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Until now, workers have been protected from the full impact of the pandemic thanks to substantial government support.
There is a limit to what the government can do to cushion the weakening labor market, said observers, who expect tens of thousands of jobs to be cut in the next half year, when the full impact of the Covid pandemic hits. -19. He felt.
Measures that have prevented layoffs, such as the recently expanded Employment Support Plan (JSS), which helps offset part of the wages of local workers, are largely based on the country’s reserves, experts added, who fear that the intensity of layoffs increases over a period of time. While.
Aviation, tourism, retail, hospitality, entertainment, food and beverage, ocean and sea, and construction will all be hit hard.
His views echoed those of Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who in a ministerial statement on August 17 said the cuts will be inevitable despite the government’s best efforts. He added that the JSS cannot be sustained at current levels.
Labor experts said workers have so far been protected from the worst economic effects due to substantial government support.
National University of Singapore economics professor Kelvin Seah said: “No one knows how long (the pandemic) will last. There is too much uncertainty. It will depend on whether countries can contain the virus effectively.”
The outlook remains uncertain and not just within Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said. He added that the impact of the pandemic and mitigation measures were not fully felt in the first quarter of the year.
“We are now beginning to see the deeper impact of Covid-19 on the job market,” MOM said.
[[nid:500963]]The undersecretary general of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Cham Hui Fong, said: “Within the unionized sector, we are witnessing an increase in the number of laid off workers, especially during these few months, compared to last year.”
The pandemic will go on for a long time and business volumes in many sectors will not be able to recover for a while, he said. Some companies would have no choice but to resort to layoffs after exhausting other cost-cutting measures.
Layoffs more than doubled in the second quarter of this year, with 6,700 workers laid off, compared to 3,220 in the first quarter. This was higher than the peak of 5,510 during the 2003 Sars outbreak, but below the 2009 global financial crisis peak of 12,760. And this is just the tip of a large iceberg, observers have warned.
Last month, Labor Chief Ng Chee Meng said he expects job losses to increase over the next six to 12 months as the economic impact of the pandemic takes its toll.
Dr. Seah noted that layoffs generally do not occur right after companies see a drop in their profits.
“Although companies may be losing money, they can still try to retain workers,” he added. “If profits continue to fall for an extended period, companies have no choice but to lay off workers. Some of these companies may not even survive.”
When companies in key sectors like aviation and tourism do poorly, “there will be a ripple effect as these people experience a drop in revenue,” said Dr. Seah.
The aviation and aerospace sectors have been severely affected by Covid-19, with air travel paralyzed by border closures and airlines paralyzing planes. Aerospace giant Pratt & Whitney, aircraft maker Airbus, and engine maker Rolls-Royce are among the top companies that have cut staff here due to business downturn.
The impact has leaked to other businesses, including Resorts World Sentosa and Millennium Hotels and Resorts, which have also laid off workers here.
[[nid:463761]]David Leong, managing director of human resources firm PeopleWorldwide Consulting, said that most of the affected industries operate with suboptimal capabilities and conditions.
“The industries that depend on footprints, face-to-face human trafficking are the ones that are critically paralyzed,” he added. “This may take half a year to pass before we can see modest signs of recovery.”
Paul Heng, Managing Director of NeXT Career Consulting Group, noted that there will always be job cuts, including from business units moving out of the country and mergers and acquisitions. The pandemic has only needed more.
But layoffs will always be a last resort, Ms. Cham said, adding that conflicting companies would first implement cost-cutting alternatives, such as a shorter work week, unpaid leave and wage cuts.
Unions and associations said they have been busy working with companies in recent months in an effort to save as many jobs as possible.
For example, the fintech industry is not spared from the economic fallout of Covid-19, said the president of the Singapore Fintech Association, Chia Hock Lai. A recent survey by the association found that more than a quarter of its members had reduced their workforce, although many indicated that the reduction was temporary.
Gilbert Tan, executive director of NTUC’s Institute for Employment and Employability, which provides job search and training for Singaporeans who have lost their jobs, said he will continue to host job fairs to provide opportunities for those affected.
The president of the Singapore Institute of Human Resources, Low Peck Kem, advised workers to recover quickly if they could, including taking temporary jobs or reaching out to different industries.
“The longer you remain unemployed, the more difficult it is to get back into the workforce,” he added.
This article was first published in The times of the strait.
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