Briefs

In an unanticipated address to the nation on March 12, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for Singaporeans to stand together against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Touching on the medical, economic and psychological impact of the outbreak, PM Lee warned that the number of imported cases is expected to rise, leading to new clusters and new waves of infection.

However, he sought to reassure the public that the situation in Singapore “remains under control”.

“If we keep up our guard, and take practical precautions to protect ourselves and our families, we will be able to keep our economy going, and carry on with our daily lives,” he said in a video telecast.

The Prime Minister also hinted at a “second package of measures” but stopped short of divulging the financial details of these additional measures.

“We will help our companies with their costs and cash flow, to keep them afloat through the storm. We will help our workers keep their jobs, and retrain during their downtime, so that when things return to normal, our workers will be the first out of the gate, and immediately productive,” he said.

He added that those who are retrenched and unemployed, as well as their families, will also receive “an extra helping hand to see through this difficult period”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had revealed at a roundtable discussion on March 11 that the government was mulling over a second stimulus package to give Singaporean workers and businesses a shot in the arm amid the virus-led downturn.

This comes barely a month after Heng in his Budget 2020 speech on Feb 18 unveiled a $4 billion package to stabilise the Singapore economy and support local workers caught up in a swirl of near-term uncertainties.

“I am sharing these plans with you to reassure you that we are on top of things, and thinking ahead. We anticipated the medical and economic consequences. I am confident that we can deal with them,” PM Lee said in his address.

“What makes Singapore different from other countries is that we have confidence in each other, we feel that we are all in this together, and we do not leave anyone behind,” he added. “This is SG United, we are SG United.” — Stanislaus Jude Chan

The rich scramble for private jets as Trump slaps travel ban on Europe

Airlines are still digesting the implications of US President Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel from Europe but some wealthy Americans are already looking for ways to get home quickly.

The private jet industry has received a surge in inquiries from Americans currently in Europe, even as operators themselves scramble to clarify how the travel ban will affect their own operations.

“This situation is unprecedented,” said Adam Twidell, chief executive officer of private jet charter provider PrivateFly. “We’re seeing a significant number of requests in the past few hours from Americans currently in Europe, looking to fly back to the US.

And others from US citizens wanting to fly from other parts of Europe to the UK, as it is currently exempt from the ban.”

Trump said on March 12 that he will significantly restrict travel from Europe to the US for the next 30 days.

“The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots,” he said in a televised address. “As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travellers from Europe.”

The development is expected to boost demand for private aircraft among individuals even as corporate jet travel tumbles, with companies restricting travel to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. — Bloomberg

Half of China businesses expect market rebound within six months

Covid-19 has rocked business sentiment over the past couple of months and sent the global economy into turmoil. But businesses in China are optimistic about a turnaround, according to the latest survey by Korn Ferry.

Out of 300 human resource (HR) leaders in China that were surveyed, some 90% believe that the pandemic will negatively impact both business and revenue figures.

Yet, 51% of respondents were confident that the overall market will recover in six months.

Furthermore, all respondents report that their organisations have put in place measures to counteract the impact of the virus outbreak.

For instance, 90% are providing their employees with protective equipment, while another 81% have established emergency epidemic teams.

“We believe that 2020 is likely to be a year of two halves: the first half will be spent dealing with safety, containment, continuity, and contingency planning,” says Michael Distefano, president of Korn Ferry for Asia-Pacific.

The study also finds that HR departments across all industries and company sizes have been forced to adjust their approach and focus more on short-term tactical tasks that combat the outbreak.

Some 53% of respondents regard telecommuting as the first measure that needs to be adjusted, as nearly one-third of HR leaders are worried about employee efficiency as they work remotely.

Halting recruitment was also revealed to be one of the measures that was most considered by businesses, with some 44% of companies embarking on a hiring freeze to deal with costs.

However, the survey says that this would be likely to result in a serious lack of resources and high demand for talent in the near future.

“Business leaders will need to balance empathy with business continuity and the ability to rethink what performance means in the post-coronavirus world,” says Distefano. “In the meantime, whether the response to the epidemic is properly managed may directly affect the confidence of organisations to recover their business in the future.” — Uma Devi

Singapore braces for uncertain labour market outlook in 2020

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on March 12 warned that the labour market outlook for 2020 is “uncertain” amid the evolving Covid-19 outbreak and other global economic uncertainties.

“As the overall economic growth is projected to moderate, the outlook for the labour market is expected to be subdued,” MOM said in a statement. “The government is monitoring the labour market closely and has stepped up our support to help businesses to retain workers, and workers to re-skill for new jobs.”

It noted that the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has downgraded Singapore’s GDP growth forecast for 2020 to “–0.5 to 1.5%”, with growth expected to come in at around 0.5%, the midpoint of the forecast range.

In 2019, total employment excluding Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) grew by 57,000 – the largest increase in the past five years.

MOM said this reflects continued growth in local employment, as well as foreign worker increases in the construction industry.

Local employment growth rose to 28,300 in 2019, slightly higher than the 27,400 recorded in 2018.

The increase was led by an improvement in the services industries, including community, social & personal services, professional services, financial & insurance services and information & communications.

Meanwhile, employment in manufacturing and wholesale & retail trade contracted due to a fall in output.

Overall unemployment rates edged up to 2.3%, with resident unemployment at 3.1% and citizen unemployment at 3.3%.

“Given the continued increase in employment, this suggests possible mismatches in the labour market that bear closer monitoring,” MOM said. — Stanislaus Jude Chan