The Government can do more to help the COVID-19 generation with greater job mobility by converting traineeships into permanent jobs and enhance the protection of self-employed persons (SEPs).
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Desmond raised these concerns in Parliament on 1 September 2020, in response to President Halimah Yacob’s address.
“COVID-19 will probably manifest a resilient generation. But they would need a helping hand to emerge stronger,” he said.
Mr Choo listed three issues facing the youths who are in the graduating classes of 2019 to 2021.
They would take a longer time to secure a job; they would likely have to take on jobs that they are not trained or educated for; and that their medium-term prospects would be unclear as they would also be competing with the later graduating classes.
“We might possibly have a generation of younger Singaporeans confronted with the most difficult of financial and social circumstances,” he warned.
Citing overseas studies, he said graduates entering the job market in a recession year can experience a negative impact on wages up of to eight years, compared to graduates who enter in a “normal” year.
Highlighting a silver lining by a study conducted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2011, Mr Choo noted that the negative impact could be shortened to just three years if job mobility – the ability for workers to move across different grades or function – is high.
“This makes improving job mobility paramount. We have to invest significantly to safeguard the future of the COVID-19 generation of young Singaporeans,” he said.
Mr Choo suggested that companies should be encouraged to convert the traineeships into permanent positions after the nine-month training.
He added that the Government could also consider customising incentives through the Jobs Growth Incentive to employers to hire these trainees permanently to reduce the job-skills mismatch.
Mr Choo noted that COVID-19 has put into sharper focus, SEPs’ lack of protection and income security.
He broadly classified SEPs under two categories, namely those who depend predominantly on platforms for their livelihoods, and freelancers who rely on service buyers.
“During this crisis, both groups suffered sharp drops in income because events and consumption have dropped dramatically,” he explained.
Stating that schemes such as the SEP Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) were vital in helping SEPs tide through this crisis, he hopes that the Government can do more to extend targeted support to them, namely in two areas.
He said: “Because existing laws do not allow them to be collectively represented, their voices might not be heard and interests not advanced.
“Thus, the divide in bargaining powers is vast, especially for the dependent contractors. We need to establish if they are actually contractors or employees. And subsequently, the roles and responsibilities of the platform companies - this is needed if we want to see these industries or mode of obtaining services continue to thrive.”
On freelancers, Mr Choo also said that it is critical to establish the responsibilities of the service-buyers and that perhaps legislation on unfair contract terms was required to protect freelancers.
“In the interim, we need to have tripartite standards set in place that guides service buyers and freelancers,” he noted.
