• To better monitor the labour market situation and understand the needs of retrenched workers, MOM conducted a survey in June 2020 with residents retrenched in 1Q 2020.  
• This week’s Jobs Situation Report highlights key findings from this survey, including the employment status of retrenched residents as of June 2020. 

• Employment Status of Residents Retrenched in 1Q 2020 

• The 2020 study observed that 39% of retrenched workers had re-entered employment by June 2020.  
• This suggests that job prospects for retrenched workers held up, despite their job search taking place in a much weaker employment market and within the Circuit Breaker period where many activities were disrupted. 
• Majority (7 in 10) who re-entered employment did so within a month.  
• We have also set aside another $1 billion to support businesses to hire locals under the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) scheme. a. JGI provides substantial salary support to enable firms that continue to do well to bring forward hiring plans and grow their local workforce from September 2020 to February 2021.  

• Efforts to Support Affected Workers and Businesses in Tourism 

• To minimise potential retrenchment and support existing employees whose jobs may be at risk, Workforce Singapore (WSG) rolled out two new reskilling programmes for the Tourism sector in Feb 2020:  

1.     Job Redesign Reskilling Programme for the Hotel industry 

1. Digital Marketing Reskilling Programme for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions (MICE), Attractions and Tour & Travel Sectors. 

• Through these programmes, more than 1,400 workers across more than 100 hotels and tourism companies have been, or are being, retrained and redeployed to new or higher-value roles as of end August 2020.  

• Opportunities in the Tourism Sector 

• Between April to July 2020, more than 900 individuals also found jobs or took on new roles in tourism through WSG’s programmes.  
• More than 1,700 job, traineeship, company attachment, and training opportunities have been made available, offered by more than 220 companies in the tourism sector. 

• Engagement and outreach efforts to help Singaporeans access opportunities 

• In August 2020, WSG conducted 50 outreach and engagement activities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package across Singapore. 

• These included walk-in interviews, career workshops and seminars, SGUnited Jobs and Skills Info Kiosks pop-ups and SGUnited Jobs and Skills Series. 
• These activities allowed 12,200 jobseekers to meet hiring companies and obtain career guidance to improve their job search.  
• We will continue to walk the journey with affected workers and jobseekers. I urge jobseekers to stay open-minded, and to leverage on the opportunities and assistance available to bounce back stronger.  

[More details here] 

[Jobs Situation Report: https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2020/0907-jobs-situation-report-7-sep] 

16,000 Workers Have Yet To Be Scheduled For Routine Testing [New 4 Sept]  

• Employers urged to heed reminders or workers will not be allowed to work 
• As part of the safeguards to ensure the safe restart of work, workers staying in dormitories, workers in the Construction, Marine and Process sectors and personnel who go into the work sites, are required to undergo Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) every 14 days. 

• MOM, EDB, BCA and HPB have been engaging employers to schedule their workers for RRT for the past month.  
• As of today, some 16,000 workers who need to undergo RRT have yet to be scheduled by their employers.  

• If they do not meet the deadline, their AccessCode Status will be reflected as Red under the “Health Status” and they will not be able to return to work.  
• This is to protect the health and safety of the other workers. Unresponsive employers who have persistently failed to schedule workers for RRT may have their work pass privileges curtailed. 

• We again remind the employers of these workers to quickly schedule appointment slots for their workers on the HPB’s Swab Registration System (SRS) to avoid disruption to their business operations. 

[More details: https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2020/0904-16000-workers-have-yet-to-be-scheduled-for-routine-testing]  

Eligible Firms to Receive Jobs Growth Incentive Automatically from March 2021 [New 4 Sept]  

•  Govt has set aside $1 billion to support businesses to hire locals under the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) scheme 
• JGI provides substantial salary support to firms who continue to do well, so that they can bring forward hiring plans & grow their local workforce from Sep 2020 to Feb 2021 

• Eligible firms will not need to apply; will receive automatic JGI payouts from Mar 2021 

[JGI-related FAQs: https://www.go.gov.sg/jgi] 

[More details: https://go.gov.sg/newjgi4sep] 

  Advisories for employers/dormitory operators to submit essential errands form for migrant workers to carry out essential errands [Updated 2 Sep]  

• With Phase 2 of re-opening, migrant workers living in dormitories that have been cleared of COVID-19 infections will be allowed to leave the dormitory to carry out essential errands, regardless of whether they are allowed to return to work.  
• Apart from visiting the Recreation Centres and designated areas, there are other essential errands that migrant workers would need to carry out personally. Please see Annex A for the list of essential errands. 
• To facilitate their exit for these essential errands, with effect from 5 August 2020, employers or dormitory operators are required to submit the following information to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at www.mom.gov.sg/essential-errands-form. 
• Migrant workers can proceed with the specified essential errand, once the form has been filled up. 

