Debated in Parliament on 2 Aug 2021.
Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the more than 270,000 locals hired under the Jobs Growth Incentive as of February 2021 (a) which industries are the beneficiaries; (b) how many Singaporean Citizens have been hired; and (c) what is the breakdown of these locals by monthly salary bands of (i) less than $3,000 (ii) $3,000 to less than $4,500 (iii) $4,500 to less than $6,000 (iv) $6,000 to less than $10,000 and (v) $10,000 and above.
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. MOM has been providing the public with regular updates on the take-up of the JGI, most recently in the 22nd edition of the Jobs Situation Report which was released on 14 July 2021.
We question the Progress Singapore Party’s fixation on drawing lines among locals. Permanent Residents may have spouses or dependants who are Singapore Citizens, and providing employment facilitation support allows them to continue supporting these Singaporean family members. In any case, the proportion of JGI-supported hires who are Singapore Citizens is similar to the proportion of Singapore Citizens in the resident labour force.
The top hiring sectors were Food Services, Wholesale Trade, Professional Services, Retail, and Information and Communications. The median wage of JGI-supported hires between September 2020 and February 2021 ranges from around $3,900 in the Information and Communications sector, around $3,000 in the Professional Services sector, around $1,900 in the Wholesale Trade sector to $1,400 in the Retail and Food Services sectors. The median wage of JGI-supported hires in each sector was higher than the median wage of all new hires in the same sector, over the same period. As mentioned in the 22nd Jobs Situation Report, six in 10 of the JGI-supported hires earned the same or higher wages, compared to their previous jobs.
PAPERCUTS