Josephine Teo on employment of foreigners as bus
drivers
SINGAPORE : Minister of State for Finance and
Transport, Josephine Teo, on Friday addressed concerns about the
employment of foreigners as bus drivers.
Speaking in Parliament, Mrs Teo said it is
increasingly difficult to recruit Singaporeans as bus drivers, due
to rising career aspirations.
She said this is due to rising educational
attainments and rising career aspirations. Other industries,
including the construction sector, have also begun to offer better
remuneration and better working conditions.
About 280 locals are hired as bus drivers each year, compared to
800 foreigners.
They are primarily from Malaysia and China.
About 1,000 drivers, or 14 per cent of the driver pool, leave each
year.
Mrs Teo said: "I think we must also realise that there is a
difference between the terms of employment for locals as well as
the foreigners. Foreigners are here on contract. So some of them,
at the end of the contract, they leave the service. And they are
also counted within that 1,000.
"So if you were to look purely at the rates of attrition, then it
would seem that the attrition is higher amongst the foreigners. But
a large part of it is because they have completed their
contracts."
- CNA/ms
And so i wonder, where do we find people to staff the 800
additional buses to be on the roads?