Long hard road to economic recovery

Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information

PM Lee is confident we will be able to tackle challenges, urges workers and employers to take longer term view as we deal with new operating environment

The Government has used Singapore’s reserves to save jobs, reduce costs for companies, and tide Singaporeans over during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his annual May Day Message.

While this has helped save the jobs of local employees, businesses still have other costs to shoulder and it is “unavoidable” that many workers will experience a pay cut -either due to lost overtime or direct wage reductions.

But Mr Lee encouraged both employers and workers to take a longer term view. In his speech on April 30 – televised for the first time as the annual May Day Rally on Labour Day was cancelled because of the virus – he said workers have to accept wage cuts to keep businesses, and employers should do all they can to retain their staff.

"(Employers) should not drop workers at the first sign of trouble. This way, workers will remember and return the kindness, serve loyally and help their businesses survive. Companies will also be in a better position to rebuild when the economy begins to recover,” he said.

Praising workers for their resilience and for having taken the pandemic in their stride, PM Lee said the tripartite partnership comprising employers, the labour movement and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Government is an important example of how we work closely together as one nation to protect our vulnerable and leave no one behind.

“Employers, the labour movement and NTUC, and the Government work closely together, in good times and bad. We are bound by ties of loyalty and trust, the comradeship of past battles fought and won together.”

Preparing for a different world

Mr Lee noted that Covid-19 would mean many changes to the global economy, such as less free movement of goods and people. Countries will look to rely less on imports of food and essential items like medicines and face masks. This, he said, will have “major implications” for global trade and investment, and for Singapore as a whole.

Some industries will face permanent disruption, and companies will need to change their business models to survive, pointed out Mr Lee. Some will simply disappear and workers will have to reskill themselves to take up jobs in new sectors.

The Government will help companies adapt to this new operating environment, and retrain workers for the new jobs. The SkillsFuture programmes will be ramped up to train workers on a large scale while the NTUC has already set up a Job Security Council to match and train displaced workers for new jobs.

“We will not be able to save every job, but we will look after every worker,” stressed Mr Lee, adding that while Singapore may be small and globalised, the country’s advantage is its nimbleness and ability to quickly identify and move into new growth areas.

Photo credit: National Trades Union Congress

Mr Lee also cited the strength of Singapore’s tripartite relationship that has been forged over decades, and a key reason why everyone is able to work closely together in good times and bad.

“This is why when the virus started to spread in other countries, we brought overseas Singaporeans home. We did not leave them to fend for themselves. This is why we care for our migrant workers, who have done much for us, as we care for Singaporeans. This is why we have taken unprecedented steps to draw upon our reserves, in order to forestall retrenchments and support the lowincome,” he said.

“The road to recovery will be long and hard. But we are not a people who will shrink from struggle. It took us blood, sweat and tears to get here.”

The labour movement tuned in when PM Lee’s May Day speech was simulcast on national television and streamed via social media channels, including the PM’s Facebook page and YouTube on April 30. This online May Day speech replaced the physical May Day Rally because of Covid-19. After his speech, about 420 representatives of the tripartite partnership participated in a closed-door virtual dialogue session.