Save Jobs in Crisis Times

In the recent economic downturn, the Singapore government came up with a 20.5 billion plan called the Resilience Package aimed at boosting the Singapore economy and helping Singaporeans keep their jobs. 5.1 billion dollars will go to helping Singaporeans preserve their jobs.

I totally agree that securing jobs is the most important aspect of the package. There are two reasons why jobs should be secured. One is for the humanitarian reason and the other, the economic reason.

To many Singaporeans, losing their job is not an option. They have families to feed, and having their job is a matter to survival. If many Singaporeans were to lose their jobs, many people would starve, and in extreme cases, riots would take place. This would also undoubtedly result in a spike of crimes such as theft. Of course, the government can dole out cash support, but this approach is neither sustainable nor scalable. This is because the cash would be used up very quickly, and the cash can only help a limited number of people.

Besides the humanitarian reason, saving jobs is also important from an economic point of view. Someone once said that this crisis is very much a confidence crisis. If people have no confidence that they would be able to secure their jobs, they would spend less, and try to save more money. This will result in a lack of business for many shops such as restaurants, jewelry shops, and departmental stalls. If these businesses have too little customers, they will go bankrupt, and many workers would lose their jobs. This is a dangerous vicious cycle. Things will continue to worsen if the government does not step in and help to save as many jobs as possible, and boost the confidence of Singaporeans.

We cannot hope that the economic stimulus plan, although massive in size and scope, will revive the economy immediately. However, I’m sure this plan will relieve the pain of many Singaporeans who are suffering, or may suffer from this economic downturn.