Type of issue: job placement, recruitment and costs
A short explainer about how corrupted the recruitment system has become for migrant workers and the two key measures needed to reform the eco-system.
$2,000 is cheap as far as recruiters' fees go, but just as easily lost. Razzak's story is unfortunately as common as dirty money in the migrant labour market.
Carpenter Babul had had good experiences with Singaporean bosses, unlike employers from India or Bangladesh, whom he felt didn't care for their employees. A nice lady boss came along and offered him a job...
A hopeful guy from India contacted TWC2 by WhatsApp to ask if the job offer he had in hand was real. It didn't take us long to tell him the bad news.
An essay based on a talk given by Alex Au at a Labour Day webinar organised by Maruah in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that badly affected migrant workers in Singapore.
Through Adnan's story, a detailed look at a migrant worker's financial stress. It all started with having to pay a heft recruitment fee.
Shipyard worker is duped into a job paying only $220 a month. Illegal recruiters flourish despite the law because enforcement is poor.
Since job scams arise from misrepresentation of the nature and terms of the job, a solution must lie in eliminating opportunities for deception. Workers must have direct access to employers' submissions and MOM's electronic records.
Foreign workers entering Singapore must first get prior permission before commencing their journeys, then must serve 14-day stay-home period.
TWC2 echoes a call for the government to do more to rein in employment agents who charge unreasonable and illegal fees for transfer workers.