SINGAPORE -- A coronavirus-induced labor shortage is deepening in Singapore, where fears of explosive outbreaks in South Asia prompted the government to cut off flows of workers the city-state relies on.
Foreign nationals comprise about a third of the total workforce in Singapore. Sectors such as construction and shipbuilding depend heavily on low-cost labor from India and Bangladesh, in particular. But even before the authorities stopped entries from India in late April and other South Asian nations in early May, departures and tighter travel rules were keeping foreign workers away.
