Robert Yap, president of the Singapore National Employers Federation recently stated that Singapore must be open to outside talent. He stated that foreigners with specialized skills are needed to fill gaps and train locals so as to enable companies to stay competitive.
“That kind of scheme must always be there… Otherwise, we are just fighting ourselves, we think we are the champion, but (we are) champion only in Siglap. We want to be the champion globally. Just like you compete to be Miss Sungei Road. But Miss Sungei Road is only Miss Sungei Road, what about Miss Universe?
“We must have a balance, otherwise we become too closed, then we will lose our competitive edge, we lose our own instincts, our local population’s instinct to actually be the best because we think we are already the best,” he said.
He also said that businesses who practice discriminatory hiring practices that are caught only once should not be named as it is very bad for the company in terms of employment and also its image.