Navigating the Storm
Mr Speaker, we have eased out of the circuit breaker. We have stabilised the COVID-19 spread in our community, but we still have much to do to overcome significant economic challenges. Many companies are at breaking point and many workers are struggling to cope.
I support the Fortitude Budget, as I have the previous three, because it will keep companies afloat and it will keep Singaporeans in their jobs. Without these budgets, many more companies would fold and many more workers would be retrenched. And frankly, we would all be in deeper dire straits.
Even with the $100 billion total budget, we need to be realistic. This money certainly helps but it cannot replace economic activities to sustain our livelihoods. We must therefore brace ourselves for tougher times, wage cuts and inevitable job losses.
Strategy to Keep Workers in Jobs
Indeed, union leaders and workers know that. But they do tell me that they have conflicting concerns: one, is on jobs and job security; the other, is how can they be safe when they go back to work? I can sense their anxieties even across the cyber domain when I chat with them on different mediums.
So, what can we do?
There are three things we can and must do to protect our jobs and keep workers safe.
One, help the economy reopen and importantly, keep our economy open by diligently practicing safe management measures on the ground. This is the most obvious, and the most important thing to do for protecting workers’ lives and opening up the lifelines towards livelihoods.
Two, while we get our economy back into shape, we need to preserve jobs. We need to create jobs, temporary ones even; and match workers to these new jobs when old jobs are lost. Make sure that at-risk groups are taken care of. This is the immediate task, immediate track of things that we must do.
Three, we must make use of the current crisis to push economic transformation. Ironically, as Mr Liang Eng Hwa has mentioned, COVID-19 has sped up disruption and moved us towards Industry 4.0 in double quick time. Businesses are on a burning platform – it is now really “adopt new business models, adopt new technologies or die”. Workers too, have taken to digital technology to do their work, order their food and even keep in touch with family at a faster rate than what was previously not possible. We must use this transformative track to redesign jobs and create new, Industry 4.0, jobs so that workers, with the appropriate training, can take up these new jobs.
Implementation is Key
Mr Speaker, the Government has a good guiding strategy to safeguard lives and livelihoods. We have stabilised the community infection and safeguarded lives. We are now restarting the economy with the 100 billion dollars’ worth of financial muscle on the table.
The key now really is to implement this strategy well. It is not sufficient for us to simply know what to do, but to do it well.
Doing so is not only the Government’s responsibility alone. Every business owner and every worker have a shared responsibility and an important role to play.
NTUC too, will also play our part.
Ms Sylvia Lim spoke about the SIRS (Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme) that NTUC helps to administer. But maybe she does not quite remember the history on why NTUC stepped into this space.
You see, back in January/February, when COVID-19 started to hit, NTUC with our National taxi Association, noticed that taxi drivers’ income was dropping like a rock. I remember going to Newton Circle Hawker Centre with Mr Khaw to talk to taxi drivers because incomes were impacted – at that time, already 50% or more. We set up a quick reaction small group and put up $77 million to help our drivers cope with the initial hit of COVID-19.
So why is NTUC in this space? Simply because we care. Why are we in this space? Because we have some capabilities to augment the Government in extending this help to taxi drivers or freelancers as quickly as possible.
Well, are there things that we can do better? I think in time to come when we can settle the immediate issues that we have to deal with COVID-19 and the transformative things that NTUC is embarking on, I will humbly say that yes, we will look at areas where we can do better.
But as it stands now, NTUC has extended care fund to help all workers. And likewise, we would like to do our part to help freelancers or self-employed persons deal with the current situation as well. We have put up a SEP (Self-employer Person) training fund, beside SIRS, to help SEPs and freelancers upgrade themselves and get into some training in dealing with COVID-19. We think that this is important. And in the course of three budgets, NTUC feedback to the Government that these are needed things to do.
And I recall one late evening, when the Minister of Finance called me up, and I went to the Treasury. And at the request of Government to administer this SIRS fund, I gladly informed Ministry of Finance that NTUC will take up this role, not because we want to be at the centre of things but because we thought we have the capabilities to do our part as a tripartite partner.
So, if we look at the National Jobs Council that they set up - should NTUC not be in it? Should the Singapore National Employers Federation not be in it? If all of us are not together in this fight against COVID-19 as a team, then I think we would have lost the ability unique to Singapore.
Yes, the Government has put up the hundred billion dollar budget but I think there is space for business owners, NTUC and the workers to play a part. Tripartism is a strength. And we should ride on this strength to execute this strategy, that I’ve mentioned, well and to the extent possible, remain adaptive and learn lessons along the way.
I am humble enough to say that NTUC could have done better in some of the SIRS things that we have done. But let us draw those lessons when the time comes. But immediately now, let us extend assistance to as many as possible.
So NTUC, as I said, will do our part, As the economy reopens, workplaces must adapt and change to prevent new infections so that importantly, businesses can continue to stay open under Phase 1 or in the future, Phase 2 conditions.
