THE Government will announce by the middle of October whether the Jobs Credit scheme will be extended, and if so, in what form.
This early decision will be welcomed by the business community as many companies are already in the process of firming up their business plans and budgets for next year.
The Jobs Credit scheme was introduced in this year's Budget to help companies hold on to their workers amid one of Singapore's worst recessions since independence.
Under the scheme, the Government helps employers defray part of the wage bill of local workers. It gives employers funds for every resident worker on their Central Provident Fund payroll - 12 per cent on the first $2,500 of each month's wages for each employee.
There are four payouts in the year, with the last payment made in December.
Said the Finance Ministry noted in a statement on Tuesday: 'As stated in the 2009 Budget Speech, the Government would review whether it is necessary to extend the Jobs Credit scheme depending on the state of economy.
'The review is currently ongoing, taking into account all factors including the latest economic and employment outlook for the coming year.'
'The Government will announce whether the Jobs Credit scheme will be extended, and if so in what form, by mid-October.'
In its statement, the ministry also said that more than 100,000 employers, hiring about 1.4 million local workers, will receive $890 million from the third payment of Jobs Credit on September 30.
Eligible employers will receive a notification letter by Thursday from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore informing them of the amount of Jobs Credit they will receive in the third payment.
- The Straits Times
Sep 22, 2009
More help for PMETs
UP TO $40,000 in financial assistance is being offered to professionals with viable ideas for a social enterprise that will benefit residents in the North West district.
It is one of several initiatives being rolled out by North West Community Development Council, to assist the increasing number of PMETs, or professionals, managers, executives and technicians, coming forward for job assistance.
The money is being pledged by two volunteers in the North West CDC, as part of a tie-up between Republic Polytechnic and SPRING Singapore.
Forty individuals, both employed and unemployed, are currently studying for a Certificate in Business Skills for Start-Up, with course fees 90 per cent subsidised by SPRING.
At the end of the course, participants will present their business proposals to a panel of venture capitalists. Members of the panel, which includes the two volunteers, will invest in the most viable proposals.
While the CDC's traditional focus has been on helping rank and file blue-collar workers, North West mayor Dr Teo Ho Pin said the new initiatives were a response to the 'sudden surge' in PMETs coming forward for job assistance in the past year.
For the period Jan 2008 - Sept 2008, the CDC saw an average of 48 such job-seekers each month. The number surged to 125 a month from October until August 2009. It hit a peak of 300 in Mar before falling back down.
Other CDCs have also reported a more than 100 per cent increase in the number of PMET job seekers.
From January to August 2009, the South West CDC saw an average of 141 job applications from PMETs each month. This was a 187 per cent increase from the average of 49 per month in the same period last year.
North West is currently assisting about 3,200 job-seekers, of whom 600 are PMETs who have been unemployed for an average of one to three months. They range from engineers to administrators and salesmen.
- The Straits Times
It is one of several initiatives being rolled out by North West Community Development Council, to assist the increasing number of PMETs, or professionals, managers, executives and technicians, coming forward for job assistance.
The money is being pledged by two volunteers in the North West CDC, as part of a tie-up between Republic Polytechnic and SPRING Singapore.
Forty individuals, both employed and unemployed, are currently studying for a Certificate in Business Skills for Start-Up, with course fees 90 per cent subsidised by SPRING.
At the end of the course, participants will present their business proposals to a panel of venture capitalists. Members of the panel, which includes the two volunteers, will invest in the most viable proposals.
While the CDC's traditional focus has been on helping rank and file blue-collar workers, North West mayor Dr Teo Ho Pin said the new initiatives were a response to the 'sudden surge' in PMETs coming forward for job assistance in the past year.
For the period Jan 2008 - Sept 2008, the CDC saw an average of 48 such job-seekers each month. The number surged to 125 a month from October until August 2009. It hit a peak of 300 in Mar before falling back down.
Other CDCs have also reported a more than 100 per cent increase in the number of PMET job seekers.
From January to August 2009, the South West CDC saw an average of 141 job applications from PMETs each month. This was a 187 per cent increase from the average of 49 per month in the same period last year.
North West is currently assisting about 3,200 job-seekers, of whom 600 are PMETs who have been unemployed for an average of one to three months. They range from engineers to administrators and salesmen.
- The Straits Times
Sep 14, 2009
Long-term unemployment up
WITH unemployment rising for five quarters before stabilising in June, long-term unemployment among the jobless in Singapore has worsened, said the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday.
The resident long-term jobless rate rose to 1.3 per cent in June from 0.5 per cent a year ago - a four-year high for June periods.
