The taskmasters are Egyptian overseers who force the Israelites into hard labour (Exodus 1:11). The foremen are Israelites who must get the work done. This is just as in World War II, in German concentration camps where there were German soldiers, who were often cruel and sadistic, who appointed Jewish foremen. Those foremen were responsible for the behaviour of the Jewish prisoners, and they were punished if something went wrong (see also Exodus 5:14).
6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,