Today, we have played another part to lead in terms of training over 1,800 union leaders, our management partners and staff on Safe Management Measures so that we can partner employers in companies to implement safe management measures to keep our workers safe and importantly, to keep businesses open. And if we aggregate over the whole of economy, hopefully we can keep infection rates low and manageable so that Singaporeans can resume some form of normalcy, some form of new economy life. This is critical to protect lives and importantly, as COVID drags on, to protect livelihoods.
Preserving Jobs
With this ability to ensure the health of workers, then we can work towards job preservation. The Government’s Job Support Scheme (JSS) has helped many businesses manage part of the wage cost.
As the NTUC Secretary-General, I thank the Government for responding to NTUC’s feedback to expand the JSS in more severely impacted industries. Many leaders, across different sectors, told me that without JSS, they really would not be able to keep workers on payroll, even if workers are willing to do their part to help cut costs to save jobs.
Besides JSS, NTUC is also helping businesses access other tools to keep business costs as manageable as possible. These tools are actually already on the table but are often less well known and less well utilised!
In the hotel industry where the impact is very serious, the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union worked with Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa to send workers for training under the Enhanced Training Support Package.
A staff of the hotel, Ms Pohleena, previously worked in the back-of-house in service performance management. But during this challenging period, she was needed in a front-facing role to take care of Stay-Home Notice guests. For this new role, Ms Pohleena went for training at NTUC LearningHub, topped up on people skills such as communications, so that she can do her new role. Ms Pohleena remained employed, increased her hospitality skill set and upped her value to her employer as a worker. The hotel also benefitted – not only in having a more skilled worker but enjoyed absentee payroll support as well.
We also see other companies elsewhere benefit.
Singapore Aero Engine Services was very proactive in working with the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees' Union early to make use of the training support. Aerospace by then was already impacted but they could foresee the further impact of COVID-19 on the industry so they send their workers for training. Mr Sahim Bin Anwar is one of those Technicians who was sent for digital training at NTUC LearningHub. Mr Sahim’s digital knowledge has improved and this helps the company take one more step towards Industry 4.0.
In May alone, NTUC LearningHub helped more than 500 companies to send their workers for over 20,000 days’ worth of training. These companies received up to $80 a day in absentee payroll for each worker they sent. This support adds up. If you do the mathematics, it will add up to about $1.6 million in terms of Absentee Payroll support for these companies.
This is a win-win situation for both workers and the companies. Ultimately, workers get to stay in their jobs, preserve their jobs and companies get help with the payroll and have better skilled workers on hand, poised for the eventual upturn.
Creating Jobs and Matching Displaced to Job Opportunities
But Mr Speaker, in spite of all these efforts, unfortunately, there will be job losses.
In the last 3 to 4 months, NTUC Job Security Council has been working hard to match at-risk and displaced workers into available jobs.
At the earlier stages, we moved quickly to partner badly hit aviation companies to match workers to new jobs – some into community work, some into healthcare and some even into our own NTUC FairPrice Group – without the workers having to go through retrenchment anxieties.
So far, NTUC Job Security Council has been able to match more than 10,000 workers, both rank-and-file and PMEs, into new jobs – easing workers’ anxiety and most importantly, helping them earn a wage to sustain livelihood.
Ms Gina Ng is one beneficiary of the Job Security Council. She is a Senior Admin Assistant, working at Fairmont Singapore & Swissotel The Stamford for many years. But due to COVID-19, hotel work was drying up. The threat of losing her job was real. Our union and the Job Security Council worked with the hotel and found her an immediate match to an organisation that was employing. Gina was job-matched on a three-month secondment to NTUC FairPrice. She is now half-way through her redeployment period, gainfully employed while keeping her salary and job title in the hotel.
As we facilitate job matching, workers must also be willing to adapt and acquire new skills too.
Before Gina was redeployed, she went for training in food hygiene and preparation which brought relevant skill sets and value to NTUC FairPrice. While the initial transition was challenging, Gina understood the need to be nimble and was willing to do her part to reskill and upskill.
Gina is 59 years old. I am happy she has the ability and agility to adopt a new mindset, adapt to the new circumstances and importantly, took action to acquire new skills so that she can stay in the workforce.
I spoke to Gina as I wrote my speech and I asked her if she had anything to tell fellow Singaporeans. She said with an audible chirp in her voice, “Stay positive, never give up! I’m learning new things in NTUC. We are in this together. We will overcome.”
Gina will return to the hotel at the end of her secondment on 13 July. Keeping her job, getting the secondment out, staying in the workforce.
National Jobs Council
But we, in NTUC, understand the looming challenges ahead and are realistic that there is much more to do to help workers.
This is why I fully support the Government’s move to set up the National Jobs Council. The Council will have very important work to drive tripartite efforts to help Singaporeans.