Some 25,800 or 22 per cent of resident job seekers had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks in June, up from 9,500 or 12 per cent a year ago.
At its peak, there were 30,600 long-term unemployed residents, comprising 32 per cent of the unemployed and 1.8 per cent of the labour force in June, according to the second quarter labour market report released by MOM.
The re-employment rate fell to a new low, reflecting the weak job market, said MOM. Based on CPF records, 43 per cent of the residents retrenched in the first quarter were re-employed by June.
The deterioration in re-employment prospects over the quarter was broad-based. Those retrenched from clerical, sales and service jobs experienced the largest drop in re-employment rate, after holding up in the earlier quarter.
Their re-employment rate at 51 per cent was still higher than 42 per cent for professionals, managers, executives & technicians and 43% for production and related workers.
Labour productivity declined over the year by 6.2 per cent in the second quarter, easing from the 15 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.
Over the same period, nominal earnings fell by 2.2 per cent, following Q1's decline of 3.7 per cent.
The report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower?s website at www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication.
- The Straits Times
The resident long-term jobless rate rose to 1.3 per cent in June from 0.5 per cent a year ago - a four-year high for June periods.
Some 25,800 or 22 per cent of resident job seekers had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks in June, up from 9,500 or 12 per cent a year ago.
At its peak, there were 30,600 long-term unemployed residents, comprising 32 per cent of the unemployed and 1.8 per cent of the labour force in June, according to the second quarter labour market report released by MOM.
The re-employment rate fell to a new low, reflecting the weak job market, said MOM. Based on CPF records, 43 per cent of the residents retrenched in the first quarter were re-employed by June.
The deterioration in re-employment prospects over the quarter was broad-based. Those retrenched from clerical, sales and service jobs experienced the largest drop in re-employment rate, after holding up in the earlier quarter.
Their re-employment rate at 51 per cent was still higher than 42 per cent for professionals, managers, executives & technicians and 43% for production and related workers.
Labour productivity declined over the year by 6.2 per cent in the second quarter, easing from the 15 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.
Over the same period, nominal earnings fell by 2.2 per cent, following Q1's decline of 3.7 per cent.
The report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower?s website at www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication.
- The Straits Times
Job market stabilises in Q2
SINGAPORE'S job market stabilised in the second quarter, with fewer redundancies and more job openings as the economy emerges from its worst recession.
The overall unemployment rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 3.3 per cent in June, unchanged from the first quarter, according to the latest labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday.
Among the resident labour force, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.6 per cent in June, from 4.8 per cent in March as more people deferred job search and pursued courses.
Some 116,300 residents were jobless in June. The seasonally adjusted figure was 91,500, slightly lower than the 95,800 in the previous quarter.
After declining by 6,200 in Q1, total employment fell for the second consecutive quarter in Q2 by 7,700, said the report.
Some 5,980 workers were made redundant in Q2, of whom 5,170 were retrenched and 810 were released prematurely from their contracts.
Redundancies fell by more than half from the peak of 12,760 in the first three months.
The improvement largely reflected the sharp fall in redundancies in manufacturing from 9,250 in Q1 to 2,900 in Q2.
Services and construction also laid-off fewer workers in Q2, with 2,850 and 230 redundancies respectively, than in the previous quarter (3,170 and 330 respectively).
As manufacturing accounted for over 90 per cent of the decrease, the proportion of workers made redundant from manufacturing shrank from 72 per cent to 48 per cent, while the share coming from services rose from 25 per cent to 48 per cent, and construction from 2.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
Job vacancies rose by 17 per cent over the quarter to 24,500 in June, but this was still 39 per cent below the 40,100 a year ago.
After adjusting for seasonality, total job vacancies increased by 8 per cent in June from three months ago, after four quarters of decline. Coupled with stabilising unemployment, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons increased slightly over the quarter from a seasonally adjusted 31 to 33 openings per 100 job seekers in June. This was the first increase after five straight quarters of decline, said MOM.
Summing up the second quarter job situation, MOM said: 'The deterioration in the labour market appeared to have stabilised, as significantly fewer workers were made redundant and job openings rose after four quarters of decline.'
'The unemployment rate held steady following five straight quarters of increase, as more people deferred job search and pursued courses. Meanwhile, cost pressures have eased as earnings continued to decline and productivity fell less sharply than before.'
'On the other hand , a record low proportion of workers retrenched secured re-employment and long-term unemployment has worsened, indicating that the labour market was still weak.'
- The Straits Times
The overall unemployment rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 3.3 per cent in June, unchanged from the first quarter, according to the latest labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday.
