Out of the total number of jobs created for the local workforce in Singapore between the years 2015 and 2018, about 5,000 were taken up by Singaporeans while more than 9,000 went to permanent residents, according to the Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing.

According to media reports, as the Economic Development Board’s year-in-review is set to be announced, data shows that there are about five Singaporeans to one PR, thus taking the ratio of the local workforce to PR to 6:1. This ratio does not include the jobs that Singaporeans are not in such as the job roles of construction workers and domestic workers. 

The Singaporean workforce consists of a wide group of people ranging from twenty-somethings to 60-year-olds. On the other hand, PRs are those who have come to the country in search of better job opportunities and are chosen on the basis of their calibre and ability to contribute to the economy. 

Foreigners are in the fastest-growing sectors such as Infocommunications Technology (ICT), and these fastest-growing sectors are the ones that require highly-skilled workers who are not available in abundance. 

The Ministry of Education cited that many local graduates are now taking over higher-paying and better jobs thus increasing the number of jobs taken up by Singaporeans. 

Even though Singapore relies heavily on foreigners to help fulfill the existing skills gap in many sectors such as IT, softwares, and business, as more and more Singaporeans become future-ready and build up their skill levels by taking up professions that face a talent crunch, it is likely that more Singaporeans will begin working in the foreign-dominated sectors.