scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeWorldSingapore will have far fewer new jobs this year than those being...

Singapore will have far fewer new jobs this year than those being lost, warns top official

Senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam cautioned that a jobless rate of 10% or more will likely be the new normal for both the government and people.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Los Angeles: One of Singapore’s top political leaders said the city-state faces a “major and urgent challenge” in the next six months to a year, warning of more job losses ahead amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The comments from Tharman Shanmugaratnam came after he chaired the first meeting for a council that included business groups and government leaders to seek new job opportunities to cope with the slowdown. About 100,000 jobs, both permanent and temporary, and training opportunities could be created from that initiative, he said.

“But we have to be realistic,” the senior minister and coordinating minister for social policies said in a Facebook post. The “sheer uncertainty” in the global economy means “we will have far fewer new job openings than jobs being lost — over the next year, and beyond that if we are unlucky,” he said.

Singapore’s approach to the virus is set to become a defining issue in upcoming elections, with lockdown curbs set to drag on past most of Asia’s after its original, less restrictive approach was scuppered by a second wave of infections.

The city-state, which began easing some of the restrictions this week to restart its economy, is trying to prevent another resurgence in virus cases after an outbreak centered on its army of low-waged migrant workers sent cases above 36,000. Still, it has one of the lowest death rates with just 24 fatalities, and only a handful of patients remain in intensive care.

The senior minister also cautioned against a situation in countries where a jobless rate of 10% or more becomes a new normal for both the government and people.

“No amount of unemployment benefits can compensate for not having a job, and for the social stagnation and loss of optimism about the future that comes when a large segment of the population feels redundant and out of sorts,” he said. “We must never get there.” –Bloomberg 


Also read: Singapore rejects herd immunity as strategy to tackle coronavirus, prefers containment


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular