Experts think the package will include subsidies or even replace a portion of a worker’s last-drawn salary. Jamus Lim, Associate Professor of Economics at ESSEC Business School, APAC, thinks the government will take reference from the existing SkillsFuture training allowance, which offers 50% of one’s average income over the latest available 12-month period, capped at $3,000 a month and for up to 24 months over one’s lifetime.
Singapore has long resisted introducing unemployment benefits, opting to use employment incentives and wage support instead. That changed last week, when Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced at Budget 2024 that the government will announce a “temporary financial support scheme” later this year for retrenched staff.
According to Wong, displaced workers “may not have the time to train or search for new jobs, especially when they are already straining to make ends meet”. Hence, the scheme will support this group of workers “while they undergo training or look for better-fitting jobs”.
