SINGAPORE: More can be done to support Singapore’s retrenched workers in getting help faster, says co-chair of the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committee for managing the impact of restructuring, Desmond Choo.
Choo, who is also deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, said the committee is looking at ways to better manage the retrenchment process.
He was speaking during a visit to the Employment and Employability Institute’s (e2i) career centre.
According to the Manpower Ministry’s labour market survey, nearly 11,000 Singapore workers lost their jobs in the first nine months of 2025, the highest since 2023.
Companies which are retrenching can approach e2i to assist retrenched workers.
“How do we allow workers to be better helped earlier and with more dignity?
“We think that there is scope for us to work with our tripartite partners to bring retrenchment notices earlier,” Choo said.
He added that more could be done to support more timely, targeted placement that shortens the period a retrenched worker will be out of work.
The visit was part of the ESR committee’s engagement with the media to provide more details on its mid-term recommendations and plans.
The committee was tasked to strengthen workers’ career transition support and enable businesses to proactively navigate these transitions.
The two priorities are part of the seven strategies rolled out by the ESR committees to secure growth and good jobs amid tariff and artificial intelligence threats.
“We need to learn to hunt as a pack, no longer individual organisations doing placement or offering jobs.
“We must be prepared to work across not only our non-profit organisations and the government, but also with private placement operators to build a strong placement ecosystem.”
Choo also highlighted the resistance and inertia often experienced by workers who needed to change to a new industry.
To tackle this, solutions recommended by the committee include building “career bridges”, intensifying career conversion programmes and strengthening one’s career health.
“Career bridges are the fundamental assumption that not all your skills are irrelevant. You may start off being 50%, 60% or 70% ready, and you build a bridge from impacted industries, to move to more resilient sectors,” he said.
More help will also be given to companies that are looking to grow and move on to the next engine of change, consolidate into the more profitable sectors and seek new overseas expansions.
These are the three broad examples of companies that the committee will focus on to support workers on their transition pathways, said Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming at the event.
He co-chairs the committee for managing the impact of restructuring with Choo.
Goh cited VDL Enabling Technologies Group Singapore, a manufacturer of high-tech semiconductor equipment, as an example of the first group of companies the committee is looking to support.
“And now they are confident to dream, and planning to double their revenue in the next five years,” the State Minister said.
Meanwhile, the second group of firms comprises those open to reviewing their business approach and looking to consolidate into more profitable sectors. — The Straits Times/ANN
