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SINGAPORE : Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong on Monday said that the decline in productivity in 2007 was partly due to the record employment growth of 234,900 jobs - and not due to an influx of foreign workers.
He said that with strong employment figures, productivity growth typically tends to be lower as output growth fails to keep pace with the increase in manpower.
He was responding to questions brought up in Parliament by MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh Josephine Teo and Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim on the impact of low-wage foreign workers here.
Mr Gan said: "It will be simplistic to conclude that the weaker productivity performance was due to the increased presence of foreign workers.
"In fact, our flexible and responsive foreign manpower policies enable companies to capitalise quickly on growth opportunities in Singapore and expand to create even more jobs, including jobs for locals." - CNA/ms
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