THE labour movement has urged companies to let go of foreigners first during this downturn. But that call has caused concern to some bosses who can't fill jobs with local workers who have the right skills.

Two of them who spoke up at a dialogue on Friday morning, made the point that in their areas of operation, there was a need for foreigners with specialist skills such as speech therapists.

They can't find enough Singaporeans who have such skills. And it would take at least three years to train people for the job, said the two chiefs of volunteer welfare organisations which help children and adults with disabilities.

One is Dr Chey Chor Khoon, executive director of APSN and the other, Mr James Wong, executive director of the Spastic Children Association.

They were among 25 employers who shared their concerns with labour chief Lim Swee Say and other unionists at the dialogue organised by the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers Union.

Their appeal prompted Mr Lim to clear the air over remarks he made previously, that foreigners should be the first to go when companies cut jobs in this recession. This could be done by non-renewal of contracts or retrenchments, he had said at a tripartism forum last week.

On Friday morning, Mr Lim said there are three groups of foreigners and that not all should be treated the same way.

The first are those with specialised skills that Singaporeans lack. The second are low-skilled foreigners who do jobs in the construction and cleaning sector that Singaporeans shun.

And the third are those with similar skills as Singaporeans, who may be working as retail assistants or waiters.

'We should not lump all three together,' said Mr Lim.

It is the third group - which employers tap to fill vacancies during the boom times - who should be the 'buffer' during bad times and thus be let go first, Mr Lim explained.

As for the first and second groups, they are needed in good or bad times, unless the situation gets so bad that Singaporeans are willing to do jobs currently filled by low-skilled foreigners, who earn around $500 to $600 a month, he added.