Desmond Choo on Singapore’s COVID-19 response
The Job Security Council (JSC) developed by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in 2020 helped to redistribute displaced workers to areas of need in a fluid and evolving situation. This proved vital in the aviation and hospitality sectors which were hard hit by COVID-19, said labour MP Desmond Choo in Parliament on Monday (Mar 20). For example, cabin crew were redeployed as care ambassadors in hospitals and hospitality staff were placed in supermarkets and other essential services sectors. As at February 2023, the JSC has matched about 70,000 workers to new jobs since the pandemic began. The key is that the job placements are temporary with workers remaining employees of their companies so that affected firms will still have readily available skilled manpower upon the upturn. This was just one way in which the labour movement, together with Singapore’s other tripartite partners, worked together to save businesses, jobs and livelihoods, said Mr Choo. He also spoke of the challenges faced by self-employed persons and called for efforts to strengthen their financial and career resilience in anticipation of the next pandemic or crisis. He urged the Government to look into developing short-term income support, tied to their efforts to train and search for jobs.
The Job Security Council (JSC) developed by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in 2020 helped to redistribute displaced workers to areas of need in a fluid and evolving situation. This proved vital in the aviation and hospitality sectors which were hard hit by COVID-19, said labour MP Desmond Choo in Parliament on Monday (Mar 20). For example, cabin crew were redeployed as care ambassadors in hospitals and hospitality staff were placed in supermarkets and other essential services sectors. As at February 2023, the JSC has matched about 70,000 workers to new jobs since the pandemic began. The key is that the job placements are temporary with workers remaining employees of their companies so that affected firms will still have readily available skilled manpower upon the upturn. This was just one way in which the labour movement, together with Singapore’s other tripartite partners, worked together to save businesses, jobs and livelihoods, said Mr Choo. He also spoke of the challenges faced by self-employed persons and called for efforts to strengthen their financial and career resilience in anticipation of the next pandemic or crisis. He urged the Government to look into developing short-term income support, tied to their efforts to train and search for jobs.
Popular Shows
