High rents, strict worker levies top businesses’ woes in 2015

8 out of 10 firms are crippled by high costs.

Businesses are calling on the government to help them cope with sky-high rents and unyielding foreign worker levies, the Singapore Business Federation’s annual National Business Survey revealed today.

An overwhelming majority of firms, or 83%, have identified high labour costs as the top challenge that they currently face.

The survey showed that 30% of businesses want the government to address high rents in the 2015 budget, while 20% seek relief from foreign worker levies.

On foreign worker policies, 22% of businesses suggested that the government should consider increasing the foreign worker quota, while 16% urged having industry-specific dependency ratios.