disproportionately weaker hiring prospects? Thank you.

[00:03:31]Minister Tan.

[00:03:35]I thank the member for his supplementary question.

[00:03:40]We have not seen any shifts in the moment at the moment in firms' hiring preferences.

[00:03:51]Our resident employment continue to grow in the first quarter of uh 2026 and we just released the report about a week ago.

[00:04:04]And that growth was higher compared to the first quarter of 2025.

[00:04:11]So, there's uh seasonality uh in terms of the change involved. So, if you compare you compare the first first quarter of this year 2026 versus the first quarter of 2025 the resident employment continue to grow.

[00:04:27]Our work pass policies also ensure that Singaporeans are given a level playing field against foreign workers and we do our level best to ensure that our foreign workers here are complementary to our local Singaporean workers.

[00:04:44]Now, we've been continually calibrating our work pass policies in response to labor market conditions.

[00:04:53]For example, at budget COS this year we announced an increase in EP and S Pass qualifying salaries that will take effect from January 2027.

[00:05:08]We also regularly review the compass shortage occupation list or SOL to remove occupations that are no longer in shortage.

[00:05:20]So, we always seek to strive I mean to strike a right balance between ensuring that our businesses have that space, the latitude to continue to grow while ensuring that our local Singaporean workers and talent continues to also have that trajectory for them to grow as well. Thank you.

[00:05:47]Mr. Liang Eng Hwa.

[00:05:50]Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:05:52]Uh so, we hope that the there will be peaceful resolutions to the latest conflict soon, and that the Straits of Hormuz will be fully open.

[00:06:00]Uh notwithstanding, uh as the Minister have said before on several occasion, even if the conflict's over, uh the damages it has caused, especially to the oil and gas infrastructure, will have long-lasting impact to the world economy.

[00:06:14]So, can I ask Can I further ask if he sees, uh as a result of the war, uh permanent or structural changes to the related industries that will affect the uh BAU, uh that will affect investments of specific sectors within our economy, and hence affecting jobs opportunities?

[00:06:33]Uh also, on the reserves, whether the crisis, although it posed recent challenges to us, whether the Minister also see any opportunities created as a result of the crisis, and worthy of us investing uh into it, or doubling down, for example, in our oil refinery uh capacity, our position as a trading on trading hub, or even in the energy transition. Thank you.

[00:06:58]Minister Lee.

[00:07:00]Uh thank Mr. Liang for that uh two very insightful um SQ's.

[00:07:06]I think it's premature today to conclude on a long-term structural impact on related, you know, related to the the to the industry transformation, because the crisis, as we speak, is still unfolding. And um if you look at uh all of the media, it evolves on a daily basis, and uh it's also reflected in the way oil prices and and uh stock prices have moved uh concurrently.

[00:07:39]I And our view is that the crisis is likely to accelerate the existing structural shifts uh that are already underway in the entire global economy. And I'm talking about supply chain diversification digitalization.

[00:07:58]Yesterday we spent 7 hours talking about AI adoption.

[00:08:03]And of course the energy transition and also energy resilience.

[00:08:11]Our sense is that this will indeed push this will test the resilience of countries of economies.

[00:08:20]But in crisis like this it also creates a lot of new opportunities for firms to transform to diversify and to deepen their capabilities.

[00:08:36]In the energy supply chain we are in the entire energy ecosystem. Energy has come to the forefront because this is existential for all of us.

[00:08:47]And with the move towards uh uh pervasive adoption of artificial intelligence there will be a need for even more energy to drive the data centers and the high uh type of AI compute type of data centers required.

[00:09:08]So ex- energy is really the new currency and is existential for all of us.

[00:09:19]We are also at a time in our entire civilization's development where there's actually an abundance of new discoveries in oil and gas and there are also a lot of accelerated developments towards green energy sources.

[00:09:41]What we are experiencing currently are actually supply chains blockages, chokeholds. For instance, what we are seeing now in the Middle East, in the streets of Hormuz.

[00:09:56]Our sense is that many countries are moving not just thinking about diversification, but they're also moving into a just-in-case mode rather than just-in-time.

[00:10:13]For Singapore, because we stand at a very strategic crossroad between the East and the West, I believe that given the decades of goodwill, the trust, the credibility, and our reputation we've built as a very reliable partner to many, many countries, this crisis will put us will test us, and if we are able to prevail, I think it would cement, it would reinforce, and consolidate our position as a trusted hub.

[00:10:54]So, to that end, our Prime Minister has in recent weeks committed that we will not impose any export restriction.

[00:11:06]So, for downstream refined products, the essential fuel products, whether it's mogas, motor gas, diesel, and so on, many of the countries that depend on our refinery hubs to get access to the downstream supply will continue. Our sectors here will continue to see relevance.

[00:11:30]And of course, we are equally committed to our decarbonization targets that we have set for ourselves.

[00:11:38]So, I believe that these are new opportunities in the energy space, in the supply chain space, that we are able we have our right to play, that we have our competitive advantage, and we will continue to build on them.

[00:11:53]Including our port, our maritime hub, our connectivity, our entire logistics, moving into advanced manufacturing, financial uh services, and of course, health care.

[00:12:08]So, I hope that gives you the overall opportunities as available first and foremost to Singaporeans, and of course, to complementary talent who will come here to help us reinforce our position and help us to continue to grow. Thank you.

[00:12:28]Dr. Chu.

[00:12:34]Thank you, Speaker, and thank you, Minister, for your response.

[00:12:37]Building on the earlier response, could the Minister share whether Singapore's workforce planning approach is being further adapted for a more persistent state of structural uncertainty, where workers may face overlapping disruptions from trade fragmentation, technological change, and sectoral restructuring, which may occur concurrently over their careers rather than as isolated transitions. Thank you.

[00:13:05]Minister Tan.

[00:13:07]Uh I thank Dr. Chu for her supplementary question. The answer is a resounding yes.

[00:13:12]Um I had the opportunity of uh reading the draft of the economic strategic review report. Uh I think it is going to be released soon.

[00:13:23]Um and many of the points that she covered will and have actually have been addressed in the report. Uh and I think it will be released and shared in due time. Uh but based on what we have been debating over the last 2 days, yesterday uh 7 hours, the previous day on the formation of the SkillsFuture Development Agency 5 over hours.

[00:13:50]Uh so, you know, over 12 hours stretch of debate, I think this is really what the focus is all about, about how we can prepare our workers, how we're going to invest in our workers to further reinforce their competitive advantage in dealing with longer-term structural shifts in our entire economy and in, of course, the entire workforce transformation journey. Thank you.