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Several issues to consider in offering financial support for retrenched workers
In designing our support scheme to help involuntarily displaced workers bounce back, Singapore can take a leaf out of other countries’ unemployment support schemes and develop one that would work for Singapore.
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The key features and considerations of a temporary financial support scheme are the "six As": accessibility, affordability, amount, ambit, active job search and augmentation.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Patrick Tay
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At the National Day Rally 2023, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that under Forward SG, the Government has plans to offer temporary financial support for workers who are retrenched, while they upgrade their skills.
Since 2014, I have spoken about the need for some form of unemployment support or insurance to tide retrenched and unemployed workers over the difficult periods they face before they land their next job. More recently, in the joint National Trades Union Congress-Singapore National Employers Federation professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) task force, which I co-chaired with SNEF executive director Sim Gim Guan, one of our key recommendations was to strengthen unemployment support for PMEs who are involuntarily unemployed, by introducing a national transitionary financial support framework supplemented by active labour market policy.
