Saving jobs in Budget 2021: what and whose jobs to save?

Economists look at situation in various labour segments and the different problems that each one faces

Sharon See

Published Tue, Feb 9, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Singapore

WHILE the government's call to retrain and upskill has been a familiar refrain in recent years, the push to do so is probably about to intensify at Budget 2021, according to economists.

Describing this as a likely "core element" of the Budget, Sung-Eun Jung, an economist at Oxford Economics, said: "We expect the Singapore government to continue to nudge workers and businesses towards sectors that are likely to come out strong from the Covid pandemic, namely IT, technology, healthcare, financial services."

It would be part of an economic restructuring that will help workers to keep their jo…