Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

S’pore must prevent a ‘Covid Generation’ as world takes long road to recovery, says DPM Heng

SINGAPORE — It could take up to a decade or more for the world to recover to pre-crisis unemployment levels, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing immense human and social costs beyond the economic impact.

In the last four months, the Government has committed S$93 billion in all, or close to 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product, to help the economy cope with the pandemic.

In the last four months, the Government has committed S$93 billion in all, or close to 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product, to help the economy cope with the pandemic.

SINGAPORE — It could take up to a decade or more for the world to recover to pre-crisis unemployment levels, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing immense human and social costs beyond the economic impact.

And along with fears of an entire generation having their skills, employability and incomes permanently affected, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat took pains on Friday (June 5) to stress that the Government is making an “unprecedented” effort to prevent a “Covid Generation” of workers and students in Singapore.

“(The Government) has mounted a strong response, because lives and livelihoods are at stake,” Mr Heng said as he wrapped up the debate on the S$33 billion Fortitude Budget, which was also passed in Parliament on Friday.

Referring to the Government’s move to set aside about S$2 billion to create nearly 100,000 jobs, traineeships and training opportunities, he added: “Never before in our history have we set out to preserve so many jobs as well as create so many new opportunities.”

In the last four months, the Government has unveiled the national budget and three supplementary budgets to help the economy cope with the pandemic, committing S$93 billion in all to the effort, or close to 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Of this amount, S$72 billion will go towards helping workers keep their jobs and supporting business and their employees.

During the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic, Singapore recorded its annual highest unemployment numbers, with 91,000 unemployed residents.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is widely expected to be more severe than Sars, with the number of unemployed residents potentially rising from around 73,000 last year to above 100,000 this year, Mr Heng said.

“The economic fallout of Covid-19 goes beyond unemployment numbers. Even those who keep their jobs may suffer under-employment and significant income loss.” 

This could lead to a vicious circle where income loss reduces consumption and affected businesses could further reduce labour demand, he said.

“This was why, when Covid-19 struck, our top priority is to provide fiscal resources to help workers stay in their jobs.” 

The 100,000 new opportunities will be created via several initiatives:

  • An SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package will help to create more than 40,000 jobs, where 15,000 would be in the public sector. Government agencies will work with businesses to create another 25,000 jobs.

  • In addition, there will be about 25,000 traineeship positions available this year, up from the 8,000 announced in March under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.

  • The authorities will also introduce a skills training scheme called the SGUnited Skills programme that will provide training opportunities for about 30,000 jobseekers this year.

Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will chair the new National Jobs Council to oversee what Mr Heng described as a “major effort to keep jobs and help people bounce back should they become unemployed”.

In particular, graduating students, mid-career workers and self-employed persons are among those who are harder hit. Concerted efforts will be made to support these groups, Mr Heng said. 

For fresh job entrants, they will get enhanced access to jobs and traineeship opportunities, including through the TechSkills Accelerator programmes. These are programmes that reskill or upskill individuals to land information and communications technology jobs to meet industry needs. 

Public agencies are also stepping up to help job entrants.

Mature workers will receive “strong support” from the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package and enhancements to the Adapt and Grow programme, Mr Heng added.

Apart from the government initiatives, Mr Heng noted that many firms have been supporting the creation of “good job pathways”.

For instance, both Singapore and foreign banks are pledging to offer close to 900 traineeships for fresh graduates and jobseekers, while the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) FairPrice and Enterprise Groups have offered about 4,000 jobs and 300 traineeships.

However, despite the best efforts of the Government and businesses, “we cannot possibly save every job”, as many sectors were already facing disruption before Covid-19, Mr Heng said.

“For workers who are displaced, you have our assurance that if you make the effort, our tripartite partners will support you to tide through this difficulty.”

Mr Heng noted that the world took eight to 10 years following the Great Depression and Global Financial Crisis to recover to pre-crisis unemployment levels. “We should not be surprised that it takes as long, if not longer, to bounce back from the effects of Covid-19,” he said.

He added that the First World War also had a lasting impact on the employment prospects of a “Lost Generation” of youth in western economies, “stripping them of a sense of hope and direction”.

“The road to recovery will be long, as we deal with persistent economic impact on workers, jobs, and business.” 

STRUCTURAL CHANGES AHEAD

Looking at Singapore’s battle against Covid-19, Mr Heng believes that it has reached an inflection point. “We have now taken the first steps to reopen our economy safely, in a gradual and systematic way,” he said, noting that the pandemic has triggered “both a deep cyclical shock and is accelerating structural changes in the global economy”.

“To thrive, or even to survive, companies all around the world must adjust to these forces with speed and agility.” 

Singapore is fortunate, he said, to have started its structural transformation efforts early. Companies that have made the efforts are adapting better.

For instance, the Committee on the Future Economy was set up in 2015 while the Industry Transformation Maps was launched the year after.

Mr Heng said that moving forward, accelerating Singapore’s economic transformation is a “national priority”.

In the next phase of growth, Singapore must anchor itself as a “Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise”, by forging new partnerships and developing innovative and deep capabilities to add “new value to the world”.

“The Covid-19 situation is a mighty storm that has damaged sails and forced ships around the world to go into harbour,” he said. “While waiting for the storm to subside, we must make the best use of this downtime to build new strengths and capabilities.”

Related topics

Covid-19 coronavirus livelihood Heng Swee Keat job graduates economy

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.