SINGAPORE – More than 110,000 local jobseekers were hired under a government scheme that subsidises wages in the first two months of its implementation.
This was double the number of workers that were hired in the Jobs Growth Incentive scheme’s inaugural month in September alone, according to preliminary estimates.
The workers were hired by around 26,000 firms, with about half of them aged 40 and above, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Monday (Feb 8).
The Jobs Growth Incentive scheme aims to spur firms to hire more locals, with $1 billion set aside to provide wage support for these workers.
Firms that hire local workers from September last year to February this year will receive a subsidy of 25 per cent of the first $5,000 of workers’ gross monthly salaries for up to one year.
The co-payment goes up to 50 per cent for workers aged 40 and above.
In total, eligible firms can receive up to $15,000 for each local hire aged below 40, and $30,000 for each local hire aged 40 and above.
MOM noted that the top hiring sectors included food services, wholesale trade, professional services, retail and construction.
In October alone, more than 11,000 new employers became eligible for the scheme.
The ministry added that about 80 per cent of the 14,000 or so companies that qualified for the scheme’s payouts in September maintained or even expanded their local hiring in the following month.
The majority of all eligible employers hired one to two local workers, MOM noted, while about 20 per cent of them have hired five local workers or more.
