On 09 July 2021, TSMP Law Corporation head of employment and labour Ian Lim was quoted in an article published by The Straits Times in an article on the Ministry of Manpower fully managing employment disputes online by 2023. He commented on why the number of employment claims from foreign employees had fallen sharply last year.

He commented that a possible reason for the fall in claims from foreign employees could be that many of them had left Singapore last year. Some left to be with their families overseas during the pandemic, but many others left as a result of losing their jobs.

He said “Foreigners losing their jobs here have their work passes cancelled, which results in them mostly having to leave Singapore within a month or less if they cannot find another job – and new jobs were scarce in many sectors last year”.

“Under such circumstances, it would have been more challenging for foreigners to lodge employment claims here,” he added.