Foremost, the Government and employers’ role to create 40,000 jobs is critical, not easy. And where companies are not able to do so, the 25,000 SGUnited Traineeships programme will be helpful to expose both new graduates and mid-career PMEs to the new workplace, gain useful experience and be ready when the economy recovers.
The 30,000 training spaces under the SGUnited Skills Programme will be helpful to top up skills for workers looking for jobs. It is also useful for companies to co-design the training, to support business re-structuring and re-development for Industry 4.0 so that they can be poised for a new and more productive Industry 4.0 way of doing things.
NTUC, as I said, will fully support the National Jobs Council.
So, for those workers that are at-risk or those workers seeking now for a job, there is practical help for you.
Looking Ahead in a Post-COVID World
Besides this immediate task of securing jobs to protect workers, NTUC will continue to partner companies that have the capacity and vision to seize opportunities emerging from COVID-19.
Even before COVID-19 hit us, actually our economy was already embarking on industry transformation brought about by technological disruption. COVID-19 has accelerated this disruption but it is clear that those who started transformation early, in fact today, are coping better with the COVID-19 challenges.
So “transformation” is not just a buzzword. And in fact, COVID-19 has made it even more apparent, more plain that businesses will need to work towards digitalisation and Industry 4.0 practices more urgently. This will help them position themselves and their workers for new opportunities post-COVID.
NTUC has been working closely with Temasek companies, amongst some 350 plus companies, to push the Company Training Committees, or CTCs, to move businesses and prepare workers for Industry 4.0. I want to thank Temasek for its support over the last two years.
NTUC will also redouble our efforts to partner companies through the CTC platform, to embark on Operations and Technology Roadmapping, or OTR, to transform.
This will not only help companies chart a course to recovery from COVID-19, it will, importantly, help them identify new growth areas for business, exploit new technologies as well as create new jobs, better jobs, more productive jobs, even starting now.
This is an involved process but companies such as Energizer, amongst quite a few, show how the benefits of the OTR can be translated on the ground.
Energizer is bringing in advanced, better technology for its line machines to increase the precision and quality of their products. These machines will need better skilled operators who are familiar with the new system overall. So Energizer and the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries worked with one of our Institutes of Higher Learning to curate a specific training programme for their Operators to upskill in technology and work with the machines.
These steps help sustain the Energizer business and importantly, keep workers gainfully employed in the short term. But in the transformative track, this will put Energizer on a trajectory, ready for Industry 4.0 and for our workers to have more productive work, better work prospects, emerging from COVID-19. Ultimately, we in NTUC, want to take the best care of our workers, whether they are freelancers or unionised workers. And the best way to do so is for companies to have better business, for economy to be able to generate growth and for workers to have the necessary training and skills to access these jobs. So, it is not just for the immediate things that NTUC is busy with, even as we are coping to helping workers cope with COVID-19, we are casting our vision further ahead and doing practical things to help companies transform, to benefit workers now and in the future.
Mr Speaker, in Mandarin please.
我在今年2月宣布成立“职总就业保障联盟”，帮助即将失去工作的工友,配对到有适合工作的企业谋生。当时有4千多家企业加入了联盟。
在过去的4个月内，加入联盟的企业，增加至7千多家。更重要的是，我们成功地帮助了1万多名工友配对到新的工作。
现在，加入联盟的企业还需要聘请新员工；主要的行业包括医疗保健、交通与物流、建筑环境和电子与交通工程。我们正在加大力度，尽快帮助企业找到新员工；更重要的是，帮助工友配对到这些企业，赚取收入。
昨天，由国务资政尚达曼担任主席并由副总理王瑞杰担任顾问的全国就业理事会召开了首次的会议，讨论如何帮助国人从“新心相连”就业与技能配套中受惠。
我很高兴职总能成为全国就业理事会的紧密伙伴，共同在就业方面协助国人。职总会致力帮助国人，无论是新毕业生或中途转业者，充分掌握这将近10万份的工作与培训机会，既有收入，也能累计经验和提升技能。
危机，既有“危险”也有“机遇”。重要的是,我们继续保持正面的态度、能够灵活改变。我相信，只要我们上下一条心，一定能做到：保企业、保工友、保未来！
PERSEVERING TOGETHER
Mr Speaker, I will conclude.
We have a strategy in place, backed by a series of robust budgets, making the necessary resources available.
The key is to implement this plan well. In the immediate term – Preserve Jobs, Create Jobs and Match workers to these Jobs.
But we must keep an eye out too for strengthening our economy post- COVID. We must make use of this crisis to push for industry transformation and continue developing quality jobs for quality workers and quality business that can out-compete in the new economy forward. These are not easy tasks but we will do our very best. NTUC will continue to work with our tripartite partners to support our workers, our freelancers, our self-employed people because, every worker matters, every job matters. And only if we can continue the trust and solidarity of tripartism, then can we overcome.
Mr Speaker, I support the Budget.
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