Parliamentary Replies

Parliamentary Question by Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) to date, what is the total number of employees supported by the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100-$250 million and more than $250 million respectively; (b) what is the total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively; and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100-$250 million and more than $250 million respectively; and (c) what is the total number of employees supported by JSS and total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies that do not experience a fall in aggregate revenues in the first half of 2020.

Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat:

Since the introduction of the Jobs Support Scheme (or JSS) at the Unity Budget in February, over $16 billion of payouts have been disbursed to more than 150,000 employers, and this has helped to support the wages of over two million local workers. 

$10.5b of the JSS payouts went to SMEs. This accounts for 73% of the local workers supported by the JSS. As labour cost share of business costs tend to be larger for SMEs compared to larger firms, the JSS, as a wage support scheme, is naturally tilted to support SMEs more.   

As for the breakdown by revenue bands (below $10 million, between $10 million and $100 million, between $100 million and $250 million, and above $250 million), the dollar payouts are: $5.8b, $4.0b, $1.6b, and $4.9b respectively. The corresponding proportion of local workers supported by the JSS is: 46%, 24%, 9%, and 21% respectively. 

We do not have data on which companies had no drop in revenue in the first half of 2020.  We do not collect such data at such short intervals, so as to ease the administrative burden on firms.  As an alternative, we have made use of other sources of data, reports and industry feedback to provide different levels of JSS support to different sectors, based on the impact of COVID-19. This ensures that we strike a balance between being more targeted in our assistance and speed in disbursing support.