Thousands expected to be retrenched, netizens call Job Support Scheme unsustainable

After experts have predicted that thousands will be retrenched in Singapore within the next coming months due to the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, netizens have taken to Facebook to express their doubts over the Job Support Scheme pushed by the government. Many have called it “unsustainable.”

As the Covid-19 pandemic has forced countries to close borders and businesses to operate with limited manpower as a measure to combat the spread of the virus, economies around the world are reeling.

According to a recent report by straitstimes.com, experts have predicted that in the next coming months, thousands of people in Singapore may be retrenched as businesses struggle to cope with significant financial losses.

Experts have singled out the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) as one of the measures implemented by the Government in order to hold off retrenchments as it offsets a percentage of the salaries of local workers. Despite these measures momentarily keeping mass retrenchment at bay, specialists have pointed out their unsustainability in the long run, especially as they are taken from the nation’s reserves.

Though experts who specialize in labour have highlighted the success of the measures at temporarily shielding Singaporeans from the brunt of the economic plunge, due to the uncertainty over how long the Covid-19 pandemic will last, pressing questions regarding the sustainability of the measures have been brought up.

On Facebook, many netizens shared their thoughts on the matter, with some calling on the Government to come up with more sustainable measures and others raising other issues such as the salaries of government leaders and the timing of the 2020 General Elections. Many have called the JSS “unsustainable.”