Hiring of locals would have been slower without Jobs Growth Incentive: Josephine Teo

THE movement of workers into growing firms and industries would likely have been slower without the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) "lubricating the process", Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said.

Speaking in Parliament during her ministry's Committee of Supply debate on Wednesday, Mrs Teo signalled that unemployment will not come down and may even creep up again, with longer-term consequences.

"A JGI extension of seven months is helpful, and we will assess what is needed after September," she said.

However, the minister said the JGI remains an "extraordinary measure", adding that employers should not delay their local hiring, in the hope that the JGI will be available indefinitely.

From September to October 2020, the JGI supported over 110,000 new local hires, or 5 per cent of the workforce, with half the new hires aged 40 and above, Mrs Teo noted.

She added that the JGI may also be helping to address the issue of unemployment and underemployment which labour MP Patrick Tay raised on Tuesday.

"Around three in 10 JGI hires were not previously in a job; majority had been out of work for more than six months. In other words, the JGI uplifted those who were long-term unemployed as well," Mrs Teo said.

As for unemployed jobseekers, traineeships and attachments under the SGUnited Traineeships, SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways and Skills programmes are the best way to support them until a suitable job materialises, she said.

The ministry is raising monthly training allowances for mid-career jobseekers and fresh graduates. In all, the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package is getting a boost of S$5.4 billion.

Mrs Teo said while unemployment or redundancy insurance, which Sengkang MP Jamus Lim had called for, can provide useful income relief, they cannot replace efforts to help people get back to work.

"Insurance payouts may also not match the allowances we are providing. Many unemployed persons will not qualify for any redundancy insurance payout," she said. They include new graduates just entering the workforce, workers who were dismissed, whose contracts ended and were not renewed.

Even so, Mrs Teo said her ministry will not "foreclose these options" but continue to study their merits.