The Big Story: Jobs Support Scheme ends for most sectors

Remote video URL

SINGAPORE - Catch up on the hottest topics on The Straits Times' weekday talk show.

The Big Story, broadcast every weekday at 5.30pm on Facebook and YouTube, has reporters and senior editors discussing the top stories of the day.

The show is helmed by multimedia correspondent Hairianto Diman and assistant video editor Olivia Quay, and airs live from ST's digital studio.

With economic recovery gaining traction, some Covid-19 support measures and schemes will lapse while others will be limited by their size and scope starting Wednesday (March 31).

These include insurance relief for businesses and individuals and the Jobs Support Scheme, which will cease for all companies except those in hard-hit sectors.

Some financing schemes for businesses will also see enhancements cease, such as the Enterprise Financing Scheme - SME Working Capital Loan.

Vice-president of the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME) Ang Yuit tells us how SMEs, which are no longer receiving assistance, can make the best of the situation.

Separately, 27,000 employers hired about 130,000 locals in the first three months after the launch of the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) last year.

Each employer hired a median of two locals from September to November, up from a median of one local hire in the same period in 2019, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo in the 20th edition of her jobs situation report on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Singapore's home-grown biotech firm Esco Aster is working with a US company to develop a vaccine that will be delivered as a nasal spray.

This alternative method of delivering the vaccine is also currently being studied in China and the UK.

We speak to Professor Ooi Eng Eong from the emerging infectious diseases programme at Duke-NUS Medical School. He tells us how the global medical community is reacting to this method of delivering vaccines.

We also share other news in Singapore and around the world.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.