[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: British bank Barclays and German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim are among the companies that have returned or donated the Employment Support Plan (JSS) payments.
A total of 32 companies returned wage subsidies worth a combined S $ 35 million, the finance ministry said on Sunday (May 10).
Ad
Another 29 companies that received the funds for April have pledged to reject future government payments.
The wage subsidy program, which was First announced during the budget statement in February, it had been improved in subsequent budgets to help companies retain their workers as companies are affected by the impact of COVID-19.
For the months of April and May, the subsidies cover 75 percent of the first S $ 4,600 of the salary of each local employee.
Barclays returned the money because it believes the Singapore government is in the best position to ensure that the funds are used well within the various communities here, said Bal Bagary, national manager for Barclays Singapore and chief financial officer for Barclays International Asia Pacific.
Ad
He did not disclose the amount returned.
The bank has about 1,000 employees in Singapore, most of them Singaporean and permanent residents, Bagary said.
“Despite the macroeconomic recession caused by the COVID-19 situation, the bank’s position remains strong,” Bagary said, citing its strong corporate and investment bank business.
“In line with our global guidelines and to maintain our support for the local community and our stakeholders, we made the decision to withdraw from JSS in favor of the broader community in Singapore,” he said, adding that the bank will also work with some charities.
READ: COVID-19: 75% wage subsidy for companies in all sectors will run until May, measures will cost S $ 3.8 billion
Boehringer Ingelheim donated S $ 500,000 of his payments to five organizations: the Migrant Workers Fund; Sayang Sayang Fund; Invictus Fund; SG Red Cross and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
The amount makes up the majority of his JSS payments, his country’s managing director Gerrard McKenna said, adding that the decision to donate came after “considering the immediate needs of the Singapore community.”
The pharmaceutical company, which has more than 200 employees locally, has not been immediately negatively affected by the pandemic, he said.
Drug orders have recently increased as some customers request “additional quantities to ensure uninterrupted supply during these uncertain times.”
“In the short term, we expect our revenues to be resilient,” said McKenna, who is also the chief of human pharmacy for the Southeast Asia and South Korea regional operating unit. “However, there is a possibility that there will be a medium and long-term impact due to COVID-19.”
It intends to reject future payments as well, if business in Singapore and the region is not adversely affected.
Another corporation that donated the money is the Dutch multinational DSM Nutritional Products.
Its Asia-Pacific president Pieter Nuboer said the company is fortunate that its global business model has proven to be “relatively resilient.”
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat praised those companies for their “sense of responsibility and shared community.”
“Some companies have managed better than others. I am encouraged that some of them have submitted the first JSS payment they received and reject future payments,” Heng said.
“I hope their exemplary action inspires other companies that are doing well to consider doing the same.”
Mr. Heng also said that he hopes the companies will also show appreciation and appreciation for the workers who have stepped forward during the “circuit breaker” period.
Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, is using government funds for an existing “special package” it had put together for its employees. About 80 percent of its approximately 10,000 workforce are Singaporean or permanent residents.
“The additional support provided by the Government to all local workers in Singapore will go to augment an existing special package that we had put together to recognize and thank our staff for their invaluable contributions and efforts during this challenging period,” said FairPrice spokesperson.
The company declined to give details on what the “special package” is.
Customers wait online to pay for their purchases at NTUC FairPrice at Hougang 1 Mall, April 22, 2020.
FairPrice noted that it has provided employment for some 3,500 temporary and informal workers to support higher transaction volumes in April.
Based on retail sales figures, supermarkets and hypermarkets recorded higher sales of 35.9 percent year-on-year in March as demand for groceries increased during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sheng Siong reported a first quarter net profit of S $ 29 million, a jump of 49.9 percent compared to the previous year. The supermarket player had said he would give his employees an additional month of salary.
READ: COVID-19: Minimarts, grocery stores see energetic businesses but need additional manpower
When asked if he accepted JSS payments, Sheng Siong declined to comment, saying he is “commercially sensitive”.
Dairy Farm International, which owns Cold Storage, Giant, Market Place and Jasons Deli, also declined to respond to inquiries.
In a statement released on April 28, the publicly traded retail operator said that while its grocery sales profits increased, its health and beauty and convenience business as well as Maxim’s subsidiary saw sales weaken in the first quarter of 2020.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
