SINGAPORE — When Covid-19-induced travel restrictions temporarily eased early last year, Ms Shamalee, 42, decided to book a flight back to Sri Lanka in April last year to see her mother.
This meant that all pre-approved return flights were cancelled. Singapore citizens or permanent residents on the other hand could return to Singapore upon serving quarantine here. In the end, Ms Shamalee decided to leave her job here and relocate to London, where there were fewer travel restrictions. She left Singapore in October last year and now has a job at the European office of the same investment bank.
Mr Jason Ong, 24, another former employment pass holder here, left Singapore for a different reason: He felt that career options here had become scarce due to the pandemic. Mr Ong attributed the lack of job offers partly to the Singapore Government’s move to preserve jobs for locals amid the economic downturn.
Amid an unprecedented pandemic which has turned the world upside down, Singapore has lost its shine as an expat haven, said some HR experts who work closely with firms who hire expatriates. “My father and mother are also very old and sick, and my wife cannot take care of the baby on her own,” the 34-year-old said. “But now that I am here with my family, everybody is happy.”
This was the case for 54-year-old Julijam Jumaat, who was a work permit holder. He had been working as a maintenance worker at several malls around Jurong since 2017. Employers at construction and engineering firms said that it is especially frustrating for them when their foreign workers are unable to return to Singapore after going home.had over 30 migrant workers in her firm before the pandemic, but the number is now down to about 20. As a result, her maintenance projects have been pushed back by about six months to a year.
Nevertheless, Ms Kuek from The Meyer Consulting Group said that for nascent industries such as IT and tech, the Singapore population is “too small” to drive meaningful growth in the sector.While replacing the roles filled by foreign PMETs with Singaporeans may seem ideal, experts noted that there may not be sufficient talent within the local workforce to fill these roles.
Locusts go where there's food
Please don't come Back. SG has no place for you..
There is someone smoking outside assigned zone
What talking you Pappy is still the g.
Locusts?
all it takes is a virus to create an exodus. till now, no one learns anything from it?
Of cos. We like foreigners mah.
No.
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