THE decision to focus this year's Budget on saving jobs was the right move as its key planks have helped temper job losses and cut the cost burden on employers.
And while the Government's emphasis going ahead will remain focused on saving jobs, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said workers and union leaders must continue to play their part.
Speaking at the annual May Day Rally, he outlined how the Government had and would continue to help on the jobs front.
One approach has been through the Jobs Credit scheme which subsidises a company's wage bill for local workers; and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience which pays part of workers' wages while they are on training.
A second has been to go on the offensive and create new jobs and capabilities.
The Integrated Resorts, for example, are already recruiting workers.
Also, the Economic Development Board (EDB) has brought in new projects and got existing companies to expand.
'Almost every week, some new plant is opening or doing ground-breaking,' PM Lee said, citing instances of facilities being built by health-care firms Abbott Laboratories and Baxter Bioscience, as well as energy giant Renewable Energy Corporation.
Trade and Industry Ministry leaders have been kept so busy gracing these occasions that he, too, has chipped in by going to 'one or two' openings.
'It's important because it shows that the jobs are still available and if you are prepared to make the effort, there are many opportunities.'
PM Lee has also been meeting investors: 'I can help the EDB persuade them to do more in Singapore. I can understand from them how their business is, what more they will like us to do to help them.'
Investors said they remain confident about Asia's prospects and are impressed with how the Government and the people are responding to the downturn.
They also see Singapore playing a bigger role in Asia and in their business in Asia, he said, noting that many have plans to invest and are recruiting.
Noting that he has often been asked what more the Government can do, he said the decision to focus on jobs in the Budget Package is paying off.
It helped buffer the sharp drop in output in the first three months of the year. So, while gross domestic product shrank by 11 per cent, unemployment rose from 2.5 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
Singapore also did not suffer huge layoffs and a sharp rise in unemployment as seen in the United States and elsewhere.
And while there have been job losses in some sectors, the job banks at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and Community Development Councils are substantial, with over 20,000 vacancies and counting.
'In this environment today, four months after the Budget, I believe that the right emphasis is still focusing on jobs - getting our people ready for the jobs, marrying up people with the jobs, helping them to help themselves,' he said.
On what Singaporeans can do for themselves, he advised those with a job to try their best to hang on to it: 'Don't resign, go on holiday and then think of something else. Make sure you keep your feet steadily on the ground, preserve your position before you look for another possibility.'
They should also go for training, be flexible and accept shorter work-weeks, compulsory time-off and wage cuts.
As for the unemployed, he urged them to take the first job they can find: 'You may hope to land something better later on, but nobody can say whether the economy is going to be better or worse.'
Also, go for training and try something new, he advised.
On his recent visits to the e2i in Redhill Road and other training centres, he was cheered to meet job seekers - young and old, professionals and rank-and-file - who were serious about being trained.
At one class, job seekers learnt to make a pitch about themselves for job interviews at the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort. Such training appears to have worked, as 1,300 of the 1,800 applicants for jobs at the resort were successful.
But PM Lee noted there are job seekers who still adopted a wait-and-see attitude. At a recent job fair organised by the e2i, only one-third of those who were invited to attend turned up: 'That's risky, because if having been trained, you don't get a job promptly and practise your skills, you will lose those skills.'
- The Straits Times
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