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Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise in support of this year’s Budget.
Today, as we debate Budget 2020, Singapore as a country must grapple with the round-the-clock challenge of battling with COVID-19. This is over and above the continued race to keep up with the rise of digitalisation, new technologies, and economic transformation. Against the backdrop of these exacting forces, the future of work, workers and workplaces will – and must – evolve and transform.
Thus far, many union leaders, workers as well as my grassroots leaders and residents have shared positive feedback about this year’s Budget. At a personal level, I am sure the Stabilisation and Support Package announced at Budget 2020 will be a boon to both businesses and workers, as it provides assurance and support in this time of economic uncertainty and ensure that every worker matters and every job counts. On one hand, businesses will receive job and cash flow support to retain and retrain workers. On the other hand, our workers – from the young and mid-career to older workers – will get a much-needed boost, through the various SkillsFuture credit schemes to upgrade, upskill and stay employable. What is particularly reassuring, is that DPM Heng has also stated affirmatively in his speech that the Government is prepared to do more should the need arise.
Enhanced Support for Workers and Businesses
This year’s Budget is seen as an expensive as well as an expansive one. I am particularly happy and delighted with three items fleshed out in the Budget because it has answered three calls which I have been making in this House.
First, is the $500 SkillsFuture credit top up for all Singaporeans, which I have been lobbying for over the past two years. As some of you may not know, what is particularly beneficial and useful is that freelancers and self-employed individuals can also tap on their SkillsFuture Credits to learn new skills or even develop in their field. I am heartened, therefore, that this top-up will give all Singaporeans aged 25 and above an added push, as they make lifelong learning a way of life.
Second, is the added focus on mid-career workers between the ages of 40 to 60 years old through the various programmes and policies. Based on labour market statistics and reports, this group continues to be the most vulnerable and affected by retrenchments, with higher skilled, middle-aged PMEs the hardest hit. Mature and older workers (including PMEs) also face greater difficulty in the job market with the long-term unemployment rate of Singaporeans climbing with age. For those who are unemployed or retrenched, re-entry into the labour market is also an uphill task. In my interactions with mature workers, and especially PMEs, they have shared their concerns about being made redundant by younger colleagues or being replaced by technology and job automation. In short, they worry about staying employed and employable.
Third, would be the creation of the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit for Employers. This is also something I have suggested in this House. I hope this credit for employers will serve as a catalyst for companies, especially SMEs, to develop their workforce as they transform their business, by embracing and investing in skills upgrading and training of their workers. In particular, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit will further augment and complement existing efforts by the NTUC and our affiliated unions to partner companies in forming Company Training Committees. These efforts, which were introduced last year, aims to equip workers across all sectors and all sizes of companies with the necessary skills, so that they can secure better wages, better welfare and better work prospects.
Expedite Support to Manage Near-Term Challenges
Notwithstanding a laudable budget, I have five specific suggestions for consideration:
Speed Up the Disbursement of Jobs Support Scheme and SkillsFuture Top-Up
In the near term, some companies that are directly affected are already feeling the effects of economic fallout brought about by COVID-19 and any immediate relief is welcomed. As such, can the disbursement of the Jobs Support Scheme be brought forward from the start date of July 2020? In the same vein, many workers, especially the freelance and self-employed, have asked if the SkillsFuture Top-up originally scheduled in October 2020 can be rolled-out earlier, so that they can make use of this period of downtime to embark on the relevant training. As I urge the speeding up of disbursements, I also suggest for the government’s support to lengthen and stretch the validity of these schemes should the situation worsen or become prolonged.
Expand and Extend Support for Vulnerable Worker Groups
Expand the Training Support for Mid-Career Singaporeans
My second suggestion is not to confine the additional top-up for those aged 40 to 60 years old only to the 200 career transition programmes offered by the CET centres as outlined in Annex B-2 to the Budget statement. I urge for the courses availed to include those recognised under the ITM skills framework as well as suitable Government and NTUC-run courses and programmes, and those of our company training committees. By the same token, to minimise jobs and skills mismatches, career advisors could look at providing peer-level support for this group and additional support such as coaching to identify skills gaps and training interventions that may be needed.
