Jobless middle-aged PMET couple talk to Jamus Lim about difficulties of getting hired

SINGAPORE: In the course of carrying out house visits in Sengkang last week, where Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim and his team were able to update residents about upcoming repair and restoration works, a conversation with one couple stood out, he wrote in a Monday morning (June 23) Facebook post.

The middle-aged couple, who are PMETs (those in professional, managerial, executive, and technical roles), told Assoc Prof Lim that they had, one after another, both recently been displaced from their jobs. Aside from this, the two “faced a triple whammy when it came to both coping with the shock, as well as securing a new position,” he wrote.

First, due to the S$5,000 monthly income threshold, they do not qualify for unemployment insurance through the Jobseeker Support Scheme.

“So it comes down to dipping into savings—and relying on the income stream of the spouse, which became harder when the other also lost their job,” the Sengkang MP added.

Second, the couple told Assoc Prof Lim that they felt significant competition from foreign talent. Foreign talents willing to accept smaller paychecks, particularly those from countries with lower living costs, they added.

And third, since the couple is already in their 50s, there is the added challenge of “implicit discrimination in even receiving job offers”, with would-be employers finding reasons not to have them proceed to the next stage of their job applications.

Assoc Prof Lim then made the case again for redundancy insurance, for which the WP has long advocated.

“There isn’t any perfect solution for helping our PMETs in a rapidly changing economic landscape. Redundancy insurance—for all income levels—will certainly help in the short run, as will mandating retrenchment benefits for those that have worked a sufficiently long time in their company. In the longer run, a well-designed redundancy-retraining-reemployment pathway, which channels displaced workers toward new jobs, would help reduce the precarity so many PMETs feel after losing their job,” the MP wrote.

His post appears to have struck a chord with many netizens, who also expressed concerns about employment.

“Yes, there isn’t any job security in Singapore,” one wrote.

“Hopefully, the middle-aged couple can bounce back quickly to get NEW employment opportunities. OLDER workers/PMETs are rather vulnerable in the SG Market,” commented another. /TISG

Read also: As applications open for unemployment benefits, WP reminds S’poreans it has been calling for redundancy insurance since 2006