Re-employment support on the cards to help retrenched workers meet needs

To ensure retrenched workers do not rush into the first job they find, regardless of its suitability and prospects, a re-employment support scheme is needed, said panellists at a wide-ranging roundtable discussion on Monday.

- Tay Hong Yi

"They may want to do that because they have bills to pay, and they really need to get the finances in order, but frankly, from a system point of view, it may not be the most optimal outcome," said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Finding the best-fitting job, or training for a job with better prospects, takes time, during which there might be room for the Government to step in to provide some interim support, said Mr Wong, offering the latest signal that such a scheme is in the works.

Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, was one of three panellists in The Straits Times-The Business Times Budget 2023 Roundtable held on Monday. The other two were UOB senior economist Alvin Liew and veteran unionist K. Thanaletchimi.

The roundtable, which was moderated by ST associate editor Vikram Khanna, also covered housing anxieties and increasing taxes for the middle class, among other topics.

During the Budget debate in February, Mr Wong said the Government was exploring targeted re-employment support to cushion retrenched or displaced workers, especially mature workers in their 40s and 50s, but did not specify the form that the support would take.