Restore the Surrogate Employer Programme
During the SARS crisis in 2003, I was in NTUC overseeing the Surrogate Employer Programme, where NTUC acted as a surrogate employer and helped many of those affected by the downturn such as Tour Guides, as well as SIA’s Cabin Crew who were on unpaid leave, go for training and upgrading while benefitting from a training allowance. These efforts resulted in a win-win-win for all, in that when the Singapore economy rebounded months later, affected workers who had the training allowance as stipend, could now return to their jobs and assignments quickly (to the delight of their employers and customers). In addition, they were now armed with additional qualifications such as a Diploma in Hospitality or other related certifications. I see a good opportunity for us to revisit and reintroduce this scheme to support workers who may fall through the cracks or those not covered under current schemes such as our freelancers and self-employed Singaporeans. To further support this group of workers, could government also look at extending calibrated wage support, through sector agencies, to help them cope with the immediate impact brought about by the current economic situation? NTUC stands ready to partner the government to administer the Surrogate Employer Programme so that this group of workers can also benefit from training assistance and incentives.
Raise the absentee payroll and course fee funding
In light of the current situation, as well as business slowdown for many industries and possibility of recession, government can step in to provide an additional nudge and incentive for employers to send all their workers for training and skills upgrading through increasing the absentee payroll and course fee funding. Minimally, I submit that this enhanced critical funding can help to address the vulnerabilities of the mature and older workers in this time and space.
Ensure Job Security for Workers
Today, the world has changed and continues to change. Against an increasingly uncertain global environment, and an economy that is facing challenges both in the short term and long term, many of our workers are understandably worried that their jobs will be impacted.
Formation of Job Security Councils
To ensure job security for workers, our first suggestion would be the formation of Job Security Council. As NTUC Secretary-General and Minister Ng Chee Meng has shared, NTUC will be piloting a Jobs Security Council (JSC) to pre-emptively match at-risk workers and PMEs into jobs. Through the JSC, NTUC and its affiliated unions will help displaced workers find new jobs within the network – and where necessary, provide the requisite training to help workers smoothly transition from one job to another.
Mr Speaker, Mandarin please
面对2019冠状病毒疫情来袭，我国经济情况也难免受到冲击。许多工友告诉我，他们担心工作不保，我非常理解他们的担忧。
副总理兼财政部长王瑞杰所发表的财政预算案可说是一剂强心针也同时是一颗定心丸， 不但解燃眉之急，也图长远之计。在这方面，我有五大建议：
一、 首先，提前发放雇佣补贴计划及技能创前程额外的$500，鼓励企业和工友在这段时间来进行重组、培训或提升。
二、 在技能提升课程方面，让年龄40到60岁的国人有更多的选择，报读产业转型蓝图框架内及政府或职总所提供的相关课程。
三、 重启“代理雇主计划”，帮助自由工作者和自雇人士又或许一些被忽略的工友，也能在放缺席假期间获得薪金补贴，鼓励他们报读课程，提升技能。
四、 提高缺席假薪金补贴，鼓励企业培训工友。
五、 同时，我们也非常关注工友的就业情况。因此，就如职总秘书长黄志明所说，职总将设立“就业保障联盟”，帮助将失去工作的工友，通过e2i，进行工作配对及任何所需的培训。
Conclusion
To conclude, Mr Speaker Sir, my personal view is that this is a comprehensive and inclusive Budget – one that will help Singapore overcome our short-term challenges and at the same time prepare ourselves for future threats, disruptions and opportunities. I urge our tripartite partners and all of us in Singapore to rally together, stay united and look out for one another. This is so that we can navigate and overcome this rough patch together, and then ride the wave of change and embrace the upturn thereafter as one Singapore.
