Singapore’s NTUC to push for unemployment support and benefits
- Claire Lee
Singapore’s National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) will push for unemployment support and benefits for Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) who face unemployment not by choice, said assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay at a virtual press briefing.
From engagement with PMEs, two main concerns emerged — job security and employability, Tay said, reports CNA.
While this was the case even before the pandemic, COVID-19 has “accelerated, accentuated and aggravated” the anxieties of PMEs, especially for those who are aged 40 and above, he said.
Tay co-chairs a joint NTUC-SNEF (Singapore National Employers Federation) PME Taskforce which consulted over 9,000 PMEs aged between 20 to 60 years old on their key concerns and needs at the workplace.
“We also see from stats, even prior to COVID-19, that mature PMEs, when they lose jobs, they have a tougher journey, take a longer time to rejoin [the workforce],” he said, noting the heavier financial commitments involved in supporting both their children and their elderly parents.
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The other three areas that NTUC will focus on in recommendations to the taskforce are addressing workplace discrimination for nationality and ageism; ensuring more hiring opportunities for mature PMEs; and supporting PMEs with skills upgrading.
