I just read this junk opinion piece on Linkedin by a young Singaporean lady, who gives herself some grand sounding titles like "Marketing Enthusiast. Social & Community Builder. Tech lover & startup hustler."
I refer to her article, Don’t bother applying. We won’t be able to justify hiring a foreigner like you.
Her piece is a complete cop out and a blatant lie. Here's an excerpt summarising her whole article:
"Being of Singaporean nationality, I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I can take all the time I need because my stay in this country is not bound by a legal document – a student visa, a work permit or an employment pass. For employers, hiring a local also means less processes, costs, risks; and most importantly, less scrutiny from the government – the one thing all businesses hope to avoid.
But, Singaporeans– how does that make you feel? I can’t speak for all of you, but the last thing I want is to be hired for a nationality I belong to (or not). I don’t want to be selected for a job because I was the “easier way out”. I want to be selected for a role because I earned it. I want to be chosen because I outperformed all other candidates in the running, proved my ability and ultimately emerged as the best candidate for the position."
I don't know how she can live with herself for uttering such crap and I think many locals will be able to see her for who she really is: a wannabe writer trying too hard to sound intelligent when she's not even stepped out and seen the world for what it is.
The employment market is an unforgiving place. Businesses are about profits and margins. It is not about hiring the best workers every time, but the cheapest and the most bang for buck. When a Singaporean resume turns up on the desk of the HR personnel of a foreign MNC, they see high costs, CPF contributions, NS commitments, compulsary employment benefits and other regulations which makes hiring a Singaporean more troublesome than hiring a foreigner. The only hassle can be circumvented by filling in some forms to show that the company has considered Singaporeans first for the job by holding a few interviews with Singaporean candidates, or sometimes not at all.
Is it any wonder that foreign PMETs are arriving in Singapore in droves, while local graduates, especially those in the middle of their careers, are finding themselves retrenched or losing their jobs to younger, cheaper, better, faster foreign colleagues?
So before you go writing another one of these senseless articles and make a fool out of yourself, I suggest that you take a look at the real world, Shermin.
Anita See
A.S.S. Contributor
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