MOM Put 47 Firms Under Watchlist; Some Employers Have Almost 3/4 of PMETS from the Same Country

The main gist of the argument during GE2020 is this: We’re in the midst of Covid-19 and shouldn’t it be “Singaporeans First”?

Government: Wish granted.

And just when you’re thinking its lip service, this headline came up in your Facebook feed today:

MOM Put 47 Firms Under Watchlist

On 5 Aug 2020, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that they’ve placed an additional 47 companies on their watchlist.

The list, unlike MOH’s list, comprises of companies which are suspected to be “discriminatory in hiring Singaporeans”.

BaoNess45: Huh? Simi talking you?

Basically, it means they prefer and hire foreigners for selected positions.

These 47 companies, according to MOM, come from a variety of sectors and hired 2,000 foreign PMETs and over 2,800 local PMETs.

While the numbers look normal, they’re added to the watchlist anyway as their “workplace profiles” indicate that there might be discriminatory hiring going on.

What Is Discriminatory Hiring?

So basically, imagine you have company A.

For some reason, they decide that this middle management position they’re hiring for should be a foreigner, either because they’re cheaper or for some other reason.

So they put out an ad and got two candidates.

One has a pink NRIC and is more qualified for the position while the other has lesser experience but has an identification card of a certain colour.

In the end, the pink NRIC is kicked out because they don’t like the colour pink.

Some Employers Have Almost 3/4 of PMETS from the Same Country

MOM didn’t reveal the companies’ names because, well, they’re still at the “allegedly” stage and it doesn’t do to anyhowly spoil people’s reputation.

However, they did reveal factors that made them suspicious.

In a wealth management company, almost “3/4” of their PMETs are of the “same nationality”. Obviously, it’s not Singaporeans.

In a certain bank in Singapore, MOM claims, 2/3 of their PMETs are from the same country.

30 of the 47 companies come from the financial and professional services sectors and they have a “high concentration” of PMETs from the same country.

It was added that the 47 companies are made up of both large and small firms and that the remaining 17 companies come from various sectors including education, administrative and manufacturing.

So, What Now?

Now, MOM said, they’ll be watching these companies closely.

Should they be proven to be engaging in discriminatory hiring practices, their employment pass privileges will be affected.

It was added that there is another 240 companies that were identified through data analytics that could be discriminating against pink NRICs, either through pre-selection or not adhering to job posting guidelines.

According to MOM, the FCF advertising regulations decree that all companies, when posting a job position, must first advertise on mycareersfuture.sg and fairly consider all applications.

MOM will be going after them next.

Probably to stave off opinions that they’re only doing it now, MOM added that the 1,200 employers have been punished since the FCF came out in 2016.