Singapore – Singaporeans have yet again questioned if Singapore is “pro-business” amid concerns about getting employers to notify authorities before retrenching workers, a move which may accelerate retrenchments in the current environment.
Responding to labour chief Ng Chee Meng and other members of parliament (MPs) from the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Tuesday (March 3), that the move “may inadvertently push companies to finalise retrenchments faster” discouraging negotiations to save workers’ jobs, Channel News Asia reported.
He added, “Businesses have also expressed concerns over the potential leakage of confidential, market-sensitive information.”
However, on some online forums, some netizens questioned whether government actions end up benefiting businesses more than workers and if NTUC was doing enough to protect the rights of workers.
One netizen said, “They set the rules to level the playing field but turns out the field has always been against workers, it was never level,” while another wrote that he was “very disappointed”.
A third commented, “What BS is this? All I know is the countries that have mandatory advance retrenchment notifications and processes to prove the inevitability of retrenchment ended up with less retrenched in my company’s last reduction in force (RIF).”
Some even went as far as saying the move showed no heart for the common people.
Similar sentiments were shared last month about the government not mandating retrenchment benefits, saying it would protect workers and financially struggling businesses.
Singaporeans then questioned whether the city-state is employer-friendly, with netizens arguing that not mandating such benefits would only put workers on the “losing end.”
Another argued the move could have helped filter out companies that do not care about their employees at all. /TISG
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