115,900 Jobs Created, But How Many Went To Citizens?

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115,900 jobs were created last year, but it’s not clear how many of these jobs were taken up by citizens.

As I mentioned previously, it is baffling when we see the term “locals” whenever job and salary statistics are released by the government.

Let me clear the air again: The term “locals” refer to BOTH citizens and permanent residents.

Citizens hold pink NRICs, while PRs hold blue ones. PRs also hold passports from their home countries. They don’t hold the red Singapore passports. To me, the difference between citizens and PRs is big. Very big.

So, why is it unclear how many of the 115,900 jobs went to citizens?

First, look at the Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Market 2010 report (emphasis mine, see press release too):

“In 2010, local employment grew by 56,200… Locals (also known as residents) refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents.” (Labour Market 2010, bottom of page 3)

It’s also mentioned in the report that total employment growth last year was 115,900. This means about half of the new jobs went to locals. If it has not sunk in yet, let me say one more time: “locals” refer to “both citizens and PRs”.

Now, it appears that even the term “Singaporeans” can include PRs! As reported in ChannelNewsAsia (emphasis mine, see also printed PDF):

“Last year alone, 115,900 jobs were added, with half going to Singaporeans.” (CNA, by S Ramesh/May Wong | Posted: 29 April 2011 2033 hrs)

Singaporeans!? All along, I had always thought Singaporeans refer to citizens, and only citizens. Now, PRs are also called Singaporeans! Do we want to give them voting rights too?

Fortunately, in today’s Straits Times, the less ambiguous term is used, much to my relief:

“Last year, about half of 115,900 new jobs created went to locals.” (ST, page A8, April 30, 2011)

When will we get to see statistics on citizens, and citizens only?

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103 Comments

  1. Singaporeans should not have a problem looking for a job as there are a lot of jobs created every year.They should not be bothered by the increasing number of expats as native Singaporeans are still on the top of the list whenever companies are hiring new employees.

  2. Meritocracy died the last decade on

    @ysayap
    Sure, the bus companies and construction sites are always hiring. But at 1K+/mth salary, you just have to be that very lucky few to get that one-room studio BTO ballot just to get a roof over your head.

    Oh oh….MNC are hiring? Sure! Provided you are a naturalised Indian or pinoy to get pass the Indian or pinoy HR.

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