Government is 'cautiously optimistic' about the situation
Singapore continued to see a decline in unemployment in May 2021, suggesting that the country is enroute to recovery. In a Facebook post, Manpower Minister Dr Tan See Leng shared a chart showing the gradual drop in unemployment since September 2020. “Unemployment rates continued on a downward trend in May 2021, a good sign that our labour market is steadily improving,” wrote Dr Tan. Unemployment was at its highest in September (3.5% overall) but had dropped to 2.8% by May this year.
Despite this, the government remains cautiously optimistic about the evolving situation, as the world experiences new COVID-19 waves and implements added safety restrictions, including Singapore’s latest ‘heightened alert’ protocols. The minister said we’ve ‘yet to see the full impact’ of those restrictions and reminded employers to support jobseekers.
“The road to recovery may be a long one,” he said. “As we restructure and rejuvenate our economy so that we can create good jobs, I urge businesses to tap on available support such as the Jobs Growth Incentive to expand local hiring, as well as existing schemes to innovate and transform their work processes. At the same time, I want to encourage our jobseekers, who have continuously shown resilience and willingness to try out new roles and sectors during this difficult time.”
His message aligned with the government’s enhanced plan to support employers who continue to be hard-hit by the ongoing pandemic. Following additional restrictions under phases 2 and 3 (heightened alert), the Ministry of Finance announced an extension of the Jobs Support Scheme.
Read more: Over 140K firms to receive wage support
The latest round of wage offsets were mainly targeted at employers in aviation, aerospace and tourism, who will get help with paying 50% of their staff’s gross monthly salary. Employers in food services, retail, and construction sectors will also receive support on 30% of wages. Those in other sectors, pending eligibility, may receive about 10% wage offsets.
Dr Tan said that the Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Singapore will continue to work with various agencies to help ease the impact of unemployment on workers.
