ST Explains: What's the deal with re-employment support?

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Tay Hong Yi

SINGAPORE - Several training and workforce measures were introduced in the Budget on Feb 16.

They include a monthly training allowance for mid-career Singaporeans aged 40 and above pursuing selected longer full-time courses from 2025.

Everyone in that age group will receive a $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up as well from May 2024, albeit for use with selected training programmes with better employability outcomes.

A temporary financial support scheme for involuntarily unemployed Singaporeans is set to come too.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled the support scheme in the 2023 National Day Rally, noting that it will enable those who are laid off to attend skills courses rather than seizing whatever jobs are offered out of desperation.

The Straits Times takes a closer look at support for unemployed people.

Q: What does involuntary unemployment mean?

A: Involuntary unemployment generally refers to the loss of a worker's job through employer actions to retrench staff or not renew employment contracts, and is not attributed to the worker's actions, said Associate Professor Walter Theseira of the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Retrenched workers are a subset of involuntarily employed workers, added Associate Professor (Practice) Terence Ho of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

The involuntarily unemployed also includes job seekers who have entered or re-entered the workforce after their studies, or after having spent time away for family reasons, but have not yet found a job, Prof Ho said.

However, Prof Theseira noted the exact definition of involuntary unemployment for the purposes of the re-employment support scheme remains to be defined by policymakers.

He added that voluntary resignation would usually be excluded.

"Thus, one problem in the Singapore context is the widespread practice of 'voluntary' resignations used by both companies and workers to avoid the stigma of firing, or the need to report retrenchments to the Ministry of Manpower," he said.