Employment agents, agent fees
When the construction industry faced a severe manpower shortage due to Covid-19 border closures, a funny thing happened to recruitment costs. Knowing the phenomenon would be ephemeral, a snapshot study was conducted.
For his first job in Singapore, Hossain Imran had to fork out $20,000. For his latest job, he dealt directly with his prospective employer. His experience tells us what recruitment reform should look like.
Two men had to look for new jobs. One was in Bangladesh and the other was in Singapore. Different outcomes.
Singapore's construction labour force is characterised by a noticeable stratification by nationality. A study by a former TWC2 volunteer throws light on one reason why.
Although he has worked many years in Singapore before, Elyas arrives in Singapore in February 2022 for a new job. He tells us two interesting things about the recruitment process.
Borders are open and workers are coming back. So are the age-old abuses such as excessive recruitment fees and worker churn.
MOM announced a temporary retention scheme to keep laid-off construction workers in Singapore. Six workers kept us informed of their experience while waiting for new jobs.
Multiple measures to try to deal with abusive confinement of maids. How well will they work? Are there better, less-costly solutions?
"Who do you think profitted from the $5,000 you paid to get the job?" we ask Abjal. He's pretty sure the boss got half of it. The other half?
Volunteer Nicole asks migrant worker Sadek to tally up how much he paid to secure this third job in Singapore. He also mentions who profitted.
