Micro-SMEs don’t have to take part in retrenchment surveys to avoid admin burden: MOM
The Ministry of Manpower says its estimation of unemployment would include retrenched locals from micro-SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises).
We thank Professor Sattar Bawany for his views (“Retrenchment stats: MOM should capture data from micro-SMEs, too”; Aug 25).
Employers with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from the mandatory retrenchment notifications requirement. They are also not required to take part in official surveys on retrenchments, so as not to place additional administrative burden on these small companies.
Notwithstanding this, we encourage all employers, regardless of their size, to notify the Ministry of Manpower of any retrenchment exercise, so that Workforce Singapore, the tripartite partners and other relevant agencies can step in promptly to help affected employees find alternative employment or identify relevant training to enhance employability.
For a more comprehensive view of the unemployment situation in Singapore, Prof Bawany can refer to our unemployment statistics.
Our estimation of unemployment is derived from the labour force survey on households, which is a more comprehensive measure than the mandatory retrenchment notifications and would include retrenched locals from micro-SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises).
Singapore’s labour force survey follows an established and internationally recognised process practised by leading national statistical agencies around the world and covers a representative sample of 22,000 households, providing extensive coverage of our population.
ABOUT THE WRITERS:
Mr Then Yee Thoong is the divisional director of the labour relations and workplaces division at the Ministry of Manpower. Mr Ang Boon Heng is the director of the manpower research and statistics department at the ministry.
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