Singapore rolls out unprecedented unemployment payouts - will it help?
When human resources adviser Julie Lee was made redundant in 2023 from a tech start-up, she sank into despair.
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The 53-year-old, who had been retrenched twice before, felt burnt out and betrayed as she grew anxious about supporting her family, including her daughter, who was midway through her undergraduate degree in Australia.
'I felt it was my fault,' said Lee, who eventually started her own HR consulting business after 10 months of job searching.
During that period, she attended career coaching and courses to get fresh certifications and changed her professional title to chief human resource officer.
While she had to rely on her savings for her training, the financial strain was mitigated by credits from the
Singapore government that subsidised the costs under the SkillsFuture initiative, first introduced in 2015. Lee said she also decided to invest in her learning to stay relevant.
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From next month, the Singapore government is expected to begin giving payouts to retrenched Singaporean workers under a new unemployment benefits scheme for those aged 21 and above. Payouts will be capped at S$6,000 (US$4,500) over six months without any spending conditions attached for recipients.
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