• The Jobs Growth Incentive scheme, originally slated to end in September, will be extended till March next year
• The latest extension, however, will see a tapering off of support levels provided to employers to expand local hiring
• Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said this is in line with early indications that the labour market conditions are improving

SINGAPORE — The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) scheme, which has helped close to 400,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents find employment over nine months, will be extended for six months till next March, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Friday (Sep 24).

Given that there are early indications that the labour market conditions are improving however, the Government will be tapering off the support level it will be providing employers to expand local hiring, said Dr Tan.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in its Labour Market Report for the first quarter of the year that job opportunities had improved, with almost one vacancy for every unemployed person.

The JGI was announced last August and started the following month with the aim of helping firms increase the headcount of local workers, with the Government providing subsidies for the wages of local workers newly hired by companies.

When asked if the Government might consider extending the scheme for a third time, Dr Tan said it was never meant to be permanent.

“It was really in response to an extraordinary period, and this is an extraordinary measure,” he said, referring to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Tan, who was speaking to members of the media after his visit to eye care product company Alcon Singapore, urged employers with growth plans to “bring forward their hiring and not wait until the end (of the scheme), hoping that it will be extended over and over again”.

DETAIL OF LATEST EXTENSION

For firms to be eligible for the scheme from October, they must increase the size of their local workforce and also increase the size of their local workforce earning at least S$1,400 a month, compared to their headcount in September. 

Once employers have satisfied this criteria, they will be eligible for Government subsidies of up to 15 per cent of the first S$5,000 of an employee’s eligible salary for up to six months.

Previously, the Government was subsidising up to 25 per cent of the first S$5,000 of an eligible employee for up to 12 months.

Employers who hire mature local workers (aged 40 and above), people with disabilities and ex-offenders can get 50 per cent of the first S$6,000 of gross monthly income for up to 12 months — down from the previous 18 months.

The total incentive for non-mature workers, said MOM, is up to S$4,500 per hire, while that for mature workers as well people with disabilities and ex-offenders is S$36,000.

This was previously set at S$15,000 and S$54,000 respectively. 

KEY FIGURES

The following are some of the key figures provided by MOM on Friday of how the scheme has benefited local job seekers from September last year to May this year:

• Close to 400,000 locals were hired by 58,000 businesses

• Half of the 400,000 were not employed at the point of hire

• One-third had been out of a job for more than six months

• About six in 10 were previously employed in a different sector

• Close to half of the JGI-supported hires were mature workers aged 40 and above, and one third were aged 50 and above

• Six in 10 of the JGI-supported hires earned the same or higher wages compared to their previous jobs.

While the JGI supported hiring across many sectors, MOM said four in 10 were in growth sectors such as wholesale trade, professional services, and information and communications.

One in five, added the ministry, were in the recovering food services and retail sectors.

Of these sectors, food services saw the largest number of mature hires at 26,090, close to the 31,510 non-mature workers who were also hired.

In contrast, information and communications saw the least number of mature hires at 6,840, less than half of the 16,850 non-mature hires.

MOM said there will be continued strong support to employers who are prepared to hire and reskill mid-career hires.

It said employers can tap the Career Conversion Programmes under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, which provide support for up to 90 per cent training and salary costs.