It has been reported that Singapore is planning for a new financial support scheme that will cater for anyone who becomes involuntarily unemployed with funds of up to S$6,000 to be offered. However, the government indicates that to be qualified for this assistance the jobseekers must follow a job on their own. It is possible to claim that, on the whole, the new launched initiative can be attributed to the attempts of the Singapore government to try to support the economy in both the short term and to ensure that people do not become entirely passive when it comes to job seeking.
In this regard, the financial aid will be disbursed to those who have become unemployed and will meet other conditions for a given number of months. To repeat what has been said earlier the support is to be provided to meet the living expenses and to help with the financial difficulties of the people while they are looking for other employment. More importantly, such aid is not intended as a long-term welfare without work aid but the temporary one for those people who are searching for employment.
For this reason the government has placed certain conditions whereby the job seekers must adhere to in order that the system is not stretchable to any unpleasant people. The targets of the scheme are expected to look for jobs, go through a process of retraining or upgrading their skills in case this is needed, or go through counselling on employment as may be necessary. The aim of this approach is to persuade individuals to the extent possible reduce their disability, and go to work as soon as possible with the help of the state.
As with all the features of the program, further education and training have been acknowledge to be one of the most important parts of the program. Singapore has adopted the model of continuous learning and flexibility from a long time more so with the introduction of technology within the economy. This in effect means that all those who participate in government-sponsored restructuring programmes will not only have a better likelihood of finding employment but may also be in a good position to be promoted to new or better forms of employment.
Indeed, it is irritating to witness this programme launched at a time when economic fluctuations and other interferences have rendered the labour market quite fluid. While there are not many segments in Singapore that have worried difficulties because of altering structure of global trade, rise of new industries, and impact of COVID, it is essential to understand that while Singapore’s economy is relatively sustainable, and most of it is quite developed. However, to avoid leaving out persons in between this transition, the government would like this financial aid to be delivered together with a focused programme on upgrading the skills of the workforce; thereby strengthening the economy through improving the work force.
In addition, the government has also highlighted that jobseekers also have to ‘pull up their boots’, which is in line with the Singapore ‘pull yourself up by your own bootstraps’ economy. Unlike the policy of direct giveaway, the scheme helps the Government to make sure that the targeted persons remain active in the labor market actively. This can mean only one thing: while it is in place to assist a fellow citizen in case that person is in some form of need, this same society will have to get prepared to fend for itself in generations to come.
The initiative should also be poised to support other programmes that aims at creating employment sustainably particularly those that target groups of people who are often at the mercy of the economic system such as the ageing population or individuals in sectors that are most often devastated by innovation. Most countries have had programs, policies and, incentives for workers to go for other opportunities in the labor market, for the employees and the employers. With this new associated financial support scheme alongside the other employment strategies, the government has the intention of avoiding long-term effects of employment displacement and seek a well-coordinated comeback.
However, its future will be oriented primarily at the existing jobs, the effectiveness of the retraining programs and the willingness of the seekers to work under the new conditions. It can be countered argued by some people that one risks of coming up with a fix that works but only as an cover for effect in the labour market as opposed to fixing the source of the problem. Some people are also questioning the funding of the scheme while there are others who are concerned about the ‘idle wind’ effect which this scheme is likely to introduce in some people.
But some of its aspects were welcomed by the economists and labour specialists as the necessity owing to the shifts in nature of work. Since things like automation, artificial intelligence, and other types of advancements have quite often become the norm in the current society it has become even more important to be able to transition from one field to another. But while offering short-term cash benefits for those retrenched, it is retraining and re-profiling at the same time in order that Singapore is better prepared to deal with such trends as indicated above.
Hence, it is a progressive action for Singapore to help the involuntarily unemployed up to S$6,000 because it provides for the short term needs of the unemployed but at the same time, it is building up the capability of the source for the future. That is how the government guarantees that the assistance is provided only to those, who restarted the search of the job and will be more ready to begin working upon finding the first suitable vacancy. The outlined scheme can be viewed at the present stage of globalization of the labor market is adopted by other countries that seek a sensible and effective solution to the problem of unemployment.
