Koh Poh Koon on foreign manpower for hawkers and small F&B operators

The government will continue to review foreign manpower policies for hawkers and small food and beverage companies, together with relevant agencies including the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon in reply to an MP’s question. Speaking in parliament on Monday (Mar 2), he said that differentiating foreign manpower levies and quotas further to favour smaller operators could incentivise larger operators to break up into smaller entities to hire more foreign workers. This could result in a large increase in the number of foreign workers, which would not be sustainable, given Singapore’s limited infrastructure and social caring capacity.