Helping long-term unemployed land jobs is top priority: Swee Say

SINGAPORE — Amid the sluggish jobs situation, the Government has singled out helping long-term unemployed individuals rejoin the labour market as a top priority to ensure that the rise in unemployment rate does not persist, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on Friday (March 17).

Mr Lim was speaking two days after the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) 2016 labour market report showed a falling number of job vacancies while lay-offs continued to rise. 

In particular, the report said that more job-seekers were taking a longer time to land jobs: The annual average resident long-term unemployment rate — which refers to those jobless for at least 25 weeks — edged up to 0.8 per cent last year, from 0.6 per cent in 2015. Among degree-holders, the long-term unemployment rate was 1 per cent, the highest since 2004. Annual average unemployment rate for citizens and permanent residents climbed to 3 per cent last year, after hovering around 2.8 per cent for four years. 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a career fair — held as part of the “Adapt and Grow” initiative launched last year by the MOM to help Singaporeans get jobs — Mr Lim said: “My main concern is for those unemployed, the longer they stay unemployed, the harder for them to come back because the market keeps changing, technology keeps changing, the workplace keeps changing.”

Taking a different approach, MOM will look to organise smaller-scale career fairs, instead of large ones, to ensure a better matching of jobs and skills. “Organising a job fair with 10,000 jobs won’t solve the problem,” Mr Lim noted.

To help professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) rejoin the workforce, enhancements were made to the “Adapt and Grow” initiative, including raising the salary support cap for employers who hire long-term unemployed individuals under the Career Support Programme (CSP). It will be increased to S$42,000 and extended for up to 18 months. 

To widen the pool of job opportunities, the qualifying salary for CSP-eligible jobs will also be lowered from S$4,000 to S$3,600.

Mr Lim pointed out that how quickly these enhancements help the unemployed find work depends on both individuals as well as employers. “I want to emphasise time and time again that we are not trying to throw money at the problem,” he said.

Targeted help will also be provided at the career fairs, where job seekers will receive career counselling and also be pre-matched to the jobs on offer. 

While the latest jobs market report makes for grim reading, Mr Lim stressed that instead of looking only at the numbers, the key was to create quality jobs. He reiterated that the Government will not reverse its position on foreign workers and employers should redesign jobs to make them attractive for Singaporeans. 

Mr Lim also called on employers to be receptive to hiring applicants who may not fit the job requirements fully. They would be able to pick up the necessary skills after undergoing training, he said.
On Friday, about 600 PMETs turned up at the career fair organised by Workforce Singapore and the National Trade Union Congress’s Employment and Employability Institute.

Jobseekers, especially those who are older, said they were anxious about their situation. Unemployed since 2014, Mr Ainsley Eddy, 48, said he has been called up for job interviews but they did not lead to any offers. 

Mr Eddy had worked for more than a decade in the insurance industry, drawing a monthly salary of S$7,000 before he lost his job. He said that most employers found him to be overqualified even though he has expressed his willingness to take a pay cut and to accept entry-level jobs.