Ex-offenders Hired under Jobs Growth Incentive

Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Manpower (a) to date, how many ex-offenders have been hired under the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI); (b) what sectors have they been employed in, in percentage terms; and (c) what steps will be taken to ensure that the ex-offenders will be fairly treated as employees after the end of the 18-month salary support period under the JGI.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, good afternoon. Based on the latest available data, the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) has supported the hiring of more than 270,000 locals from September 2020 to February 2021 by 42,000 employers. Employers who have hired ex-offenders through the Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG), Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (ISCOS), or halfway houses engaged by the Singapore Prison Service will automatically receive the JGI of up to $54,000 for these hires. The JGI has supported around 780 ex-offender hires between September 2020 and February 2021.

Environmental Services, Food Services, Logistics, Wholesale Trade and Construction were among the top five hiring sectors. They collectively accounted for almost eight in 10 of JGI-supported ex-offenders.

The Member asked how we will ensure that ex-offenders will be fairly treated after the wage support of 18 months ends. The JGI is designed such that employers have to shoulder part of the cost of hiring of the worker. If the worker, whether an ex-offender or not, proves his value to the company, it serves and it is in the best interest of the employer to keep him on its workforce even after the JGI support has ended. Otherwise, the employer would have wasted expense and months of effort in training the new hire and risk losing a skilled worker to competitors.

Programmes are available to support employers to train their new hires. With respect to ex-offenders placed by YRSG, YRSG provides additional support to them and their employers to facilitate their transition from prison to the work environment. A career coach is assigned to the ex-offender for up to 12 months. The career coaches work closely with ex-offenders and their employers to provide work-related support and resolve issues together.

However, employers’ business circumstances and manpower needs are constantly changing. Not all employers will be able to retain every single worker. Workers who need assistance can approach Workforce Singapore for career matching services. Ex-offenders can also reach out to YRSG, regardless of whether they are currently receiving YRSG’s assistance.

I would like to give all workers the assurance that unfair treatment will be taken seriously. Any employee that experiences unfair treatment can approach the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), which will investigate into such complaints.

Sir, a quick supplementary question, please. May I ask the hon Minister how the JGI has enhanced the employability of ex-offenders in this pandemic, as compared to the situation before the JGI was announced?

I would like to thank Mr Murali Pillai for his supplementary question. Some additional statistics would demonstrate that. From the period from September 2020 to February 2021, the YRSG has assisted more than a third of the ex-offenders who have been released from Prison, out of which 96% of those assisted by YRSG have been placed in a job. Out of this number, 56% were eligible for JGI.

The balance of about 40% of these ex-offenders who were placed in jobs but were not eligible for JGI was because the employers themselves did not meet the requirement of having increased their local headcount compared to the August 2020 baseline.