Regular Information Collection and Publication of Freelance and Contract Work Data

18 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry can regularly collect and publish data on the percentage of the workforce who are engaged in freelance work or employed in contract positions and who are seeking employment in a permanent full-time job.

The Minister for Manpower (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has been publishing data on the number and percentage of the workforce who are engaged in own account work, commonly known as freelancers, since 1991, and term contract work since 2006. This data is collected and released on an annual basis as part of the Labour Force in Singapore report.

For term contract employees, we do not collect data on the proportion who are seeking permanent employment. Both permanent and term contract workers are in employer-employee relationships which are governed by various employment laws, such as the Employment Act, the Employment Claims Act, Central Provident Fund (CPF) Act and Work Injury Compensation Act. Having both options for both permanent and contract employment helps to keep the labour market flexible and responsive. Employers may wish to employ employees on term contracts when, for example, the job is available on a short-term or project basis. At the same time, some employees prefer to enter into term contracts to meet their own needs for flexibility.

As explained during the Committee of Supply debate in March, for own account workers, meaning the freelancers, we have started collecting data on the proportion who are not freelancing as their preferred choice since last year, and will do so and publish this on an annual basis. This additional information is useful to better understand how to support own account workers, who face unique issues different from those in employer-employee relationships.

Those who prefer permanent employment, both contract workers and freelancers, can tap on the Adapt and Grow initiatives, where we will work with them to facilitate their pursuit of preferred employment options.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.

Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive reply. Just two supplementary questions. Firstly, a clarification or confirmation, if you like. Am I correct to say the Minister has said that this data on freelancers, the proportion of freelancers who would prefer to have permanent appointment, would be collected and published from next year onwards? I just wanted to confirm that.

My second question is on the fixed term contract workers. Will the Ministry consider collecting data on how many of them are currently on fixed term contracts but would prefer or are seeking to move to permanent employment? Would the Ministry consider collecting and publishing that data on a regular basis? That may be helpful to assess our effectiveness in generating permanent employment for the economy as a whole. I believe for part-time employment, there is a similar metric that is currently collected and published on part-time workers who would like to work more hours or would like to work full-time.

Mr Lim Swee Say: Mdm Speaker, let me repeat what I said in my reply. It is that, for freelancers, we have started collecting the information since last year. I released the data in the Committee of Supply this year as far as freelancers are concerned, meaning we do release the proportion of freelancers who are freelancing not as their preferred choice. That data has been made available for 2016 as I had released that in this House in the Committee of Supply.

The Member asked whether MOM would collect similar data for those on term contract, meaning that for those on contract, how many of them would prefer to have permanent contract. In my reply, I have explained that having both the permanent and the contract employment is important for both the employers as well as for the employees because it is important to keep both options available to keep our labour market flexible, responsive. But the main point which I have highlighted in my reply is that whether they are on permanent employment or term contract, both enjoy the employer-employee relationship. So, in other words, as long as they are on contract, whether it is permanent or short-term, both are employees of the employers. Therefore, they are protected under all the employment laws.

With that in mind, we have no intention to collect additional data, in terms of how many of those on term contract would prefer to have full-time employment. If they want to have permanent employment, they can always tap on our Adapt and Grow initiatives, where we will work with them to pursue the employment options of their choice.