The People’s Action Party (PAP) has won the recent General Election (GE) with 69.9% of the votes, winning 83 out of 89 constituencies. What might these results mean to local businesses, in particular the HR teams leading them?
The PAP’s new mandate to continue governing means the policies implemented over recent months are making a real difference to Singaporeans.
As foreign workers and immigration continue to be the current hot topics, changes to Work Permit, Employment Pass and S Pass applications – as well as quota and levy regulations – should be top of HR’s checklist.
The PAP will also be under greater public scrutiny now that they have been re-elected. They will be under more pressure to continue strengthening the Singaporean core and keep their promise to look after the average local worker.
Prime Minister, Lee Hsieng Loong, showed he understood this at a press conference held on 12 September after the election results were confirmed.
“We're elected to take care of Singapore to the best of our ability and we will have to account for our performance at the next general election,” he said.
This means businesses may be in for new restrictions on foreign employee numbers and will have to keep abreast of any new changes brought in. HR will need to be ready to adjust their recruitment methods as well as their people management strategies to better fall in line with any initiatives the government feels it absolutely needs to bring in.
It is important to remember the PAP is not afraid to bring in difficult policies which may not seem too popular at first.
“We carry out the policies which we feel necessary and we will do that whether the majority is one or 50 or 70,” PM Lee said during Saturday’s press conference. “[The election results are] a reflection of what we have done in the last four years – not only doing the policies which are necessary but working hard to get them explained to people so people will understand and support them.”
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