MOM announcements in 2021 Budget Statement

The Government has allocated an additional $5.4 billion to extend and enhance the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package (SGUJS). This is to help more jobseekers access opportunities and emerge stronger through the crisis.

Annex C-2: SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package

We will extend and enhance the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways and SGUnited Traineeships Programmes by 12 months to end-March 2022. The enhancements will strengthen support for mid-career jobseekers and fresh graduates looking for full-time positions. They take effect from 1 April 2021.

For mid-career jobseekers:

• Higher training allowances, from the maximum of $3,000 monthly to $3,800 monthly.
• For mature individuals aged 40 and above, host organisations will receive higher government co-funding of 90% instead of 80% previously.

For fresh graduates:

• Higher training allowances
  • For ITE graduates, from the maximum of $1,500 monthly to $1,800 monthly.
  • For diploma graduates, from the maximum of $1,800 monthly to $2,100 monthly.

More details can be found on WSG’s website for SGUP-CA (Individuals) and SGUP-CA (Host Organisation).

The Government will top up the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant and Part-Time Re-employment Grant by over $200 million. This will support more companies to move earlier to raise their retirement and re-employment ages and to provide more senior workers with part-time opportunities during re-employment.

Both grants had been implemented from July 2020 as part of the Senior Worker Support Package. Over 95% of applications received have been for companies to increase their Retirement and Re-employment Ages by 3 years or more.

Read the Factsheet - Update on Senior Worker Support Package.

The Government’s aspiration is for every sector to have progressive wages. The Tripartite Workgroup is making good progress to achieve this. In time to come, many more workers will benefit from progressive wages. We will work closely with employers and support them, where necessary, to facilitate this expansion.

More details will be provided at MOM Committee of Supply Highlights 2021.

The Government supports more shared care-giving responsibilities between men and women – such as through shared parental leave, and promotion of family-friendly workplace practices (e.g. Tripartite Standard on Flexible Work Arrangements and Tripartite Standard on Unpaid Leave for Unexpected Care Needs).

In addition, there are existing paid leave schemes to support parents in caring for young children (e.g. 16 weeks of maternity leave and 2 weeks of paternity leave in the child’s first year, and 6 days of paid childcare leave per year per parent with a child aged below 7 years).

With wider implementation of flexible work arrangements such as remote working, the Tripartite Partners will develop further resources and support employers in improving work life harmony of employees.

We will extend the qualifying window for the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) by 7 months and enhance support for employers. JGI was introduced in August 2020 to encourage employers to expand hiring of local jobseekers. Eligible employers received wage support of up to 12 months for each new local hired between September 2020 and February 2021.

With this extension, eligible companies that hire locals between March 2021 and end-September 2021 will receive wage support as follows:

• For non-mature locals, up to 12 months based on 25% of the first $5,000 of gross monthly income, from the month of hire.
• For mature workers (aged 40 and above), persons with disabilities and ex-offenders, up to 18 months (12 months previously) based on 50% of the first $6,000 ($5,000 previously) of gross monthly income. Eligible companies that had hired such locals between September 2020 and February 2021 will enjoy the enhanced support from March 2021.

More details can be found on IRAS’s website.

View the infographic on the enhancements to JGI.

Job redesign can help to make jobs more productive and attractive for workers, and benefit enterprises by allowing them to hire and retain good workers to facilitate business transformation.

MOM will raise the Government co-funding ratio for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) from 70% to 80%, capped at $30,000 per company.

More details can be found on WSG’s website.

To sustain the momentum for restructuring and strengthen manpower resilience, the S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) in manufacturing will be reduced. This mirrors similar reductions in the services and construction sector implemented or announced earlier.

To give time for firms to adjust, the reductions will take place in 2 steps:

• On 1 January 2022, from 20% to 18%
• On 1 January 2023, from 18% to 15%

These moves will further promote the use of technology and improve job opportunities through job redesign for local Polytechnic and ITE graduates. Firms looking to build a stronger local core can tap on existing support under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. Those that need more transitional support can apply for the Lean Enterprise Development (LED) Scheme.

Read the press release on reduction of S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling for the manufacturing sector.

MOM will extend the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP) for another 3 years up to end-September 2024. This will further support the transfer of capabilities from foreign specialists to locals, on top of other sector agencies’ efforts.

More details can be found on WSG’s website.

MOM established the Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) Group in August 2020 to provide Assurance to migrant workers living in dormitories and workers working in the dormitories, including the dormitory operators. It will also provide Care for workers through a comprehensive medical support plan and make health services more accessible to migrant workers. In addition, it will enhance Engagement with workers and other stakeholders to foster stronger partnerships with Singaporeans, workers’ groups, employers and dormitory operators.

MOM and MND have also piloted new standards for the Quick Build Dormitories. This has enabled dormitory residents to have more living space, lower occupancy per room, and fewer residents sharing communal toilets. We aim to make dormitory living and design more resilient to public health risks including pandemics, with improved living standards that are benchmarked both domestically and internationally.

You can read more on the new standards.

In addition, ACE launched Project DAWN, a new taskforce to enhance mental health care and support for migrant workers in Singapore. Project DAWN has established a framework to build a support ecosystem to improve mental health awareness among migrant workers and ensure access to mental health assistance. The taskforce comprises representatives from MOM, Government psychologists, the Institute of Mental Health, as well as NGOs such as the Migrant Workers’ Centre and HealthServe.

You can read more on Project DAWN.