Budget 2024: New financial support scheme in the works for retrenched workers

Source: CNA

SINGAPORE: The government is working out the parameters of a new temporary financial support scheme to help retrenched workers while they undergo training or look for another job, announced Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday (Feb 16).

In his annual Budget speech, Mr Wong - who is also Finance Minister - added that more details about the scheme will be provided later this year. It will be part of a revamp and expansion of the country's SkillsFuture programme.

This comes amid a spate of layoffs in the past years. In 2023, the number of retrenchments - 14,320 - more than doubled from the year before.

The last two years saw mass layoffs in the tech industry among big firms like Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and Shopee. Most recently, e-commerce giant Lazada retrenched at least 100 employees at the start of this year, though it has not specified the exact number.

Lazada did so without informing the workers' union either, with some telling CNA that they were caught off-guard and were not offered a satisfactory retrenchment package.

On Feb 4, it was announced that the affected employees will get an "enhanced support package" following talks between Lazada and the union.