Over 378,000 workers secured training or employment opportunities via Covid-19 Budget initiatives: MOF

SINGAPORE — Various initiatives introduced in the last two years have helped more than 378,000 workers secure training or employment opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday (Feb 17).

It released a report showing an assessment of the impact of key Covid-19 national Budget measures since 2020. It said that various fiscal measures, including the Jobs Support Scheme and SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, as well as monetary policies contributed to helping Singapore’s resident unemployment rate stay low.

“These Budget measures kept businesses going and preserved jobs for local workers, helping more families and individuals through the crisis,” it added.

The report came ahead of this year’s Budget statement, which will be delivered by Finance Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Friday at 3.30pm.

JOBS SUPPORT SCHEME

In its evaluation of key support schemes, the ministry said in its report that the Jobs Support Scheme, which provided wage subsidies for resident employees, saved 165,000 domestic jobs during the initial months of the public health crisis.

The scheme was introduced in Budget 2020 to help employers retain Singapore workers during the worst period of the initial coronavirus outbreak.

From April 2020 to Dec 2021, a total of S$28 billion under the Jobs Support Scheme was disbursed, with sectors that were more severely affected by Covid-19 receiving greater help, the report said.

Subsidies under the scheme ranged from 25 per cent to 75 per cent of the first S$4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to resident employees.

A joint study by the Ministry of Manpower and MOF estimated that there was a 10 percentage point increase in the effective Jobs Support Scheme wage subsidy.

This led to a net increase of 0.44 domestic jobs saved per firm a month for businesses most badly affected by Covid-19, such as those in aviation and tourism.

For firms where business was affected by safe management measures, such as those in the food services, built environment sectors and entertainment sectors, 0.13 domestic jobs were saved per firm a month through the Jobs Support Scheme, the report added.

These figures translated to around 165,000 domestic jobs being preserved in 2020.

SGUNITED JOBS AND SKILLS PACKAGE

The SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package aimed to provide training and employment opportunities to resident jobseekers affected by the pandemic.

It includes several schemes, such as the SGUnited Traineeships scheme, which offers company-hosted traineeship opportunities to recent graduates, and SGUnited Skills, which offers full-time training programmes in partnership with industries.

The report found that as of October last year, more than 166,300 jobs and skills opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package were filled, with 122,300 or more than 70 per cent being job placements.

These placements comprised “a good mix” of professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) and non-PMET roles, with more than seven in 10 being long-term job roles, the report said.

JOBS GROWTH INCENTIVE

The Jobs Growth Incentive provides salary support for each new resident hire by eligible firms, to encourage businesses to hire Singapore workers.

The report said that the scheme incentivised the additional hiring of 47,000 resident workers between Sept 2020 and February last year. It also modestly increased the proportion of more mature workers, aged 40 and above, hired.

Nearly half of the Jobs Growth Incentive-supported hires were previously unemployed, with close to 30 per cent having been unemployed for more than six months.