• Employers are strongly encouraged to provide private transport between the dormitory and the stipulated location, as they are accountable for their workers when their workers carry out the specified essential errand. 

[More details: https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/advisory-for-employers-to-submit-essential-errands (For Employers) 

https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/advisory-for-dorm-operators-to-submit-essential-errands (For Dormitory Operators)] 

Addendum – Advisory for employers and dormitory operators to submit essential errands form for migrant workers to carry out essential errands [Updated 2 Sep]  

• MOM had earlier issued separate advisories (to employers and dormitory operators) on 1 August 2020 to facilitate migrant workers’ exit for a list of essential errands.  
• Following feedback that we received, we have updated the list of essential errands in Annex A.  
• We have also enhanced the essential errands form at www.mom.gov.sg/essential-errands-form.  
• For employers 

• Employers are strongly encouraged to provide private transport between the dormitory and the stipulated location 
• For decant sites, employers must provide point-to-point transport and must submit the form 3 days in advance to obtain the necessary clearance from the site managers. 

• For migrant workers 

• Migrant workers whose employers have submitted the form are allowed to exit on the day of the scheduled essential errand.  
• Migrant workers are allowed to perform the specified essential errand within a 3-hour block and must return within the stipulated time. 

• For dormitory operators 
• We urge dormitory operators to verify the workers’ health status and the form submission at the point of exit: 

1. Access Code Green or Access Code Red (not approved to start work) and not on Stay-Home-Notice / Quarantine Order; and 

1. PDF copy of Formsg. 

• For migrant workers who do not return within the stipulated time, dormitory operators should inform MOM of these workers and their reasons for coming back late, if any. 

[More details: https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/addendum-advisory-to-submit-essential-errands]  

Parliament: New Progressive Wage Model Mark will encourage more firms to adopt ‘minimum wage plus’ [New 1 Sept]  

• Companies which voluntarily pay progressive wages and provide job advancement pathways for lower-income workers will be recognised with a Progressive Wage Model (PWM) Mark, as part of efforts to lift wages for lower-income workers. 

• Sectors like food services and retail trade have the potential to come on board, which would expand the implementation of the PWM  beyond the three sectors where it is currently mandated: cleaning, security and landscaping. Sectors where PWM is mandated represents 15 per cent of all the workers in the lowest 20th percentile of salary ranges. 
• The PWM, pioneered by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in 2012, is a ladder that sets out minimum pay and training requirements for workers at different skill levels, and covers around 80,000 workers across the three sectors where it is mandated. 
• NTUC deputy secretary-general Koh Poh Koon highlighted that efforts taken by the tripartite partners prior to the Covid-19 pandemic will lead to the lifts and escalator maintenance sector PWM becoming mandatory in 2022. The labour movement is also in discussions to see how the model can be implemented for the waste management sector. 
• Government has complemented the PWM with Workfare benefits and skills training for low-wage workers. 
• The Government’s preferred approach to uplift low-wage workers has four prongs; 

1. Regularly adjusting Workfare to support employability while mitigating income inequality 

1. Raise wages in PWM sectors at an appropriate pace 

1. Expand PWM over time to more sectors, assessing the capacity of businesses to absorb the change 

1. Raise standards of living for lower-income workers in ways such as acquiring skills, home ownership, and access to quality healthcare and education 

• This approach has been supported through measures such as the expanded Workfare coverage and higher payouts introduced earlier this year, and a Workfare special payment of $3,000 to cushion the impact of the virus pandemic.  

[More details to The Straits Times article here]   

Queries on Covid-related matters  

• Refer to MOM’s FAQs: www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/frequently-asked-questions 
• For advices on further queries, contact MOM through online form here: www.mom.gov.sg/feedback