The S$9 Bn expansion by Singapore's two integrated resorts to create more jobs

The S$9 additional investment by the integrated resorts will see Marina Bay Sands (MBS) add a new entertainment arena and hotel tower, while Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) will extend Universal Studios Singapore to include two new attractions - Minion Park and Super Nintendo World. Further, the exclusivity period for MBS and RWS will also be extended to end-2030.

These expansions will enhance and revive interest in Singapore among foreign visitors. And also create more jobs which will mostly be filled in by the locals.

However, how these 5,000 new jobs will be filled in is a bit of a challenge.

As some of these jobs are expected to fall under the service sector, some economists worry that the changes in the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) - which sets out the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company is allowed to hire - could create a challenge to fill all those vacancies. 

Recently, it was announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget 2019 speech that the DRC will be reduced for the services sector from 40 percent to 38 percent on Jan 1 next year, and to 35 percent on Jan 1, 2021.

While this opens up new opportunities for Singapore's local workforce, the gap between talent demand and supply is hard to ignore.

Maybank Kim Eng, Senior Economist Chua Hak Bin said, "The 5,000 jobs is a pretty large number and given the tight labor market, this could be an issue.

Currently, the integrated resorts together directly employ close to 20,000 people. More than 65 percent of these are locals and also support another 40,000 jobs.

Given the current employee strength and the new manpower requirements to execute a successful expansion, how these two resorts manage to deal with the talent challenge is to look forward to.