Among the resident labour force, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.6 per cent in June, from 4.8 per cent in March as more people deferred job search and pursued courses.
Some 116,300 residents were jobless in June. The seasonally adjusted figure was 91,500, slightly lower than the 95,800 in the previous quarter.
After declining by 6,200 in Q1, total employment fell for the second consecutive quarter in Q2 by 7,700, said the report.
Some 5,980 workers were made redundant in Q2, of whom 5,170 were retrenched and 810 were released prematurely from their contracts.
Redundancies fell by more than half from the peak of 12,760 in the first three months.
The improvement largely reflected the sharp fall in redundancies in manufacturing from 9,250 in Q1 to 2,900 in Q2.
Services and construction also laid-off fewer workers in Q2, with 2,850 and 230 redundancies respectively, than in the previous quarter (3,170 and 330 respectively).
As manufacturing accounted for over 90 per cent of the decrease, the proportion of workers made redundant from manufacturing shrank from 72 per cent to 48 per cent, while the share coming from services rose from 25 per cent to 48 per cent, and construction from 2.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
Job vacancies rose by 17 per cent over the quarter to 24,500 in June, but this was still 39 per cent below the 40,100 a year ago.
After adjusting for seasonality, total job vacancies increased by 8 per cent in June from three months ago, after four quarters of decline. Coupled with stabilising unemployment, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons increased slightly over the quarter from a seasonally adjusted 31 to 33 openings per 100 job seekers in June. This was the first increase after five straight quarters of decline, said MOM.
Summing up the second quarter job situation, MOM said: 'The deterioration in the labour market appeared to have stabilised, as significantly fewer workers were made redundant and job openings rose after four quarters of decline.'
'The unemployment rate held steady following five straight quarters of increase, as more people deferred job search and pursued courses. Meanwhile, cost pressures have eased as earnings continued to decline and productivity fell less sharply than before.'
'On the other hand , a record low proportion of workers retrenched secured re-employment and long-term unemployment has worsened, indicating that the labour market was still weak.'
- The Straits Times
Sep 9, 2009
450 new jobs in med-tech
SINGAPORE'S medical-technology industry doubled its manufacturing output and employment between 2000 and 2008, according to statistics released on Wednesday by the Economic Development Board (EDB).
The sector, often overshadowed by its larger pharmaceutical sibling, had a manufacturing output of $2.9billion last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2000, when Singapore began its biomedical sciences push.
In comparison, the pharmaceutical sector produced $16.1 billion in output and employed over 4,000 last year, up from $4.8 billion and about 2,000 jobs in 2000.
Medical technology refers to devices and technologies like contact lenses, pacemakers and research instruments.
For example, 10 per cent of the world's contact lenses are made in Singapore by firms such as Ciba Vision, Essilor and Alcon.
The industry's main driver is worldwide spending on healthcare, such as on an ageing population.
Often, it is manufacturing and labour-intensive, and employs two-thirds of the workers in biomedical manufacturing. Last year, it employed over 8,200 workers, up from under 4,000 eight years ago.
This year, it is set to contribute half of the 900 new jobs in biomedical sciences.
A substantial number of these will come from new investments. At least two of these, of significant value to Singapore's medical technology sector, will be announced in October, the EDB said.
'In spite of the recession this year, there continue to be projects being announced,' said Mr Beh Kian Teik, director of its biomedical sciences cluster.
The sector is aiming for $5 billion in manufacturing output by 2015, EDB added.
= The Straits Times
The sector, often overshadowed by its larger pharmaceutical sibling, had a manufacturing output of $2.9billion last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2000, when Singapore began its biomedical sciences push.
In comparison, the pharmaceutical sector produced $16.1 billion in output and employed over 4,000 last year, up from $4.8 billion and about 2,000 jobs in 2000.
Medical technology refers to devices and technologies like contact lenses, pacemakers and research instruments.
For example, 10 per cent of the world's contact lenses are made in Singapore by firms such as Ciba Vision, Essilor and Alcon.
The industry's main driver is worldwide spending on healthcare, such as on an ageing population.
Often, it is manufacturing and labour-intensive, and employs two-thirds of the workers in biomedical manufacturing. Last year, it employed over 8,200 workers, up from under 4,000 eight years ago.
This year, it is set to contribute half of the 900 new jobs in biomedical sciences.
A substantial number of these will come from new investments. At least two of these, of significant value to Singapore's medical technology sector, will be announced in October, the EDB said.
'In spite of the recession this year, there continue to be projects being announced,' said Mr Beh Kian Teik, director of its biomedical sciences cluster.
The sector is aiming for $5 billion in manufacturing output by 2015, EDB added.
= The Straits Times
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