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Government Accepts National Wages Council Guidelines for 2020/2021

Skills, training and development Employment practices
  1. The Government accepts the National Wages Council (“NWC”) Guidelines for 2020/2021. 

  2. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the Singapore economy and therefore our workers. The public health measures taken by Singapore and countries worldwide to contain the pandemic have caused severe economic disruptions and uncertainty. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has further downgraded Singapore’s GDP growth forecast for 2020 from “-0.5% to 1.5%” to “-4.0% to -1.0%”. 

  3. The Government is committed to supporting our workers and enterprises to weather this unprecedented crisis. The $48 billion Resilience Budget announced on 26 March 2020 will go towards saving jobs, supporting workers, and protecting livelihoods; helping enterprises overcome immediate challenges; and strengthening economic and social resilience. The Resilience Budget comes on top of the $6.4 billion in the Unity Budget committed towards the Stabilisation and Support Package, the Care and Support Package, and to support our frontline agencies. Altogether, the Government is dedicating close to $55 billion to support our workers and enterprises, amounting to 11% of our GDP. 

  4. Employers, unions & workers, and the Government all have a part to play to help our businesses and workers tide over this challenging period and emerge stronger. Hence, the NWC has convened earlier than usual this year. The NWC has developed a new set of Guidelines to give timely guidance to employers on sustaining their businesses and saving jobs. 

  5. The ability of the NWC to respond swiftly and decisively to COVID-19 is a testament to the strong foundation of tripartism. The tripartite partners stand together in calling on employers to reduce costs and manage excess manpower responsibly, and on employees to do their part to help enterprises save jobs.

  6. The Government urges all employers and employees to build on the trust between the tripartite partners in responding flexibly to the COVID-19 challenge. If all of us pull together as one society, we are confident that Singapore will bounce back from this challenge, stronger and more united than ever.