Government assistance in the Budget may not be enough for some companies to make up for lost revenue resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.
Some businesses will have to help themselves by restructuring, implementing cost-containment measures and minimising operating expenses, said Singapore Business Federation chief executive Ho Meng Kit.
He was responding to a question from roundtable moderator Vikram Khanna on whether measures in the Stabilisation and Support Package would be enough to help employers avoid layoffs.
Labour MP Patrick Tay said businesses should not leave their workers out in the cold, even as they struggle to survive.
"From the labour movement's perspective, our main mantra is you cut costs to save jobs, not cut jobs to save costs," he said.
"The key thing is that we want to help employers and businesses through this Budget to help alleviate some of the operating as well as the overhead expenses, for this short term."
United Overseas Bank senior economist Alvin Liew said the measures are good for the short term, and the Government can roll out supplementary packages to add more measures or further enhance worker protection.
"I believe that we will work through this. But if there is not sufficient help provided during the interim, and there is a significant number of layoffs, then the longer-term impact on the economy will be a dislocation in jobs and skills. Then we will take even longer to get back on track to our growth trajectory."
But economist Walter Theseira said broad-based measures may not be sufficient for sectors that are hit harder. "It may be the case that employers may have to ask employees to take no-pay leave and so on. Of course, then that would have an impact on people's livelihoods."
Mr Ho pointed out that many of the Budget's measures to help with cash flow come in the form of tax rebates, but for companies that are less profitable, or making losses, the only assistance is in the Jobs Support Scheme.
The temporary scheme gives employers an 8 per cent cash grant on the gross monthly wages of each local employee between last October and last December, capped at $3,600 a month for each employee.
He also said many schemes are available for small and medium-sized enterprises, but more needs to be done to make them user-friendly, and to raise awareness about them rather than come up with new ones.
